Albert Barnes Commentary Revelation 17

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials. See Barnes on Revelation 15:1, 7.

Reference is again made to these angels in the same manner in Revelation 21:9, where one of them says that he would show to John the bride, the Lamb's wife. No particular one is specified. The general idea seems to be that to those seven angels was entrusted the execution of the last things, or the winding up of affairs introductory to the reign of God, and that the communications respecting those last events were properly made through them.

It is clearly quite immaterial by which of these it is done. The expression "which had the seven vials" would seem to imply that though they had emptied the vials in the manner stated in the previous chapter, they still retained them in their hands.

And talked with me. He spoke to me. The word talk would imply a more protracted conversation than occurred here.

Come hither. Greek, deuro—“here, hither.” This is a word merely calling attention, as we would say now, “here.” It does not imply that John was to leave the place where he was.

I will show you. Partly by symbols and partly by express statements: for this is the way in which, in fact, he showed him.

The judgment. The condemnation and calamity that will come upon her.

Of the great whore. It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to represent a city under the image of a woman—a pure and holy city under the image of a virgin or chaste female; a corrupt, idolatrous, and wicked city under the image of an abandoned or lewd woman. See Barnes on Isaiah 1:21.

How is the faithful city become an harlot. Compare Barnes on Isaiah 1:8.

In Revelation 16:18 it is expressly said that this woman is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth—that is, as I suppose, Papal Rome; and the design here is to represent it as resembling an abandoned female—a fit representative of an apostate, corrupt, unfaithful church. Compare Barnes on Revelation 9:21.

That sitteth upon many waters. An image drawn either from Babylon, situated on the Euphrates and encompassed by the many artificial rivers which had been made to irrigate the country, or Rome, situated on the Tiber. In Revelation 16:15, these waters are said to represent peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues over which the government symbolized by the woman ruled. See Barnes on Revelation 16:15.

Waters are often used to symbolize nations.

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. Spiritual adultery. The meaning is that Papal Rome, unfaithful to God, and idolatrous and corrupt, had seduced the rulers of the earth and led them into the same kind of unfaithfulness, idolatry, and corruption (Jeremiah 5:7; Jeremiah 13:27; Jeremiah 23:14; Ezekiel 16:32; Ezekiel 23:37; Hosea 2:2).

Hosea 4:2. How true this is in history does not need to be stated. All the princes and kings of Europe during the Dark Ages and for many centuries were—and many of them still are—entirely under the influence of Papal Rome.

And the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. This refers to the alluring cup that she, as a harlot, extended to them. See this image explained in Barnes on Revelation 14:8.

There, Babylon—referring to the same thing—had made them drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; that is, of the cup that led to wrath or punishment. Here, it is said that the harlot had made them drunk with the wine of her fornication; that is, they had been, as it were, intoxicated by the alluring cup held out to them. What could better describe the influence of Rome on the people of the world, making them, under these delusions, incapable of sober judgment, and completely fascinating and controlling all their powers?

So he carried me away in the spirit. In vision. He seemed to himself to be carried away in this manner; or the scene which he is about to describe was made to pass before him as if he were present.

Into the wilderness. Into a desert. Compare Revelation 12:6.

Why this scene is laid in a wilderness or desert is not mentioned. Professor Stuart supposes that it is because it is "appropriate to symbolize the future condition of the beast." So De Wette and Rosenmuller. The imagery is changed somewhat from the first appearance of the harlot in Revelation 17:1. There she is represented as sitting upon many waters. Now she is represented as riding on a beast, and, of course, the imagery is adapted to that.

Possibly there may have been no intentional significance in this; but on the supposition, as the interpretation has led us to believe all along, that this refers to Papal Rome, may not the propriety of this be seen in the condition of Rome and the adjacent country at the rise of the Papal power? That had its rise (see Daniel 7:25 and following) after the decline of the Roman civil power, and properly in the time of Clovis, Pepin, or Charlemagne. Perhaps its first visible appearance as a power that was to influence the destiny of the world was in the time of Gregory the Great, A.D. 590-605.

