1
Re 17:1-18.
英文原文
Re 17:1-18.
THE HARLOT BABYLON'S GAUD: THE BEAST ON WHICH SHE RIDES, HAVING SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS, SHALL BE THE INSTRUMENT OF JUDGMENT ON HER.
As
Re 16:12
stated generally the vial judgment about to be poured on the harlot, Babylon's power, as the seventeenth and eighteen chapters give the same in detail, so the nineteenth chapter gives in detail the judgment on the beast and the false prophet, summarily alluded to in
Re 16:13-15,
in connection with the Lord's coming.
1. unto me--A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic omit.
many--So A. But B, "the many waters"
(Jer 51:13);
Re 17:15,
below, explains the sense. The whore is the apostate Church, just as "the woman"
(Re 12:1-6)
is the Church while faithful. Satan having failed by violence, tries too successfully to seduce her by the allurements of the world; unlike her Lord, she was overcome by this temptation; hence she is seen sitting on the scarlet-colored beast, no longer the wife, but the harlot; no longer Jerusalem, but spiritually Sodom
(Re 11:8).
2
無標題
2. 喝醉了——希臘文作"因"。若所指是某個特定的錯謬中心，不可能是異教羅馬，而是教廷的羅馬；但我傾向於認為審判
（Re 18:2）
和屬靈的淫行
（Re 18:3），
雖然在羅馬達到頂峰，卻不限於它，而是包括整個叛教的教會——羅馬的、希臘的、甚至更正教的——就其從對基督——那屬天新郎——的"起初愛心"
（Re 2:4）
被誘惑、將感情給了世俗的浮華和偶像而言。那婦人
（Re 12:1）
是新舊約中那在純潔中之神的會眾，並再次以羔羊的新婦——為婚筵預備好的得變化之教會——出現。那婦人——不可見的教會——潛在於叛教的教會中，是爭戰中的教會；新婦則是得勝的教會。
英文原文
2. drunk with--Greek, "owing to." It cannot be pagan Rome, but papal Rome, if a particular seat of error be meant, but I incline to think that the judgment
(Re 18:2)
and the spiritual fornication
(Re 18:3),
though finding their culmination in Rome, are not restricted to it, but comprise the whole apostate Church, Roman, Greek, and even Protestant, so far as it has been seduced from its "first love"
(Re 2:4)
to Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, and given its affections to worldly pomps and idols. The woman
(Re 12:1)
is the congregation of God in its purity under the Old and New Testament, and appears again as the Bride of the Lamb, the transfigured Church prepared for the marriage feast. The woman, the invisible Church, is latent in the apostate Church, and is the Church militant; the Bride is the Church triumphant.
3
無標題
3. 曠野——與
Re 12:6, 14
形成對比——她有曠野中的一個地方——卻不是家；她在這裏作客旅，盼望那將來的城。如今相反，她卻甘心以這道德的曠野為業。
騎在朱紅色的……獸上——與
Re 13:1
所記的相同——那裏如此描述：「有七頭十角」（由此顯明他是龍的代表，
Re 12:3），
「頭上有褻瀆的名號」（最古抄本如此讀）；又比較下文
Re 17:12-14
與
Re 19:19, 20，
以及
Re 17:13, 14, 16。
羅馬依附世界強權並藉至高權的聲索統治之——是這象徵的首要代表，雖非唯一。正如龍是火紅色，獸也是血紅色——暗示其流人血的罪，以及其罪惡深重。朱紅色也是王權的象徵。
寫滿了——遍及全身；不僅僅如
Re 13:1
所記「在頭上」，因為它對神的敵擋如今將以最猛烈的程度發展。在淫婦的監督之下，世界強權發出比異教時代更惡劣的褻瀆主張。教皇被樞機主教們安置在神的殿中祭壇上坐下，樞機主教們親吻教皇的腳。這儀式在羅馬教著作中被稱為「崇拜」[《聖職人員史》，阿姆斯特丹，1716年；萊滕堡《羅馬教廷綱要》，1683年，125頁；海德格爾《奧祕巴比倫》，1, 511, 514, 537]；一枚教皇金幣[《教皇貨幣志》，巴黎，1679年，5頁]上有褻瀆的銘文：「Quem creant, adorant」（他們所立的，他們就敬拜）。跪下和親吻就是約翰所用的字九次論到與神爭競者時所指的敬拜（希臘文作「proskunein」）。可憎之物也是聖經用語，指偶像或任何受造之物被以唯獨造物主當得的敬意來敬拜。然而，當獸被淫婦騎著之時，敵擋神的世界強權尚受某種遏制；當獸毀滅了她之後，便要顯露為從前以各種形式和不同程度出現過的一切自封為神、敵擋神的原則的集中和化身——那時才是最終的敵基督。「教會藉著依附世界強權而獲得了外界的認可，而世界強權反過來又利用教會來達到自己的目的；此處所描繪的正是如此 ripe for judgment 般成熟的基督教世界」[奧伯倫]。許多人認為七頭是羅馬七種連續的政體形式：王、執政官、獨裁官、十人委員、軍事保民官、皇帝、日耳曼皇帝[華茲華斯]——拿破崙是最後一位的繼承者
（Re 17:11）。
但參見我所偏好的觀點，見
Re 17:9, 10
的註釋。從前十角上的冠冕
（Re 13:1）
如今已消失——或許暗示日耳曼—斯拉夫世界[古羅馬帝國，包括東西兩部，即像的兩腿各有五趾，共十趾]所要分成的十國，最終將失去其君主政體[奧伯倫]；但參見
Re 17:12——
似乎暗示有加冕的君王。
英文原文
3. 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 oldest manuscripts read) of blasphemy"; compare also
Re 17:12-14,
below, with
Re 19:19, 20, and Re 17:13, 14, 16.
