Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 17:16

"And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire." — Revelation 17:16 (ASV)

And the ten horns . . .—Translate: And the ten horns which you saw (not, as in the English version, “on the beast,” but), and the wild beast, these shall hate the harlot. The harlot was seen in splendid apparel riding on the wild beast; now the wild beast, in the day of the seventh head, turns with the ten horns of his power upon her, makes her deserted, strips her of her adornments, consumes the spoil—for this is what is meant by “eating her flesh”—and burns her with fire.

The woman in the days of the Evangelist was Rome (Revelation 17:18). But great and irresistible as her power seemed, it was doomed. The day would come when other kingdoms would rise that would hate her for her tyranny, envy her splendor, and covet her wealth.

Then the great Babylon would fall, like Jezebel of old. The painted cheek, the penciled eyebrow, and the amorous glance would lose their fascination. Those who had pandered to her vices would turn against her and cast her out to be trampled underfoot.

Thus the Babylon of St. John’s day fell—perishing in the blood that she had spilled, or left “childless and crownless in her voiceless woe.”