Revelation 17:4

Revelation 17:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
• New International Version (NIV)The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.

Context of Revelation 17:4

2with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” 3And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls, holding in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality, 5and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.

Revelation 17:4 word by word

καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἦν περιβεβλημένη πορφυροῦν καὶ κόκκινον καὶ κεχρυσωμένη χρυσίῳ καὶ λίθῳ τιμίῳ καὶ μαργαρίταις, ἔχουσα ποτήριον χρυσοῦν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτῆς γέμον βδελυγμάτων καὶ τὰ ἀκάθαρτα τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς.Read the interlinear

• The womanγυνήgunē · womanG1135
• was clothedπεριβάλλωperiballō · to clotheG4016
• in purpleπορφύρεοςporphurous · purpleG4210
• and scarletκόκκινοςkokkinos · scarletG2847
• adornedχρυσόωchrusoō · to gildG5558
• with goldχρυσίονchrusion · goldG5553
• preciousτίμιοςtimios · preciousG5093
• stonesλίθοςlithos · stoneG3037
• and pearlsμαργαρίτηςmargaritēs · pearlG3135
• holdingἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• in her handχείρcheir · handG5495
• a goldχρύσεοςchruseos · goldenG5552
• cupποτήριονpotērion · cupG4221
• fullγέμωgemō · be fullG1073
• of abominationsβδέλυγμαbdelugma · abominationG946
• and of the uncleanἀκάθαρτοςakathartos · uncleanG169
• of her sexualπορνείαporneia · sexual sinG4202

Cross-references for Revelation 17:4

• Revelation 18:7To the extent that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, to the same extent give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’
• Daniel 11:38But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, precious stones, and treasures.
• Revelation 14:8And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
• Revelation 18:6Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.
• Revelation 19:2because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.”
• Jeremiah 51:7Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, Intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going insane.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:3No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
• Deuteronomy 29:17moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols made of wood and stone, silver and gold, which they had with them);
• 1 Kings 14:24There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed all the same abominations of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
• 2 Kings 21:2He did evil in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
• Isaiah 66:3“But the one who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a person; The one who sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; One who offers a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; One who burns incense is like one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, And their souls delight in their abominations,
• Ezekiel 20:30Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Will you defile yourselves in the way of your fathers and adulterously pursue their detestable things?
• Hosea 9:10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, And they became as detestable as that which they loved.
• Ezra 9:11which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and with their impurity.
• Lamentations 1:9Her uncleanness was in her garment’s seams; She did not think of her future. So she has fallen in an astonishing way; She has no comforter. “See, Lord, my affliction, For the enemy has honored himself!”
• Ezekiel 24:11Then set it empty on its burning coals So that it may be hot And its bronze may glow, And its filthiness may be melted in it, Its rust eliminated.

Commentaries on Revelation 17:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication - This strikingly represents the most pompous and costly manner in which the Latin Church has held forth to the nations the rites and ceremonies of its idolatrous and corrupt worship.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour - On the nature of the scarlet color, see the notes on Revelation 17:3. The purple color - ́ porphura- was obtained from a species of shellfish found on the coasts of the Mediterranean, which yielded a reddish-purple dye, much prized by the ancients. Robes dyed in that color were commonly worn by persons of rank and wealth, Mark 15:17, Mark 15:20; Luke 16:19. The purple color contains more blue than…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. 44. The color scarlet, it is remarkable, is that reserved for popes and cardinals. Paul II made it penal for anyone but cardinals to wear hats of scarlet; compare Roman Ceremonial [3.5.5]. This book was compiled several centuries ago by Marcellus, a Romish archbishop, and dedicated to Leo X. In it are enumerated five different articles of dress of scarlet color. A vest is mentioned studded with pearls. The Pope's miter is of gold and precious stones. These…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 17:4

• Colors
• Horn
• Idolatry
• Pearl
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Precious Stones
• Abomination
• Antichrist
• Carry
• Colour
• Cup
• Pearl
• Array
• Color; Colors
• Crime; Crimes

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