Rome, resting on the world power and ruling it by the claim of supremacy, is the chief, though not the exclusive, representative of this symbol. As the dragon is fiery-red, so the beast is blood-red in color; implying its blood-guiltiness, and also deep-dyed sin. The scarlet is also the symbol of kingly authority.
full--all over; not merely "on his heads," as in
Re 13:1,
for its opposition to God is now about to develop itself in all its intensity. Under the harlot's superintendence, the world power puts forth blasphemous pretensions worse than in pagan days. So the Pope is placed by the cardinals in God's temple on the altar to sit there, and the cardinals kiss the feet of the Pope. This ceremony is called in Romish writers "the adoration." [Historie de Clerge, Amsterd., 1716; and LETTENBURGH'S Notitia Curiæ Romanæ, 1683, p. 125; HEIDEGGER, Myst. Bab., 1, 511, 514, 537]; a papal coin [Numismata Pontificum, Paris, 1679, p. 5] has the blasphemous legend, "Quem creant, adorant." Kneeling and kissing are the worship meant by John's word nine times used in respect to the rival of God (Greek, "proskunein"). Abomination, too, is the scriptural term for an idol, or any creature worshipped with the homage due to the Creator. Still, there is some check on the God-opposed world power while ridden by the harlot; the consummated Antichrist will be when, having destroyed her, the beast shall be revealed as the concentration and incarnation of all the self-deifying God-opposed principles which have appeared in various forms and degrees heretofore. "The Church has gained outward recognition by leaning on the world power which in its turn uses the Church for its own objects; such is the picture here of Christendom ripe for judgment" [AUBERLEN]. The seven heads in the view of many are the seven successive forms of government of Rome: kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs, military tribunes, emperors, the German emperors [WORDSWORTH], of whom Napoleon is the successor
(Re 17:11).
But see the view given, see on
Re 17:9, 10,
which I prefer. The crowns formerly on the ten horns
(Re 13:1)
have now disappeared, perhaps an indication that the ten kingdoms into which the Germanic-Slavonic world [the old Roman empire, including the East as well as the West, the two legs of the image with five toes on each, that is, ten in all] is to be divided, will lose their monarchical form in the end [AUBERLEN]; but see
Re 17:12,
which seems to imply crowned kings.
