Revelation 17:18

18 The woman whom you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

Revelation 17:18 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 17:18

And the woman which thou sawest
( Revelation 17:3 ) as there described,

is that great city,
often mentioned in this book; great Babylon, the city of Rome, ( Revelation 11:8 ) ( 14:8 ) ( 16:19 ) which reigneth over the kings of the earth; which then reigned in John's time over the kings of the earth; and this clearly points out the city of Rome, for there was no other city then, but that, which reigned over the kings of the earth; that was then the metropolis of the Roman empire, to which the whole world was subject; and therefore it is called all the world, ( Luke 2:1 ) and since, all the kings of the empire have been under the jurisdiction of Rome Papal. It was formerly called Urbs Regum, a "city of kings" F26, either for the reason in the text, or because its inhabitants looked like kings.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Justin. l. 18. c. 2.

Revelation 17:18 In-Context

16 As for the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will destroy her and strip her bare. They will devour her flesh and burn her with fire
17 because God moved them to carry out his purposes. That is why they will be of one mind and give their royal power to the beast, until God's words have been accomplished.
18 The woman whom you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."
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