1: And there came one of the seven angels, saying, Come
hither - This relation concerning the great whore, and that
concerning the wife of the Lamb, (Re 21:9,10), have the same
introduction, in token of the exact opposition between them. I
will show thee the judgment of the great whore - Which is now
circumstantially described. That sitteth as a queen - In pomp,
power, ease, and luxury. Upon many waters - Many people and
nations, verse 15. (Re 17:15)
2: With whom the kings of the earth - Both ancient and
modern, for many ages. Have committed fornication - By partaking
of her idolatry and various wickedness. And the inhabitants of
the earth - The common people. Have been made drunk with the
wine of her fornication - No wine can more thoroughly intoxicate
those who drink it, than false zeal does the followers of the
great whore.
3: And he carried me away - In the vision. Into a
wilderness - The campagna di Roma, the country round about Rome,
is now a wilderness, compared to what it was once. And I saw a
woman - Both the scripture and other writers frequently represent
a city under this emblem. Sitting upon a scarlet wild beast - The
same which is described in the thirteenth chapter.(Re 13:1-18) But he was there described as he carried on his
own designs only: here, as he is connected with the whore. There
is, indeed, a very close connexion between them; the seven heads
of the beast being "seven hills on which the woman sitteth."
And yet there is a very remarkable difference between them,
- between the papal power and the city of Rome. This woman is
the city of Rome, with its buildings and inhabitants; especially
the nobles. The beast, which is now scarlet - coloured, (bearing
the bloody livery, as well as the person, of the woman,) appears
very different from before. Therefore St. John says at first
sight, I saw a beast, not the beast, full of names of blasphemy
- He had' before "a name of blasphemy upon his head," (Re 13:1):
now he has many. From the time of Hildebrand, the blasphemous
titles of the Pope have been abundantly multiplied. Having seven
heads - Which reach in a succession from his ascent out of the sea
to his being cast into the lake of fire. And ten horns - Which are
contemporary with each other, and belong to his last period.
4: And the woman was arrayed - With the utmost pomp and
magnificence. In purple and scarlet - These were the colours of
the imperial habit: the purple, in times of peace; and the
scarlet, in times of war. Having in her hand a golden cup - Like
the ancient Babylon, (Jer 51:7).
Full of abominations - The most abominable doctrines as well as
practices.
5: And on her forehead a name written - Whereas the saints
have the name of God and the Lamb on their foreheads. Mystery
- This very word was inscribed on the front of the Pope's mitre,
till some of the Reformers took public notice of it. Babylon the
great - Benedict XIII., in his proclamation of the jubilee, A.D.
1725, explains this sufficiently. His words are, "To this holy
city, famous for the memory of so many holy martyrs, run with
religious alacrity. Hasten to the place which the Lord hath
chose. Ascend to this new Jerusalem, whence the law of the Lord
and the light of evangelical truth hath flowed forth into all
nations, from the very first beginning of the church: the city
most rightfully called 'The Palace,' placed for the pride of all
ages, the city of the Lord, the Sion of the Holy One of Israel.
This catholic and apostolical Roman church is the head of the
world, the mother of all believers, the faithful interpreter of
God and mistress of all churches." But God somewhat varies the
style. The mother of harlots - The parent, ringleader, patroness,
and nourisher of many daughters, that losely copy after her. And
abominations - Of every kind, spiritual and fleshly. Of the earth
- In all lands. In this respect she is indeed catholic or
universal.
6: And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints
- So that Rome may well be called, "The slaughter - house of the
martyrs." She hath shed much Christian blood in every age; but
at length she is even drunk with it, at the time to which this
vision refers. The witnesses of Jesus - The preachers of his word.
And I wondered exceedingly - At her cruelty and the patience of God.
7: I will tell thee the mystery - The hidden meaning of this.
8: The beast which thou sawest
(namely, verse 3) (Re 17:3)
was, &c. - This is a very observable and punctual description of
the beast (Re 17:8,10,11). His whole
duration is here divided into three periods, which are expressed
in a fourfold manner.
He, 1. Was; 2 And is not; 3. And will ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition.
He, 1. Was; 2. And is not; 3. And will be again.
The seven heads are seven hills and seven kings: 1. Five are fallen; 2. One is; 3. The other is not come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
He, 1. Was; 2. And is not; 3 Even he is the eighth, and is one of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
The first of these three is described in the thirteenth chapter.(Re 13:1-18) This was past when the angel spoke to St. John.
The second was then in its course; the third woe to come. And
is not - The fifth phial brought darkness upon his kingdom: the
woman took this advantage to seat herself upon him. Then it
might be said, He is not. Yet shall he afterwards ascend out
of the bottomless pit - Arise again with diabolical strength and
fury. But he will not reign long: soon after his ascent he goeth
into perdition for ever.