4
無標題
4. 令人矚目的是：朱紅色正是教皇和樞機主教所專用的顏色。保羅二世規定除樞機主教外任何人不得戴朱紅色帽子；比較《羅馬禮儀》[3.5.5]。此書於數世紀前由羅馬天主教大主教馬塞盧斯編纂，獻給利奧十世。書中列舉了五件朱紅色衣著。又提及一件鑲有珍珠的背心。教皇的冠冕是金和寶石的。這些正是《啟示錄》三次賦予淫婦或巴比倫的外在特徵。約阿辛——一位來自卡拉布里亞的修道院長，約在主後1200年——被英王理查召到巴勒斯坦、問及敵基督時——回答說：「他早已生於羅馬，如今正高舉自己超過一切稱為神的。」羅傑·霍維登[《編年史》，1.2]及其他地方寫道：「那身穿金的淫婦就是羅馬教會。」無論何時何地（不僅在羅馬），當教會不再「披戴（如起初，
Re 12:1）
天上太陽」，而披戴世俗浮華的衣飾，因懼怕或諂媚世界的權勢、學問或財富而妥協神的真理，她就成了坐在獸上的淫婦，並在公義的報應中註定要被獸審判
（Re 17:16）。
她很快——像羅馬一樣，像基督和使徒時代與異教羅馬結盟的猶太人一樣——要成為聖徒的逼迫者
（Re 17:6）。
她不以她主的「苦杯」為杯，而是有「盛滿了可憎之物和淫亂的污穢之杯」。羅馬在其獎章上自繪手持一杯，上有自定己罪的銘文：「Sedet super universum」（她坐在全地之上）。同時，世界強權放棄其敵意，在外表上接受基督教；獸放棄其敵擋神的性情，女人放棄其屬神的性情。二者藉相互讓步各走一半路；基督教世俗化，世界基督教化。得利的是世界；失敗的是教會。獸一時受了致命傷
（Re 13:3），
但其實並未真正改變形象；牠要回來——比從前更糟
（Re 17:11-14）。
唯獨主藉著他的降臨能使這世上的國成為我們主和他基督的國。「紫色」是帝國的徽號；正如當日是為嘲弄而穿在我主身上的。
裝飾——字面作「鍍金」。
寶石——希臘文作「石頭」。
污穢——A、B和安得烈讀作「那些污穢（不潔）之物」。
英文原文
4. 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 are the very characteristics outwardly which Revelation thrice assigns to the harlot or Babylon. So Joachim an abbot from Calabria, about A.D. 1200, when asked by Richard of England, who had summoned him to Palestine, concerning Antichrist, replied that "he was born long ago at Rome, and is now exalting himself above all that is called God." ROGER HOVEDEN [Annals, 1.2], and elsewhere, wrote, "The harlot arrayed in gold is the Church of Rome." Whenever and wherever (not in Rome alone) the Church, instead of being "clothed (as at first,
Re 12:1)
with the sun" of heaven, is arrayed in earthly meretricious gauds, compromising the truth of God through fear, or flattery, of the world's power, science, or wealth, she becomes the harlot seated on the beast, and doomed in righteous retribution to be judged by the beast
(Re 17:16).
Soon, like Rome, and like the Jews of Christ's and the apostles' time leagued with the heathen Rome, she will then become the persecutor of the saints
(Re 17:6).
Instead of drinking her Lord's "cup" of suffering, she has "a cup full of abominations and filthinesses." Rome, in her medals, represents herself holding a cup with the self-condemning inscription, "Sedet super universum." Meanwhile the world power gives up its hostility and accepts Christianity externally; the beast gives up its God-opposed character, the woman gives up her divine one. They meet halfway by mutual concessions; Christianity becomes worldly, the world becomes Christianized. The gainer is the world; the loser is the Church. The beast for a time receives a deadly wound
(Re 13:3),
but is not really transfigured; he will return worse than ever
(Re 17:11-14).
The Lord alone by His coming can make the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. The "purple" is the badge of empire; even as in mockery it was put on our Lord.
decked--literally, "gilded."
stones--Greek, "stone."
filthiness--A, B, and ANDREAS read, "the filthy (impure) things."
5
無標題
5. 額上……有名——正如淫婦通常有的。與大祭司額上冠冕所刻的「歸耶和華為聖」何等對比！
奧祕——暗示一件屬靈的事實——先前隱藏、單憑理性不能發現、如今才啟示出來。正如基督與教會的聯合是一「極大的奧祕」（一件意義重大的屬靈真理——從前隱藏，如今啟示，
Eph 5:31, 32），
照樣教會迎合世界而成為淫婦是一個反面的「奧祕」（即如今以象徵方式啟示的屬靈真理）。正如淫婦中的罪惡是在「奧祕」中運行的酵——所以被稱為「不法的奧祕」——照樣她被毀滅之時，那先前在裏面（相對地）隱秘運行的罪惡，將在「不法之人」身上彰顯出來——即一切先前邪惡的公開化身。對比「神的奧祕」與「敬虔的奧祕」，
Re 10:7；1Ti 3:16。
釘十字架基督的是羅馬；毀滅耶路撒冷、驅散猶太人的是羅馬；在異教時代逼迫早期基督徒、在教皇時代逼迫更正教基督徒的是羅馬；也許在淫婦與她自己被焚燒之前，羅馬將恢復其在凱撒下的昔日輝煌。希坡律陀[《論敵基督》]（生活在第二世紀）如此認為。教皇制不可能同時是「不法的奧祕」和彰顯或啟示出來的敵基督。也許它將為政治權力
（Re 17:3）
而妥協其信條中尚存的基督教部分，從而為敵基督的彰顯預備道路。「巴比倫」這名——在
Da 2:32, 38
的像中賜給頭——此處賜給淫婦，標示她與第四國——羅馬——即像的最後一部分相連。本篤十三世在他主後1725年大赦年的諭旨中稱羅馬為「一切信徒之母，一切教會之女王」（即如她一般作淫婦的教會）。希臘文中音節和重音的對應令人矚目：「He porne kai to therion；He numphe kai to arnion。」「淫婦和獸；新婦和羔羊。」
