Revelation 17:3-8

17:3 So ¹  he carried me away in the Spirit ²  to a wilderness, ³  and there ⁴  I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 17:4 Now ⁵  the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, ⁶  and adorned with gold, ⁷  precious stones, and pearls. She held ⁸  in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality. ⁹  17:5 On ¹⁰  her forehead was written a name, a mystery: ¹¹  “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” 17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus. ¹²  I ¹³  was greatly astounded ¹⁴  when I saw her. 17:7 But ¹⁵  the angel said to me, “Why are you astounded? I will interpret ¹⁶  for you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 17:8 The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the abyss ¹⁷  and then go to destruction. The ¹⁸  inhabitants of the earth – all those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the foundation of the world – will be astounded when they see that ¹⁹  the beast was, and is not, but is to come.

Revelation 17:12

17:12 The ²⁰  ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive ruling authority ²¹  as kings with the beast for one hour.

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¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation to witness the fate of the prostitute.

² tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

³ tn Or “desert.”

⁴ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the detailed description of the woman, which is somewhat parenthetical in nature.

⁶ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

⁷ tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).

⁸ tn Grk “pearls, having in her hand.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁹ tc Several mss (including 1611 1854 2053 Ï^K pc) read “sexual immorality on/of the earth” (πορνείας τῆς γῆς, porneia" th" gh") instead of “her sexual immorality.” Other mss (א sy^h** [co]) read “her sexual immorality and the earth’s” (πορνείας αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς γῆς, porneia" aujth" kai th" gh"). The translation is a rendering of πορνείας αὐτῆς, found in {A 1006 2344 al}. It seems that the first reading “sexuality immorality on/of the earth” was a scribal mistake in which letters may have been confused (auths would have been read as thsghs), or was perhaps influenced by the presence of “of the world” (τῆς γῆς) at the end of v. 5. The original wording seems to be “her sexual immorality”; codex א has conflated the two readings.

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹¹ tn Some translations consider the word μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) a part of the name written (“Mystery Babylon the Great,” so KJV, NIV), but the gender of both ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) and μυστήριον are neuter, while the gender of “Babylon” is feminine. This strongly suggests that μυστήριον should be understood as an appositive to ὄνομα (“a name, i.e., a mystery”).

¹² tn Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.

¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁴ tn Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

¹⁶ tn Grk “I will tell you,” but since what follows is the angel’s interpretation of the vision, “interpret for you” is the preferred translation here.

¹⁷ tn On this term BDAG 2 s.v. ἄβυσσος 2 states, “netherworld, abyss, esp. the abode of the dead Ro 10:7 (Ps 106:26) and of demons Lk 8:31; dungeon where the devil is kept Rv 20:3; abode of the θηρίον, the Antichrist 11:7; 17:8; of ᾿Αβαδδών (q.v.), the angel of the underworld 9:11…φρέαρ τῆς ἀ. 9:1f; capable of being sealed 9:1; 20:1, 3.”

¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁹ tn Some translations take the ὅτι (Joti) here as causal: “because he was, and is not, but is to come” (so NIV, NRSV), but it is much more likely that the subject of the ὅτι clause has been assimilated into the main clause: “when they see the beast, that he was…” = “when they see that the beast was” (so BDAG 732 s.v. ὅτι 1.f, where Rev 17:8 is listed).

²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

²¹ tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.