Revelation 17:18

Revelation 17:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth."
• New King James Version (NKJV)And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the world.”

Context of Revelation 17:18

16The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

Revelation 17:18 word by word

καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἣν εἶδες, ἔστιν ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη ἡ ἔχουσα βασιλείαν ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• the womanγυνήgunē · womanG1135
• whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• thou sawestὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• that greatμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• cityπόλιςpolis · cityG4172
• whichἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• reignethβασιλείαbasileia · kingdomG932
• overἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• the kingsβασιλεύςbasileus · kingG935
• of the earthγῆgē · earth: planetG1093

Cross-references for Revelation 17:18

• Revelation 16:19The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.
• Revelation 18:2With a mighty voice he shouted: “ ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.
• Daniel 2:40Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.
• Daniel 7:23“He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.
• Luke 2:1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
• Revelation 12:4Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.

Commentaries on Revelation 17:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth - It has already been shown that the woman sitting upon the seven-headed beast is a representation of the Latin Church; here we have the greatest assurance that it is so, because the woman is called a city, which is a much plainer emblem of a Church, as the word is used unequivocally in this sense in so many parts of Scripture that we cannot well mistake its…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18And the woman which thou sawest - Revelation 17:3. Is that great city - Represents that great city. Which reigneth over the kings of the earth - Rome would of course be understood by this language in the time of John, and all the circumstances, as we have seen, combined to show that Rome, in some form of its dominion, is intended. Even the name could hardly have designated it more clearly, and all expositors agree in supposing that Rome, either as pagan…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-18Verses 15-18 God so ruled the hearts of these kings, by his power over them, and by his providence, that they did those things, without intending it, which he purposed and foretold. They shall see their folly, and how they have been bewitched and enslaved by the harlot, and be made instruments in her destruction. She was that great city which reigned over the kings of the earth, when John had this vision; and every one knows Rome to be that city…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-18The main drama in this section shows the powers that stand against God and cause the persecution and suffering of God’s people. Rome’s power attracted and impressed many people (Revelation 17:6). John clearly describes Rome's sins and shares God's judgment (Revelation 17:3–18) before he describes Rome’s fall (18:1–24) and heaven’s response to that fall (19:1–10).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. reigneth--literally, "hath kingship over the kings." The harlot cannot be a mere city literally, but is called so in a spiritual sense (Re 11:8). Also the beast cannot represent a spiritual power, but a world power. In this verse the harlot is presented before us ripe for judgment. The eighteenth chapter details that judgment.Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 17:18

• Women

In the dictionaries

• Antichrist
• Carry
• Babylon in the New Testament
• Eschatology of the New Testament
• Images
• Palestine
• Perdition
• Reign
• Revelation of John
• Babylon

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