淫婦——希臘文作「那淫婦和那可憎之物的」。不僅僅是羅馬——而是整個基督教世界，正如從前整個以色列——已成為淫婦。真信徒那看不見的教會隱藏並分散在有形教會之內。劃分淫婦與女人的界線不是宗派性的，也不是外在劃定的，只能屬靈地辨識。如果羅馬是巴比倫的唯一所在，《啟示錄》的大部分屬靈益處對我們就會失去；但淫婦「坐在眾水之上」
（Re 17:1），
「列國都喝醉了她淫亂的酒」
（Re 17:2；Re 18:3；
「地」，
Re 19:2）。
外表上覆蓋全世界、內裏迎合世界——範圍和內容上的世俗化——由世界之城的名「巴比倫」所象徵。正如太陽照遍全地，照樣身披日頭的婦人要讓她的光透入地的極處。但她在表面上使世界基督教化之時，竟允許自己被世界所誘惑；因此她的普世性或大公性，不是我們所指望的耶路撒冷的普世性（「我們全體之母」，
Re 21:2；Isa 2:2-4；Ga 4:26），
而是巴比倫——那普世卻是淫婦之城的普世性！（正如巴比倫被毀滅，猶太人被古列帶回耶路撒冷——照樣我們的古列——一個意為太陽的波斯名字——公義的太陽——在他降臨之時要將字面的和屬靈的以色列帶到聖潔的耶路撒冷。巴比倫和耶路撒冷是屬靈世界的兩個對立極點）。然而，羅馬教會不僅是偶然地、事實上如此，更是按其原則本身而言，是淫婦——淫亂的首府——「淫婦之母」；而福音派更正教教會按其原則和基本信條，是貞潔的婦人；宗教改革是婦人對淫婦的抗議。宗教改革之前，異教世界王國羅馬的靈，已將西方的教會改變為國家教會——羅馬；在東方改變為國家的教會——被世界強權所轄制，中心在拜占庭；羅馬教會和希臘教會如此從福音那看不見的屬靈本質墮落為世界的元素[奧伯倫]。比較此處被稱為「巴比倫」的「婦人」與那被稱為「罪惡」或「不法」「邪惡」
（Zec 5:7, 8, 11）
被帶到巴比倫的婦人：比較「不法的奧祕」與「不法之人」——「那惡者」——字面作「那不法的」
（2Th 2:7, 8；
又
Mt 24:12）。
英文原文
5. upon . . . forehead . . . name--as harlots usually had. What a contrast to "HOLINESS TO THE LORD," inscribed on the miter on the high priest's forehead!
mystery--implying a spiritual fact heretofore hidden, and incapable of discovery by mere reason, but now revealed. As the union of Christ and the Church is a "great mystery" (a spiritual truth of momentous interest, once hidden, now revealed,
Eph 5:31, 32),
so the Church conforming to the world and thereby becoming a harlot is a counter "mystery" (or spiritual truth, symbolically now revealed). As iniquity in the harlot is a leaven working in "mystery," and therefore called "the mystery of iniquity," so when she is destroyed, the iniquity heretofore working (comparatively) latently in her, shall be revealed in the man of iniquity, the open embodiment of all previous evil. Contrast the "mystery of God" and "godliness,"
Re 10:7; 1Ti 3:16.
It was Rome that crucified Christ; that destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the Jews; that persecuted the early Christians in pagan times, and Protestant Christians in papal times; and probably shall be again restored to its pristine grandeur, such as it had under the Cæsars, just before the burning of the harlot and of itself with her. So HIPPOLYTUS [On Antichrist] (who lived in the second century), thought. Popery cannot be at one and the same time the "mystery of iniquity," and the manifested or revealed Antichrist. Probably it will compromise for political power
(Re 17:3)
the portion of Christianity still in its creed, and thus shall prepare the way for Antichrist's manifestation. The name Babylon, which in the image,
Da 2:32, 38,
is given to the head, is here given to the harlot, which marks her as being connected with the fourth kingdom, Rome, the last part of the image. Benedict XIII, in his indiction for a jubilee, A.D. 1725, called Rome "the mother of all believers, and the mistress of all churches" (harlots like herself). The correspondence of syllables and accents in Greek is striking; "He porne kai to therion; He numphe kai to arnion." "The whore and the beast; the Bride and the Lamb."
of harlots--Greek, "of the harlots and of the abominations." Not merely Rome, but Christendom as a whole, even as formerly Israel as a whole, has become a harlot. The invisible Church of true believers is hidden and dispersed in the visible Church. The boundary lines which separate harlot and woman are not denominational nor drawn externally, but can only be spiritually discerned. If Rome were the only seat of Babylon, much of the spiritual profit of Revelation would be lost to us; but the harlot "sitteth upon many waters"
(Re 17:1),
and "ALL nations have drunk of the wine of her fornication"
(Re 17:2; Re 18:3;
"the earth,"
Re 19:2).
