Revelation 17:18; The Woman Which Thou Sawest Is That Great City

Revelation 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. 

After observing the sobering words about the decimation of the harlot and the divinely intentioned unity of the evil forces that destroy her, the angel states in simple terms the identity of the woman riding on the beast – And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. 

Some take this statement as the crowning evidence that John thinks the woman is Rome (eg. Swete, Moffatt). Another opinion is that John thought this, but was wrong in his application of the prophecy to his own generation (Beasley-Murray). Neither of these is correct, however. John nowhere indicates a direct association of the harlot with Rome, not even in the widely cited v9 of this chapter.

Revelation 17:9  And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 

Besides this, the historical dissolution of the Roman Empire does not match the description of the city’s destruction just given in v16-17.

Revelation 17:16-17  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. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 

It is better to see the woman to be the whole anti-Christian religious system of the future that will be bent on seducing the world’s population away from true religion (Walvoord). The many Old Testament allusions to Babylon in Revelation 17-18 indicates her tie to a certain graphical city, yet her primary function is not political, but religious. She stands for an ideology associated with the political institution of the beast. (Wilcock, Revelation, p. 165)

Of the many connections between Revelation 17-18 and Old Testament passages on Babylon, the following are typical:

(1) Jeremiah 51:13 with Revelation 17:1

Jeremiah 51:13  O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. 

Revelation 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 

(2) Jeremiah 51:7 with Revelation 17:2

Jeremiah 51:7  Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. 

Revelation 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 

(3) Jeremiah 51:29 with Revelation 17:16 and 18:18

Jeremiah 51:29  And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. 

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. 

Revelation 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! 

(4) Isaiah 47:5, 7 with Revelation 17:17 and 18:7 and 18:8

Isaiah 47:5  Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms. 

Isaiah 47:7  And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. 

Revelation 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 

Revelation 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 

Revelation 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 

John’s angel-guide quite clearly alludes repeatedly to Babylon on the Euphrates throughout Revelation 17-18. So the woman will be a religious system connected with that city.

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 30306-307]