Revelation 17:5 BSB

Revelation 17:5

And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

KJV

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

Letter 121, Chapter 11 (420)

Nor does he want to openly say that the Roman empire must be destroyed, which those who rule it regard as eternal. Therefore, according to the Apocalypse of John, on the forehead of the purple-clad prostitute, the name of blasphemy is written, that is, the eternal Rome. For if he had openly and boldly said that the Antichrist would not come unless the Roman empire was first destroyed, it would have seemed like a just cause for persecution to then arise against the Church in the east.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

And upon her forehead - In a circlet around her forehead. That is, it was made prominent and public, as if written on the forehead in blazing capitals. In Rev 13:1 it is said that “the name of blasphemy” was written on the “heads” of the beast. The meaning in both places is substantially the same, that it was prominent, and unmistakable. See the notes on that verse. Compare the note on Rev 14:1. Was a name written - A title, or something that would properly indicate her character.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The correspondence of syllables and accents in Greek is striking; "He porne kai to therion; He numphe kai to arnion." "The whore and the beast; the Bride and the Lamb." of harlots--Greek, "of the harlots and of the abominations." Not merely Rome, but Christendom as a whole, even as formerly Israel as a whole, has become a harlot.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
ἐπὶ	epi	upon	G1909 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
μέτωπον	metōpon	forehead	G3359 →
αὐτῆς	autēs	of her	G846 →
ὄνομα	onoma	a name	G3686 →
γεγραμμένον,	gegrammenon	written,	G1125 →
μυστήριον,	mustērion	a mystery:	G3466 →
Βαβυλὼν	Babulōn	Babylon	G897 →
ἡ	hē	the	G3588 →
μεγάλη,	megalē	Great,	G3173 →
ἡ	hē	the	G3588 →
μήτηρ	mētēr	mother	G3384 →
τῶν	tōn	of the	G3588 →
πορνῶν	pornōn	prostitutes	G4204 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
τῶν	tōn	of the	G3588 →
βδελυγμάτων	bdelugmatōn	abominations	G946 →
τῆς	tēs	of the	G3588 →
γῆς.	gēs	earth.	G1093 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Revelation 19:2
For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…
leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:43
  Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His children. He will take vengeance on His adversaries…
- Revelation 6:10
  And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
Through
Revelation 18:2
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…
leads to
- Revelation 14:8
  Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Jeremiah 51:8
  Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
- Jeremiah 51:37
  Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.
- Jeremiah 50:39–40
  So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there and ostriches will dwell there. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.
Through
Revelation 14:8
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
leads to
- Jeremiah 51:7–8
  Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
Through
Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His…
leads to
- Revelation 17:18
  And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”