External extensiveness over the whole world and internal conformity to the world--worldliness in extent and contents--is symbolized by the name of the world city, "Babylon." As the sun shines on all the earth, thus the woman clothed with the sun is to let her light penetrate to the uttermost parts of the earth. But she, in externally Christianizing the world, permits herself to be seduced by the world; thus her universality or catholicity is not that of the Jerusalem which we look for ("the MOTHER of us all,"
Re 21:2; Isa 2:2-4; Ga 4:26),
but that of Babylon, the world-wide but harlot city! (As Babylon was destroyed, and the Jews restored to Jerusalem by Cyrus, so our Cyrus--a Persian name meaning the sun--the Sun of righteousness, shall bring Israel, literal and spiritual, to the holy Jerusalem at His coming. Babylon and Jerusalem are the two opposite poles of the spiritual world). Still, the Romish Church is not only accidentally and as a matter of fact, but in virtue of its very PRINCIPLE, a harlot, the metropolis of whoredom, "the mother of harlots"; whereas the evangelical Protestant Church is, according to her principle and fundamental creed, a chaste woman; the Reformation was a protest of the woman against the harlot. The spirit of the heathen world kingdom Rome had, before the Reformation, changed the Church in the West into a Church-State, Rome; and in the East, into a State-Church, fettered by the world power, having its center in Byzantium; the Roman and Greek churches have thus fallen from the invisible spiritual essence of the Gospel into the elements of the world [AUBERLEN]. Compare with the "woman" called "Babylon" here, the woman named "wickedness," or "lawlessness," "iniquity"
(Zec 5:7, 8, 11),
carried to Babylon: compare "the mystery of iniquity" and "the man of sin," "that wicked one," literally, "the lawless one"
(2Th 2:7, 8;
also
Mt 24:12).
6
無標題
6. 殉道者——見證人。
我大大的希奇——既然希臘文的動詞與名詞同字根，名詞可譯作「驚奇」。約翰斷非按現代英文意義欽慕她。在別處
（Re 17:8; 13:3），
所有屬地的人（「住在地上的人」）都因希奇而欽慕那獸。唯獨此處約翰的驚奇被引發；觸動他憂傷驚訝的，不是那獸，而是那沉淪為淫婦的女人——教會變成了愛世界的背道者——如此可怕的轉變。世界如獸般野蠻，本是自然之理，但忠貞的新婦竟成了淫婦，卻是駭人聽聞，在他心中引起的驚駭，正如昔日以色列同樣可怕的轉變在以賽亞和耶利米心中引起的一樣。他們書中的「可憎惡的事」，正與此處的「可憎之物」相呼應。「Corruptio optimi pessima」（最好之物一旦腐敗即為最壞）；教會墮落之時，其所沉淪的深度低於無神的世界，正與其正當的地位高於世界成比例。值得注意的是，在
Re 17:3
中，「女人」並無冠詞，不是「那女人」，彷彿她從前已被提及：因為她一方面與
Re 12:1-6
的女人為同一身分，另一方面卻又不是。蒙選之人永不會變成背道者，仍舊作為那真正的女人隱含於淫婦之中；然而被視為那女人的基督教界，卻已從起初的信心背道了。
英文原文
6. martyrs--witnesses.
I wondered with great admiration--As the Greek is the same in the verb and the noun, translate the latter "wonder." John certainly did not admire her in the modern English sense. Elsewhere
(Re 17:8; 13:3),
all the earthly-minded ("they that dwell on the earth") wonder in admiration of the beast. Here only is John's wonder called forth; not the beast, but the woman sunken into the harlot, the Church become a world-loving apostate, moves his sorrowful astonishment at so awful a change. That the world should be beastly is natural, but that the faithful bride should become the whore is monstrous, and excites the same amazement in him as the same awful change in Israel excited in Isaiah and Jeremiah. "Horrible thing" in them answers to "abominations" here. "Corruptio optimi pessima"; when the Church falls, she sinks lower than the godless world, in proportion as her right place is higher than the world. It is striking that in
Re 17:3,
"woman" has not the article, "the woman," as if she had been before mentioned: for though identical in one sense with the woman,
Re 12:1-6,
in another sense she is not. The elect are never perverted into apostates, and still remain as the true woman invisibly contained in the harlot; yet Christendom regarded as the woman has apostatized from its first faith.
