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

1Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me. “Come,” he said, “I will show you the condemnation and punishment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth’s inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality.” So he carried me away in the Spirit to a wilderness, and there I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4Now the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality. 5On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of 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 1:10I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day when I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
• Revelation 4:2Immediately I was in the Spirit, and a throne was standing in heaven with someone seated on it!
• Revelation 21:10So he took me away in the Spirit to a huge, majestic mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
• 1 Kings 18:12But when I leave you, the Lord’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. That would not be fair, because your servant has been a loyal follower of the Lord from my youth.
• 2 Kings 2:16They said to him, “Look, there are fifty capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the Lord may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” But Elisha replied, “Don’t send them out.”
• Ezekiel 3:12Then a wind lifted me up and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me as the glory of the Lord rose from its place,
• Ezekiel 8:3He stretched out the form of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue which provokes to jealousy was located.
• Ezekiel 11:24Then a wind lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia, in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen went up from me.
• Acts 8:39Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but went on his way rejoicing.
• Revelation 12:6and she fled into the wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so she could be taken care of for 1,260 days.
• Revelation 17:4Now the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality.
• Revelation 12:3Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.
• Revelation 13:1Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemous name.
• Daniel 7:8“As I was contemplating the horns, another horn – a small one – came up between them, and three of the former horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This horn had eyes resembling human eyes and a mouth speaking arrogant things.
• Daniel 11:36“Then the king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will utter presumptuous things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:4He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as 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