Revelation 17:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;

NIV: "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.

NASB: Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits,

CSB: This calls for a mind that has wisdom: "The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated. They are also seven kings:

NLT: This calls for a mind with understanding: The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills where the woman rules. They also represent seven kings.

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

NKJV: “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.

The angel explained that the beast's seven heads are seven mountains. Many expositors attribute the seven mountains to the seven hills of Rome. Originally, Rome included seven hills on the Tiber River. These hills were named Palatine, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Viminal, Quirinal, and Capitoline. Later Rome's territory included the hill Janiculum and another hill to the north.

If Rome, "the city of seven hills," is referred to in this verse, we might conclude that Rome is the beast's capital city. Or, as some do, that the religious power behind the Antichrist is connected to Catholicism. However, the following verse also refers to these seven mountains as seven kings (Revelation 17:10). It is unwise, therefore, to be dogmatic about identifying the city of Rome as the beast's capital city, or a reference to a particular religion. Just as a mountain rises above its surrounding area, so an unrighteous king or ruler exalts himself above his subjects. Further, a mountain is strong and may represent a king's political strength. In the tribulation, the beast arises as a strong political figure who exalts himself to the point of declaring that he is God and demanding that people worship him (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4).

Revelation 17:7–14 explains the meaning of the visions John saw in the prior verses. The angel speaking with John explains the symbols of the beast, seven mountains, and ten horns. In the passage to follow, the angel will explain the downfall of the ''great prostitute,'' who symbolizes an ungodly religion. Other passages in the Bible speak to this vision in Revelation 17. e For example, Daniel 7 prophesies a ''fourth empire'' to produce ten kings and another king. The final king will speak blasphemous words against God and will wear out God's saints for three and a half years. However, the Most High will destroy him and establish God's everlasting kingdom. Daniel 9:24–27 and Revelation 13 also describe this defiant, powerful king. Revelation 19:11–21 reveals his end.

Revelation 17 zeroes in on God's judgment of Babylon as the center of religious corruption in the tribulation. The target of this wrath seems to be an eclectic form of all apostate religions. This might be a concrete, single religion. Or, it might be a near-religious blending or equalizing of all spiritual beliefs. God views religious Babylon as ''the great prostitute'' that has support from heads of state. This system is both extremely rich and murderous, guilty of martyring saints. It has a past and a renewed existence as a religious-political system. Together, the political heads of state and religious Babylon battle Jesus, the Lamb, but He defeats them. The end of religious Babylon comes when the ten kings turn against her and ruin her. They destroy religious Babylon because God puts it in the hearts to do so.

Chapter 16 resumed explaining God's pattern of end times wrath, this time describing the seven bowl judgments. As the last bowl is poured out, John is called to see a vision, which seems to incorporate events occurring throughout the tribulation. This chapter focuses on the fall of religious Babylon. Revelation 14:8 and 16:19 mention Babylon's collapse under the wrath of God in the tribulation. Babylon's ultimate fall may actually occur before the bowl judgments, anytime during the second half of the tribulation. Isaiah 13 and Jeremiah 50 and 51 predict the fall of Babylon. Revelation 18 also speaks of the ruin of Babylon, but from a political and economic perspective.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''