8
無標題
8. 獸……先前有、如今沒有——（參
Re 17:11）。
獸「如今沒有」的時候，就是它有「死傷」的時候；即第七個頭在外表上基督教化的時候，那時它獸性的特徵被暫時擱置。它傷得醫治對應於它從無底坑上來。獸，即敵基督的世界政權，帶著從地獄來的撒但權勢回來，比以前更甚
（Re 11:7），
不僅僅來自海（動亂的列國）
（Re 13:1）。
基督教文明只給獸一時的傷口，故死傷總是與其得醫治相提並論，獸的不存在總是與其再現相提並論；而但以理甚至根本不提基督教在世界政權中所引起的任何改變。我們一面受淫婦那假冒基督教的威脅，另一面受獸那公開的敵基督教的威脅；第三類人是基督的小群。
去——B抄本、武加大譯本與安得烈（ANDREAS）讀未來時態。但A抄本與愛任紐（IRENÆUS）讀「去」。
到滅亡——這復興的第七頭（即第八頭）延續不長：因此被稱為「滅亡之子」，在本質上注定於其出現之後幾乎立即滅亡。
名字是——武加大譯本與安得烈如此讀。但A、B抄本、敘利亞譯本與科普特譯本讀單數「名字」。
記在——希臘文作「在上面」。
他們——當譯作「當他們看見那獸，就是先前有的」等。武加大譯本如此讀。
先前有、如今沒有、以後再有——A、B抄本與安得烈讀作「並將要來」（直譯為「要再顯現」：希臘文「kai parestai」）。希伯來文的「tetragrammaton」——耶和華神聖的四個字母——「那今在、那昔在、那以後永在的」，是信徒敬拜的對象，與獸「那先前有、如今沒有、並將再顯現的」——地上敬拜的對象——恰成對比〔BENGEL〕。他們看見那似乎已被基督教致命一擊的獸，即將在折磨他們的宗教之廢墟上，以比前更大的權勢復興，便以驚奇歡呼
（Re 11:10）。
英文原文
8. beast . . . was, and is not--(Compare
Re 17:11).
The time when the beast "is not" is the time during which it has "the deadly wound"; the time of the seventh head becoming Christian externally, when its beast-like character was put into suspension temporarily. The healing of its wound answers to its ascending out of the bottomless pit. The beast, or Antichristian world power, returns worse than ever, with satanic powers from hell
(Re 11:7),
not merely from the sea of convulsed nations
(Re 13:1).
Christian civilization gives the beast only a temporary wound, whence the deadly wound is always mentioned in connection with its being healed up the non-existence of the beast in connection with its reappearance; and Daniel does not even notice any change in the world power effected by Christianity. We are endangered on one side by the spurious Christianity of the harlot, on the other by the open Antichristianity of the beast; the third class is Christ's little flock."
go--So B, Vulgate, and ANDREAS read the future tense. But A and IRENÆUS, "goeth."
into perdition--The continuance of this revived seventh (that is, the eighth) head is short: it is therefore called "the son of perdition," who is essentially doomed to it almost immediately after his appearance.
names were--so Vulgate and ANDREAS. But A, B, Syriac, and Coptic read the singular, "name is."
written in--Greek, "upon."
which--rather, "when they behold the beast that it was," &c. So Vulgate.
was, and is not, and yet is--A, B, and ANDREAS read, "and shall come" (literally, "be present," namely, again: Greek, "kai parestai"). The Hebrew, "tetragrammaton," or sacred four letters in Jehovah, "who is, who was, and who is to come," the believer's object of worship, has its contrasted counterpart in the beast "who was, and is not, and shall be present," the object of the earth's worship [BENGEL]. They exult with wonder in seeing that the beast which had seemed to have received its death blow from Christianity, is on the eve of reviving with greater power than ever on the ruins of that religion which tormented them
(Re 11:10).