On the supposition that the passage before us refers to the period when the Papal power became so marked and defined, the state of Rome at this time, as described by Mr. Gibbon, would show with what propriety the term wilderness or desert might be then applied to it. The following extract from this author, in describing the state of Rome at the accession of Gregory the Great, has almost the appearance of being a designed commentary on this passage, or is, at any rate, such as a partial interpreter of this book would desire and expect to find.

Speaking of that period, he says, (Decline and Fall, iii. 207-211):

"Rome had reached, about the close of the sixth century, the lowest period of her depression. By the removal of the seat of empire, and the successive loss of the province, the sources of private and public opulence were exhausted; the lofty tree under whose shade the nations of the earth had reposed was deprived of its leaves and branches, and the sapless trunk left to wither on the ground. The ministers of command and the messengers of victory no longer met on the Appian or Flaminian way; and the hostile approach of the Lombards was often felt and continually feared. The inhabitants of a potent and peaceful capital, who visit without an anxious thought the garden of the adjacent country, will faintly picture in their fancy the distress of the Romans; they shut or opened their gates with a trembling hand, beheld from the walls the flames of their houses, and heard the lamentations of their brethren who were coupled together like dogs, and dragged away into distant slavery beyond the sea and the mountains. Such incessant alarms must annihilate the pleasures, and interrupt the labours of rural life; and the Campagna of Rome was speedily reduced to the state of a dreary WILDERNESS, in which the land is barren, the waters are impure, and the air infectious. Curiosity and ambition no longer attracted the nations to the capital of the world; but if chance or necessity directed the steps of a wandering stranger, he contemplated with horror the vacancy and solitude of the city; and might be tempted to ask, where is the Senate, and where are the people?

In a season of excessive rains, the Tiber swelled above its banks, and rushed with irresistible violence into the valleys of the seven hills. A pestilential disease arose from the stagnation of the deluge, and so rapid was the contagion that eighty persons expired in an hour in the midst of a solemn procession which implored the mercy of heaven. A society in which marriage is encouraged, and industry prevails, soon repairs the accidental losses of pestilence and war; but as the far greater part of the Romans was condemned to hopeless indigence and celibacy, the depopulation was constant and visible, and the gloomy enthusiasts might expect the approaching failure of the human race. Yet the number of citizens still exceeded the measure of subsistence; their precarious food was supplied from the harvests of Sicily and Egypt; and the frequent repetition of famine betrays the inattention of the emperor to a distant province.

The edifices of Rome were exposed to the same ruin and decay; the mouldering fabrics were easily overthrown by inundations, tempests, and earthquakes; and the monks who had occupied the most advantageous stations exulted in their base triumph over the ruins of antiquity.

Like Thebes, or Babylon, or Carthage, the name of Rome might have been erased from the earth, if the city had not been animated by a vital principle which again restored her to honour and dominion. The power as well as the virtue of the apostles revived with living energy in the breasts of their successors; and the chair of St. Peter under the reign of Maurice, was occupied by the first and greatest of the name of Gregory. The sword of the enemy was suspended over Rome; it was averted by the mild eloquence and seasonable gifts of the Pontiff, who commanded the respect of heretics and barbarians." Compare Revelation 13:3, 12-15.

On the supposition now that the inspired author of the Apocalypse had Rome in that state in his view when the civil power declined and the Papacy arose, what more expressive imagery could he have used to denote it than he has employed? On the supposition—if such a supposition could be made—that Mr. Gibbon meant to furnish a commentary on this passage, what more appropriate language could he have used? Does not this language look as if the author of the Apocalypse and the author of the Decline and Fall meant to play into each other's hands?

And in further confirmation of this, I may refer to the testimony of two Roman Catholic writers, giving the same view of Rome, and showing that, in their apprehension also, it was only by the reviving influence of the Papacy that Rome was saved from becoming a total waste. They are both of the Middle Ages.

