Revelation 17:3; A Scarlet Beast

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Revelation 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 

The scarlet beast is the same one who emerged out of the sea in Revelation 13:1.

Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 

The earlier passage does not give his colour, but it does note his seven heads and ten horns and names of blasphemy. The second and third angelic announcements in chapter 14 implied a close association of this beast with Babylon (Revelation 14:8-11) in that the doom of Babylon entailed the doom of those who worship the beast.

Revelation 14:8-11 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive hismark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 

Here that relationship becomes explicit. The beast is the empire, or more particularly, the ruler who perfectly embodies the spirit of the empire. He controls the system politically, but the woman represents the false religion that gives spiritual cohesion to the system. Even though “beast” has not article here, Revelation 19:19-20 fully establish that this beast is the same as the one in Revelation 13:1 9Alford, Swete).

The beast’s scarlet colour matches part of the woman’s clothing (Revelation 17:4) and is a possible ironic allusion to the symbolism of atonement or purification under the law (Ford).

Leviticus 14:4 Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: Leviticus 14:6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that waskilled over the running water: Leviticus 14:49 And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: Leviticus 14:51 And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: Leviticus 14:52 And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: 

Numbers 19:6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast itinto the midst of the burning of the heifer. 

Luxurious textile materials were often this colour (Revelation 18:12, 16) cf. Numbers 4:8; 2 Samuel 1:24; Jeremiah 4:30).

Revelation 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, Revelation 18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 

Numbers 4:8 And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put in the staves thereof. 

2 Samuel 1:24 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. 

Jeremiah 4:30 And whenthou artspoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thylovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. 

The colour symbolise luxury and splendour, which are its apparent connotations here and in v4.

Revelation 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 

They mockingly put a scarlet robe on Jesus just before His crucifixion (Matthew 27:28-29).

Matthew 27:28-29 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put itupon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 

But scarlet is also the colour of sin (Isaiah 1:18) and contrasts with the whiteness of righteousness and purity (Moffatt, Hailey). A little later a rider on a white horse will come with His armies all dressed in white (Revelation 19:11, 14) (Johnson).

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him wascalled Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 

Revelation 19:14 And the armies which werein heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 

In the Middle Ages, scarlet also symbolized sin. The Whore of Babylon, depicted in a 14th-century French illuminated manuscript riding a scarlet beast. The woman appears attractive, but is wearing scarlet under her blue garment.

Scarlet is a brilliant red color,[1][2] sometimes with a slightly orange tinge.[3] In the spectrum of visible light, and on the traditional color wheel, it is one-quarter of the way between red and orange, slightly less orange than vermilion.[4]

According to surveys in Europe and the United States, scarlet and other bright shades of red are the colors most associated with courage, force, passion, heat, and the Ohio State Buckeyes.[5] In the Roman Catholic Church, scarlet is the color worn by a cardinal, and is associated with the blood of Christ and the Christian martyrs, and with sacrifice.

Scarlet is also often associated with immorality and sin, particularly prostitution or adultery, largely because of a passage referring to “The Great Harlot“, “dressed in purple and scarlet”, in the Bible (Revelation 17:1–6).[5]

From the 8th century until the early 20th century, the most important scarlet pigment used in western art was vermilion, made from the mineral cinnabar. It was used, along with red lake pigments, by artists from Botticelli and Raphael to Renoir. However, in 1919 commercial production began of an intense new synthetic pigment, cadmium red, made from cadmium sulfide and selenium. The new pigment became the standard red of Henri Matisse and the other important painters of the 20th century.

In the 20th century, scarlet also became associated with revolution. Red flags had first been used as revolutionary emblems, symbolizing the blood of martyrs, during the French Revolution and Paris uprisings in 1848. Red became the color of socialism, then communism, and became the color of the flags of both the Soviet Union and Communist China. China still uses a scarlet flag; in Chinese culture red is also the color of happiness. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the flag of Russia is red, blue and white, the colors of the historic Russian flag from the time of Peter the Great, adapted by him from the colors of the Dutch flag.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet_(color)]