9: Here is the mind that hath wisdom - Only those who are
wise will understand this. The seven heads are seven hills.
10: And they are seven kings - Anciently there were royal
palaces on all the seven Roman bills. These were the Palatine,
Capitoline, Coelian, Exquiline, Viminal, Quirinal, Aventine
hills. But the prophecy respects the seven hills at the time
of the beast, when the Palatine was deserted and the Vatican in
use. Not that the seven heads mean hills distinct from kings;
but they have a compound meaning, implying both together.
Perhaps the first head of the beast is the Coelian hill, and on
it the Lateran, with Gregory VII. and his successors; the second,
the Vatican with the church of St. Peter, chosen by Boniface
VIII. the third, the Quirinal, with the church of St. Mark, and
the Quirinal palace built by Paul II. and the fourth, the
Exquiline hill, with the temple of St. Maria Maggiore, where
Paul V. reigned. The fifth will be added hereafter. Accordingly,
in the papal register, four periods are observable since Gregory
VII. In the first almost all the bulls made in the city are
dated in the Lateran; in the second, at St. Peter's; in the
third, at St. Mark's, or in the Quirinal; in the fourth, at St.
Maria Maggiore. But no fifth, sixth, or seventh hill has yet
been the residence of any Pope. Not that the hill was deserted,
when another was made the papal residence; but a new one was
added to the other sacred palaces.
Perhaps the times hitherto mentioned might be fixed thus:
1058
Wings are given to the woman.
1077
The beast ascends out of the sea.
1143
The forty - two months begin.
1810
The forty - two months end.
1832
The beast ascends out of the bottomless pit.
1836
The beast finally overthrown.
The fall of those five kings seems to imply, not only the death
of the Popes who reigned on those hills, but also such a
disannulling of all they had done there, that it will be said,
The beast is not; the royal power, which had so long been lodged
in the Pope, being then transferred to the city. One is, the
other is not yet come - These two are remarkably distinguished from
the five preceding, whom they succeed in their turns. The former
of them will continue not a short space, as may be gathered
from what is said of the latter: the former is under the
government of Babylon; the latter is with the beast.
In this second period, one is, at the same time that the beast
is not. Even then there will be a Pope, though not with the
power which his predecessors had. And he will reside on one of
the remaining hills, leaving the seventh for his successor.
11: And the wild beast that was, and is not, even he is
the eighth - When the time of his not being is over. The beast
consists, as it were, of eight parts. The seven heads are seven
of them; and the eighth is his whole body, or the beast himself.
Yet the beast himself, though he is in a sense termed the eighth,
is of the seven, yea, contains them all. The whole succession of
Popes from Gregory VII. are undoubtedly antichrist. Yet this
hinders not, but that the last Pope in this succession will be
more eminently the antichrist, the man of sin, adding to that
of his predecessors a peculiar degree of wickedness from the
bottomless pit. This individual person, as Pope, is the seventh
head of the beast; as the man of sin, he is the eighth, or the
beast himself.
12: The ten horns are ten kings - It is nowhere said that
these horns are on the beast, or on his heads. And he is said
to have them, not as he is one of the seven, but as he is the
eighth. They are ten secular potentates, contemporary with, not
succeeding, each other, who receive authority as kings with the
beast, probably in some convention, which, after a very short
space, they will deliver up to the beast. Because of their
short continuance, only authority as kings, not a kingdom, is
ascribed to them. While they retain this authority together with
the beast, he will be stronger than ever before; but far stronger
still, when their power is also transferred to him.
13: In the thirteenth and fourteenth verses (Re 17:13,14)
is summed up what is afterwards mentioned, concerning the horns
and the beast, in this and the two following chapters. These
have one mind, and give - They all, with one consent, give their
warlike power and royal authority to the wild beast.
14: These - Kings with the beast. He is Lord of lords
- Rightful sovereign of all, and ruling all things well. And
King of kings - As a king he fights with and conquers all his
enemies. And they that are with him - Beholding his victory,
are such as were, while in the body, called, by his word and
Spirit. And chosen - Taken out of the world, when they were
enabled to believe in him. And faithful - Unto death.
15: People, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues - It
is not said tribes: for Israel hath nothing to do with Rome in
particular.
16: And shall eat her flesh - Devour her immense riches.
17: For God hath put it into their heart - Which indeed no
less than almighty power could have effected. To execute his
sentence - till the words of God - Touching the overthrow of all his
enemies, should be fulfilled.
18: The woman is the great city, which reigneth - Namely,
while the beast "is not," and the woman "sitteth upon him."