9
無標題
9. 比較
Re 13:18; Da 12:10，
那裏同樣指出，要明白象徵性的預言，需要有屬靈的辨識力。
七頭和七座山——山與王之間的關聯，必比那附帶提及的外在事實更為深刻——即羅馬（當時的世界城）位於七座山丘之上（因此異教羅馬有一個國家節日稱為Septimontium，即七丘之城的節日〔普魯塔克（PLUTARCH）〕；在帝國錢幣上，正如此處一樣，她被描繪為坐在七座山上的婦人。韋斯巴薡的錢幣，史密斯艦長（CAPTAIN SMYTH）〔《羅馬錢幣》，第310頁；阿克曼（ACKERMAN），1，第87頁〕曾有描述）。七頭不太可能同時是七個王或國
（Re 17:10），
又是七座地理上的山。真正的關聯是：正如頭是身體最突出的部分，照樣山是地土上突出的部分。如「海」與「地」以及「眾水……眾民」
（Re 17:15），
「山」也有象徵意義，即權勢的突出所在。尤其是那些作為神事業之突出阻礙的
（Ps 68:16, 17; Isa 40:4; 41:15; 49:11; Eze 35:2）；
尤其是巴比倫（地理上在平原上，屬靈上卻被稱為毀滅的山，
Jer 51:25），
與之威嚴地相對而立的，是錫安山——「主殿的山」
（Isa 2:2），
以及屬天的山；
Re 21:10，
「一座高大的山……那大城，就是聖耶路撒冷」。照樣在
Da 2:35，
那石頭變成一座山——彌賽亞的普世國度取代了先前的世界列國。正如自然界影射屬靈世界的大實體，照樣七丘的羅馬是那龍曾經是、如今仍是其首領的七頭世界政權的代表。「七王」由此與「十王」
（Re 17:12）
有別：前者是後者所不是的——「山」，即世界政權的大本營。七個反對神的普世君主國是：埃及（第一個與神百姓衝突的世界強權）、亞述、巴比倫、希臘、瑪代波斯、羅馬、日耳曼斯拉夫帝國（即尼布甲尼撒像中第四國的鐵中攙雜的泥——一種第五種材料，
Da 2:33, 34, 42, 43，
象徵這末後的頭）。這七個似乎與
Da 7:4-7
的七頭不符：第一獸（巴比倫）有一個頭，第二獸（瑪代波斯）一個，第三獸（希臘）四個（即埃及、敘利亞、色雷斯與庇推尼、希臘與馬其頓）：但埃及與希臘在兩份名單中都有。敘利亞對應亞述（敘利亞之名是亞述的縮寫），色雷斯與庇推尼對應從北方湧入羅馬、建立日耳曼斯拉夫帝國的哥特日耳曼斯拉夫遊牧民族。那坐在七座山上的婦人暗示新舊約教會迎合並倚靠世界政權，即一切七個世界王國。亞伯拉罕和以撒因懼怕埃及諸王而在妻子的事上裝假，正是此事的預表。參
Eze 16:1-63; 23:1-49，
論以色列與埃及、亞述、巴比倫行淫；又
Mt 7:24; 24:10-12, 23-26，
論新約教會屬靈淫亂的特徵，即不信任、猜疑、仇恨、背叛、結黨、錯謬的道理。
英文原文
9. Compare
Re 13:18; Da 12:10,
where similarly spiritual discernment is put forward as needed in order to understand the symbolical prophecy.
seven heads and seven mountains--The connection between mountains and kings must be deeper than the mere outward fact to which incidental allusion is made, that Rome (the then world city) is on seven hills (whence heathen Rome had a national festival called Septimontium, the feast of the seven-hilled city [PLUTARCH]; and on the imperial coins, just as here, she is represented as a woman seated on seven hills. Coin of Vespasian, described by CAPTAIN SMYTH [Roman Coins, p. 310; ACKERMAN, 1, p. 87]). The seven heads can hardly be at once seven kings or kingdoms
(Re 17:10),
and seven geographical mountains. The true connection is, as the head is the prominent part of the body, so the mountain is prominent in the land. Like "sea" and "earth"and "waters . . . peoples"
(Re 17:15),
so "mountains" have a symbolical meaning, namely, prominent seats of power. Especially such as are prominent hindrances to the cause of God
(Ps 68:16, 17; Isa 40:4; 41:15; 49:11; Eze 35:2);
especially Babylon (which geographically was in a plain, but spiritually is called a destroying mountain,
Jer 51:25),
in majestic contrast to which stands Mount Zion, "the mountain of the Lord's house"
(Isa 2:2),
and the heavenly mount;
Re 21:10,
"a great and high mountain . . . and that great city, the holy Jerusalem." So in
Da 2:35,
the stone becomes a mountain--Messiah's universal kingdom supplanting the previous world kingdoms. As nature shadows forth the great realities of the spiritual world, so seven-hilled Rome is a representative of the seven-headed world power of which the dragon has been, and is the prince. The "seven kings" are hereby distinguished from the "ten kings"
(Re 17:12):
the former are what the latter are not, "mountains," great seats of the world power. The seven universal God-opposed monarchies are Egypt (the first world power which came into collision with God's people,) Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Medo-Persia, Rome, the Germanic-Slavonic empire (the clay of the fourth kingdom mixed with its iron in Nebuchadnezzar's image, a fifth material,
