Revelation 17:3 - Exposition

So he carried me away in the spirit; and he carried, etc. (cf. Revelation 1:10 and Revelation 21:10 ). In the latter reference the analogy is sufficiently close to lead us to believe that it is intended. Into the wilderness; a wilderness, according to the Revised Version, which is the rendering of Wordsworth and others; but Alford strongly supports the Authorized Version rendering, notwithstanding the absence of the Greek article (see Alford, in loc. ) . Some commentators have thought that the "wilderness'' signifies the desolation which is the lot of the harlot (see Revelation 17:16 ; Revelation 18:2 , Revelation 18:19 ; also Jeremiah 51:26 ). But we can hardly avoid the conclusion that the "wilderness" here is that spoken of in Revelation 12:6 , Revelation 12:14 , which is symbolical of this world, particularly when we remember that the "wilderness" in both cases is the abode of a woman, who moreover is representative of the Church; though in Revelation 12:1-17 . she represents the Church of God as a whole, persecuted by Satan, and in this place the woman is representative of the faithless part of the Church (see also below on "beast"). Vitringa, referring to Isaiah 21:1 , and Revelation 17:1 , Revelation 17:15 , and Ezekiel 20:35 , arrives at a similar conclusion; it is a "wilderness of the people." And I saw a woman. There is no article, but this vision, occurring immediately after the words of Ezekiel 20:1 , "I will show thee … the great harlot," identifies this woman with the harlot of Ezekiel 20:1 . This woman represents the faithless portion of the Church (see on Ezekiel 20:1 ); that part which, following after worldly things, has thereby rendered to the beast the love and honour due to God alone. This woman is not identical with the woman of Revelation 12:1-17 . The latter represents the faithful, the former the faithless, part of the Church. Sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Here again, as in "wilderness" ( vide supra ) , we have θηρίον , "beast," without the article; but the identity of this "beast" with that of Revelation 13:1 is established by

(1) the same outward characteristics of names of blasphemy, seven heads and ten horns;

That the woman sits upon the beast denotes, not that she exercises control and guidance over it (as Alford), for comp. Revelation 13:16 , but rather that the woman relies upon the beast for support and safety; thus presenting an accurate description of those who prefer to trust to the power and influence of the world rather than to God. Scarlet (whether the colour of the beast itself or of its trappings is immaterial) may signify either