Revelation 17:16; Desolate and Naked

Revelation 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 

The first act of hatred against Babylon will be a plundering of her wealth, the apparent meaning of “desolate”. Then they will make her “naked”, that is, expose her moral corruption to public view. This aspect of Babylon’s description alludes to a similar fate predicted for Jerusalem in Ezekiel 16:39-40; 23:25-27) (Kiddle). She will lose her adornment (Revelation 17:4) and former spiritual power over her lovers (Alford).

Ezekiel 16:39-40  And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. 

Ezekiel 23:25-27  And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels. Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more. 

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: 

Following this, the ten horns and the beast “will eat her flesh”. The figure recalls the eating of Jezebel’s flesh by dogs (1 Kings 21:23-24; 2 Kings 9:30-37).

1 Kings 21:23-24  And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. 

2 Kings 9:30-37  And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter. And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel. 

This is what wild beasts do to corpses, and so it became a vivid way of describing the utter destruction of man by other men (cf. Psalm 27:2; Jeremiah 10:25; Micah 3:3; Zephaniah 3:3) (Beckwith). It expresses extreme vengeance with keen hostility. (Alford)

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 304]