The first is Augustine Steuchus, who writes thus: "The empire having been overthrown, unless God had raised up the Pontificate, Rome, resuscitated and restored by none, would have become uninhabitable, and been a most foul habitation thereafter of cattle. But in the Pontificate it revived as with a second birth; its empire in magnitude, not indeed equal to the old empire, but its form not very dissimilar: because all nations, from East and from West, venerate the Pope, not otherwise than they before obeyed the Emperors."

The other is Flavio Blondas: "The princes of the world now adore and worship as Perpetual Dictator the successor not of Caesar but of the Fisherman Peter; that is, the Supreme Pontiff, the substitute of the aforesaid Emperor." See the original in Elliott, iii. 113.

And I saw a woman. Evidently the same which is referred to in Revelation 17:1.

Sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast. That is, either the beast was itself naturally of this color, or it was covered with trappings of this color. The word scarlet properly denotes a bright red color—brighter than crimson, which is a red color tinged with blue. See Isaiah 1:18.

The word used here—kokkinon—occurs in the New Testament only in the following places: Matthew 27:28; Hebrews 9:19; Revelation 17:3–4; Revelation 18:12, 16, in all of which places it is rendered scarlet. See Matthew 27:28; see Hebrews 9:19.

The color was obtained from a small insect which was found adhering to the shoots of a species of oak in Spain and Western Asia. This was the usual color in the robes of princes, military cloaks, etc. It is applicable in the description of Papal Rome, because this is a favorite color there. Thus it is used in Revelation 12:3, where the same power is represented under the image of a red dragon. See Revelation 12:3.

It is remarkable that nothing would better represent the favorite color at Rome than this, or the actual appearance of the pope, the cardinals, and the priests in their robes, on some great festival occasion. Those who are familiar with the descriptions given of Papal Rome by travelers, and those who have passed much time in Rome, will see at once the propriety of this description, on the supposition that it was intended to refer to the Papacy.

I caused this inquiry to be made of an intelligent gentleman who had passed much time in Rome—without his knowing my design—what would strike a stranger on visiting Rome, or what would be likely particularly to arrest his attention as remarkable there; and he unhesitatingly replied, "the scarlet color." This is the color of the dress of the cardinals—their hats, and cloaks, and stockings being always of this color.

It is the color of the carriages of the cardinals, the entire body of the carriage being scarlet, and the trappings of the horses the same. On occasion of public festivals and processions, scarlet is suspended from the windows of the houses along which processions pass. The inner color of the cloak of the pope is scarlet; his carriage is scarlet; the carpet on which he treads is scarlet.

A large part of the dress of the body-guard of the pope is scarlet; and no one can take up a picture of Rome without seeing that this color is predominant. I looked through a volume of engravings representing the principal officers and public persons of Rome. There were few in which the scarlet color was not found as constituting some part of their apparel; in not a few the scarlet color prevailed almost entirely.

And in illustration of the same thought, I introduce here an extract from a foreign newspaper, copied into an American newspaper of Feb. 22, 1851, as an illustration of the fact that the scarlet color is characteristic of Rome, and of the readiness with which it is referred to in that respect: "Curious Costumes.—The three new cardinals, the archbishops of Thoulouse, Rheims, and Besancon, were presented to the President of the French Republic by the Pope's Nuncio. They wore red caps, red stockings, black Roman coats lined and bound with red, and small cloaks." I conclude, therefore, that if it be admitted that it was intended to represent Papal Rome in the vision, the precise description would have been adopted which is found here.

Full of names of blasphemy. All covered over with blasphemous titles and names. What could more accurately describe Papal Rome than this? Compare for some of these names and titles, 2 Thessalonians 2:4; 1 Timothy 4:1 and following; Revelation 13:1; Revelation 13:5.

Having seven heads and ten horns. See Revelation 13:1.

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour. On the nature of the scarlet colour, see Barnes on Revelation 17:3.

