Revelation 17:3

Revelation 17:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
• New International Version (NIV)Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Context of Revelation 17:3

1One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came to me. ‘Come with me,’ he said. ‘I will show you how God will punish the great prostitute. She sits at a place where there are many rivers. 2It is like the kings who rule on the earth have had sex with that bad woman. She has led the people who live on the earth to do bad things. They have become drunk from the strong wine that she has given to them.’ Again, God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a wilderness. There I saw a woman who was sitting on a wild animal that was bright red. All over this wild animal, names were written that insulted God. The animal had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was wearing clothes that were made from expensive cloth. She also wore bright things that made her look beautiful. She shone with gold, valuable stones and pearls. She held a gold cup in her hand. The cup was full of the bad and disgusting things that she had caused people to do. 5A name was written on the front of her head. Only God knows what it means. It was: Powerful Babylon. Mother of all prostitutes. Mother of all the disgusting things on the earth.

Revelation 17:3 word by word

Καὶ ἀπήνεγκέν με εἰς ἔρημον ἐν πνεύματι. καὶ εἶδον γυναῖκα καθημένην ἐπὶ θηρίον κόκκινον γέμοντα ὀνόματα βλασφημίας, ἔχων κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Soκαίkai · andG2532
• he carriedἀποφέρωapopherō · to carry offG667
• meἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the spiritπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: spiritG4151
• intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• the wildernessἔρημοςerēmos · desertedG2048
• I sawὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• a womanγυνήgunē · womanG1135
• sitκάθημαιkathēmai · to sitG2521
• uponἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• a scarlet colouredκόκκινοςkokkinos · scarletG2847
• beastθηρίονthērion · wild animalG2342
• fullγέμωgemō · be fullG1073
• of namesὄνομαonoma · nameG3686
• of blasphemyβλασφημίαblasphēmia · blasphemyG988
• havingἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• sevenἑπτάhepta · sevenG2033
• headsκεφαλήkephalē · headG2776
• tenδέκαdeka · tenG1176
• hornsκέραςkeras · hornG2768

Cross-references for Revelation 17:3

• Revelation 1:10On the Lord's day, God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear things. I heard a voice speak behind me. The sound was as loud as a trumpet.
• Revelation 4:2Immediately God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear more things. I saw a throne in heaven, with someone sitting on it.
• Revelation 21:10Then God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a great mountain that was very high. He showed me God's own holy city, Jerusalem. The city was coming down out of heaven from God.
• 1 Kings 18:12When I leave you, I do not know where the Lord's Spirit will take you. I may not be able to find you again. Then if I tell Ahab that I have seen you, he still will not find you. So he will kill me. But I have served the Lord faithfully since I was a young man.
• 2 Kings 2:16They said to him, ‘Please, sir! We are your servants. We have 50 strong men with us. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has carried him away. Maybe it has dropped him somewhere on a mountain or in a valley.’ But Elisha replied, ‘No. Do not send them to look for him.’
• Ezekiel 3:12Then a spirit lifted me up. I heard a loud noise like thunder behind me. It was the sound of the Lord's great glory as it rose up from its place!
• Ezekiel 8:3He put out something in the shape of a hand. He took hold of the hair on my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up, high in the sky, and took me to Jerusalem. This happened in the vision which God gave to me. I came to the north gate of the temple's inside yard. In that place there was a disgusting idol that made God very angry.
• Ezekiel 11:24In the vision, a spirit lifted me up and took me back to Babylon. I returned to the Israelites who were prisoners there. That was the end of the vision.
• Acts 8:39They both came up out of the water again. Immediately the Lord's Holy Spirit took Philip away from that place. The officer did not see Philip again. He continued his journey and he was very happy.
• Revelation 12:6The woman ran away into the wilderness. God had prepared a special place to keep her safe there for 1,260 days.
• Revelation 17:4The woman was wearing clothes that were made from expensive cloth. She also wore bright things that made her look beautiful. She shone with gold, valuable stones and pearls. She held a gold cup in her hand. The cup was full of the bad and disgusting things that she had caused people to do.
• Revelation 12:3Then another wonderful thing appeared in the sky. It was a very big red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. There was a crown on each head.
• Revelation 13:1Then I saw a wild animal that was coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and there was a crown on each horn. The animal also had seven heads. On each head there was a bad name that insulted God.
• Daniel 7:8I was thinking about the horns and what they might mean. Then I saw another little horn that came up among the other ten horns. It pulled out three of those other horns to make room for itself. This little horn had eyes that looked like a man's eyes. It had a mouth that spoke proud words.
• Daniel 11:36The king will do whatever he wants to do. He will say that he is greater than any god. He will even say proud things to insult the God who rules all other gods. He will be successful until the time when God's anger finishes. God will finish doing what he has decided to do.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:4This man will be God's great enemy. He will say that he is greater than everything that people call their gods. He will say that he is greater than everything that people worship. As a result, he will even go into the temple. He will sit down there like a king. He will tell everyone that he himself is God.

Commentaries on Revelation 17:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness - This wilderness into which the apostle was carried is the desolate state of the true Church of Christ, in one of the wings of the once mighty Roman empire. It was a truly awful sight, a terrible desert, a waste howling wilderness; for when he came hither he: - Saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns - No doubt can now be…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3So he carried me away in the spirit - In vision. He seemed to himself to be thus carried away; or the scene which he is about to describe was made to pass before him as if he were present. Into the wilderness - Into a desert. Compare the notes on Revelation 12:6. Why this scene is laid in a wilderness or desert is not mentioned. Prof. Stuart supposes that it is because it is “appropriate to symbolize the future condition of the beast.” So DeWette and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4John is taken in the spirit into the wilderness, which he uses to describe a visionary experience (see Revelation 1:10; 4:2). He sees a representation of Rome's moral decay and extreme luxury (see Revelation 18:12–13, 16). This shows how such wealth can be offensive to God. The beast here resembles the second figure in the evil trinity (see Revelation 13:1–4). blasphemous names: See Revelation 13:5–6. purple and scarlet: Clothing in these colors signified…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. the wilderness--Contrast her in Re 12:6, 14, having a place in the wilderness-world, but not a home; a sojourner here, looking for the city to come. Now, on the contrary, she is contented to have her portion in this moral wilderness. upon a scarlet ... beast--The same as in Re 13:1, who there is described as here, "having seven heads and ten horns (therein betraying that he is representative of the dragon, Re 12:3), and upon his heads names (so the…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 17:3

• Blasphemy
• Colors
• Horn
• Idolatry
• Seven

In the dictionaries

• Antichrist
• Carry
• Blasphemy
• Color; Colors
• Eschatology of the New Testament
• Horn
• Languages of the Old Testament
• Number
• Palestine
• Revelation of John

Commentaries on Revelation 17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings