Revelation 17:7-12

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 17:9

Here is the mind which hath wisdom - It was said before, Revelation 13:18 , Here is wisdom. Let him that hath A Mind, or understanding, ( νουν ), count the number of the beast. Wisdom, therefore, here means a correct view of what is intended by the number 666; consequently the parallel passage, Here is The Mind which hath Wisdom, is a declaration that the number of the beast must first be understood, before the angel's interpretation of the vision concerning the whore and the beast can... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 17:10

And there are seven kings - Και βασιλεις ἑπτα εισιν· They are also seven kings. Before, it was said, they are seven mountains; here, they are also seven kings, which is a demonstration that kingdoms are not here meant by mountains: and this is a farther argument that the seven electorates are represented by seven mountains, for though the sovereigns of these states ranked with kings, they were not kings: that is to say, they were not absolute and sole lords of the territories they... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 17:11

And the beast, that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition - That is to say, the Latin kingdom that has already been, but is now no longer nominally in existence, shall immediately follow the dissolution of the seventh form of Latin government; and this dominion is called ογδοος , an eighth, because it succeeds to the seventh. Yet it is not an eighth head of the beast, because the beast has only seven heads; for to constitute a new head of the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Revelation 17:12

And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast - The meaning of horns has already been defined when speaking of those of the dragon. The meaning is therefore as follows: Though the Latin empire be now in existence, the ten horns refer to ten Latin kingdoms yet in futurity, and consequently they have received no dominion As Yet; for that part of the Latin domination now in power is the sixth head, or... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 17:1-18

"Babylon the great." Our aim in this homily will be to show to what form of evil the name "Babylon the great" specially seems to point. The complexity and difficulty which have gathered round this chapter seem to the writer to arise rather from the enormous incubus of human interpretation which has pressed it down. In this passage we are shown rather a twisted rope than a tangled web. If we untwist the threads and lay them side by side, we shall not have much difficulty, specially if we... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 17:7

And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? did thou wonder? —the same word as in Revelation 17:6 . Though the seer cannot fully comprehend the terrible significance of the sign he sees, viz. that a portion of the Church is one with the hostile world (see on Revelation 17:6 ), yet there are sufficient marks wherewith to identify it. The woman, the wilderness, the reliance upon the world power, the inscription, the similar description of Judah in Jeremiah 2:1-37 and ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 17:7-13

A picture of moral error. "And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns," etc. Whilst to the eye of the Infinite the greatest cities of the world, the mightiest empires, the most stupendous productions of human art are as nothing, and less than nothing, "vanity," those great moral principles which are the expressions of his own nature, the laws that control... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 17:8

The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition; and is about to come up out of the abyss (Revised Version). "And to go" ( ὑπάγειν ) is read in א , B. P, Vulgate, and almost all cursives; while ὑπάγει , "he goeth," is found in A, 12, Arethas, Irenaeus. The latter part of this passage is related again in Revelation 19:20 . The beast, as we have seen is the world power—Satan in his character of "prince of this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 17:9

And here is the mind which hath wisdom. Omit "and." Read, Here is the mind (or, meaning ) , etc. These words (as in Revelation 13:18 ) draw attention to the explanation which follows—or else that which precedes (cf. Revelation 13:18 ). They also make it appear that the explanation which the angel offers of the "mystery" is not one to be understood without some difficulty. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. The diversity of opinions on the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Revelation 17:10

And there are seven kings; and they are. Here we have the same idea (cf. Revelation 17:9 ), with a somewhat different aspect. The phrase in Revelation 17:9 , "seven mountains," regarded the world power as one universal indivisible whole, without respect to particular times or modes in which it might be exhibited. In this phrase, "seven kings," we have the same world power viewed in its successive exhibitions by different nations; though here again we must be on our guard not to... read more

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