The purple colour—porfura—was obtained from a species of shell-fish found on the coasts of the Mediterranean, which yielded a reddish-purple dye, much prized by the ancients. Robes dyed in that colour were commonly worn by persons of rank and wealth, Mark 15:17, 20; Luke 16:19.

The purple colour contains more blue than the crimson, though the limits are not very accurately defined, and the words are sometimes interchanged. Thus the mock robe put on the Saviour is called in Mark 15:17, 20, porfuran—purple, and in Matthew 27:28, kokkinhn—crimson. On the applicability of this to the Papacy, see Barnes on Revelation 17:3.

And decked with gold. After the manner of a harlot, with rich jewelry.

And precious stones. Sparkling diamonds, etc.

And pearls. Also a much-valued female ornament. Compare Barnes on Matthew 7:6; Matthew 13:46.

Having a golden cup in her hand. As if to entice lovers. See Barnes on Revelation 14:8.

Full of abominations. Of abominable things; of things fitted to excite abhorrence and disgust; things unlawful and forbidden. The word, in the Scriptures, is commonly used to denote the impurities and abominations of idolatry. See Barnes on Daniel 9:27.

The meaning here is, that it seemed to be a cup filled with wine, but it was in fact a cup full of all abominable drugs, leading to all kinds of corruption. How much in accordance this is with the fascinations of the Papacy, it is not necessary now to say, after the ample illustrations of the same thing already furnished in these Notes.

And filthiness of her fornication. The image here is that of Papal Rome, represented as an abandoned woman in gorgeous attire, alluring by her arts the nations of the earth, and seducing them into all kinds of pollution and abomination. It is a most remarkable fact that the Papacy, as if designing to furnish a fulfilment of this prophecy, has chosen to represent itself almost precisely in this manner—as a female extending an alluring cup to passers by. Apostate churches, and guilty nations, often furnish the very proofs necessary to confirm the truth of the Scriptures.

And upon her forehead. This means in a circlet around her forehead. That is, it was made prominent and public, as if written on the forehead in blazing capitals. In Revelation 13:1, it is said that "the name of blasphemy" was written on the "heads" of the beast. The meaning in both places is substantially the same: that it was prominent and unmistakable. (See the notes on Revelation 13:1).

(Compare with the notes on Revelation 14:1).

Was a name written. This means a title, or something that would properly indicate her character.

Mystery. It is proper to remark that, as far as is now known, there is nothing in the original as written by John that corresponded with what is implied by placing this inscription in capital letters. The same remark may be made of the "title" or inscription that was placed over the head of the Savior on the cross (Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19). Our translators have adopted this form, apparently, for the sole purpose of indicating that it was an inscription or title.

Regarding the meaning of the word mystery, see the notes on 1 Corinthians 2:7. (Compare with the notes on 1 Timothy 3:16).

Here, "mystery" seems to be used to denote that there was something hidden, obscure, or enigmatical under the title adopted; that is, the word Babylon and the word mother were symbolical. Our translators have printed and punctuated the word mystery as if it were part of the inscription. It would probably be better to regard it as referring to the inscription in this way: "a name was written—a mysterious name, namely, Babylon," etc. Or, "a name was written mysteriously."

According to this interpretation, it would mean not that there was any wonderful "mystery" about the thing itself (whatever might be true on that point), but that the name was enigmatical or symbolical, or that there was something hidden or concealed under the name. It was not to be literally understood.

Babylon the great. This refers to Papal Rome, the nominal head of the Christian world, as Babylon had been of the heathen world. (See the notes on Revelation 14:8).

The mother of harlots.

1. Of that spiritual apostasy from God which, in the language of the prophets, might be called adultery (see the notes on Revelation 14:8);
2. The promoter of lewdness by her institutions (see the notes on Revelation 9:21).

In both these senses, there never was a more expressive or appropriate title than the one employed here.

And abominations of the earth. This refers to abominable things that prevail on the earth (Revelation 17:4). (Compare with the notes on Revelation 9:20-21).