Da 2:33, 34, 42, 43,
symbolizing this last head). These seven might seem not to accord with the seven heads in
Da 7:4-7,
one head on the first beast (Babylon), one on the second (Medo-Persia), four on the third (Greece; namely, Egypt, Syria, Thrace with Bithynia, and Greece with Macedon): but Egypt and Greece are in both lists. Syria answers to Assyria (from which the name Syria is abbreviated), and Thrace with Bithynia answers to the Gothic-Germanic-Slavonic hordes which, pouring down on Rome from the North, founded the Germanic-Slavonic empire. The woman sitting on the seven hills implies the Old and New Testament Church conforming to, and resting on, the world power, that is, on all the seven world kingdoms. Abraham and Isaac dissembling as to their wives through fear of the kings of Egypt foreshadowed this. Compare
Eze 16:1-63; 23:1-49,
on Israel's whoredoms with Egypt, Assyria, Babylon; and
Mt 7:24; 24:10-12, 23-26,
on the characteristics of the New Testament Church's harlotry, namely, distrust, suspicion, hatred, treachery, divisions into parties, false doctrine.
10
無標題
10. 有——當譯作「他們（七頭）就是七王」。
五位……一位——希臘文作「那五位……那一位」；七位中前五位已經傾倒（這詞適用於曾經強盛的帝國之傾覆，而非政體的更替：埃及，
Eze 29:1-30:26；
亞述與尼尼微，
Na 3:1-19；
巴比倫，
Re 18:2; Jer 50:1-51:64；
瑪代波斯，
Da 8:3-7, 20-22; 10:13; 11:2；
希臘，
Da 11:4）。
羅馬是約翰時代的「那一位」。「王」是聖經對王國的用語，因為這些王國通常以某一位突出的首領為其特性的代表，如巴比倫之於尼布甲尼撒，瑪代波斯之於古列，希臘之於亞歷山大等。
還有一位還沒有來——不是如阿福德（ALFORD）那樣錯誤地代奧伯倫（AUBERLEN）所主張的，從君士坦丁開始的基督教帝國；而是日耳曼斯拉夫帝國，以其獸性、即異教的敵基督特性開始並只延續「不多的時日」。論到它說「如今沒有」
（Re 17:11）
的時候，就是它「受了死傷」、有「死傷」
（Re 13:3）
的時候。從北方南下攻擊羅馬的遷徙部族在外表上的基督教化，是獸的傷口，對應於地開口吞了龍——撒但——所發、要淹沒婦人即教會的（異教部族）河。重點顯然在「不多的時日」上，因此希臘文中這詞在前，而不是在「他必繼續」上，彷彿暗示他繼續相當時日，如阿福德所誤認。外表基督教化的時期（即獸的傷口尚存之時）自君士坦丁以來已持續數世紀。羅馬與希臘教會藉著敬拜偶像，已局部使這傷口得醫治。
英文原文
10. there are--Translate, "they (the seven heads) are seven kings."
five . . . one--Greek, "the five . . . the one"; the first five of the seven are fallen (a word applicable not to forms of government passing away, but to the fall of once powerful empires: Egypt,
Eze 29:1-30:26;
Assyria and Nineveh,
Na 3:1-19;
Babylon,
Re 18:2; Jer 50:1-51:64;
Medo-Persia,
Da 8:3-7, 20-22; 10:13; 11:2;
Greece,
Da 11:4).
Rome was "the one" existing in John's days. "Kings" is the Scripture phrase for kingdoms, because these kingdoms are generally represented in character by some one prominent head, as Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, Medo-Persia by Cyrus, Greece by Alexander, &c.
the other is not yet come--not as ALFORD, inaccurately representing AUBERLEN, the Christian empire beginning with Constantine; but, the Germanic-Slavonic empire beginning and continuing in its beast-like, that is, HEATHEN Antichristian character for only "a short space." The time when it is said of it, "it is not"
(Re 17:11),
is the time during which it is "wounded to death," and has the "deadly wound"
(Re 13:3).
The external Christianization of the migrating hordes from the North which descended on Rome, is the wound to the beast answering to the earth swallowing up the flood (heathen tribes) sent by the dragon, Satan, to drown the woman, the Church. The emphasis palpably is on "a short space," which therefore comes first in the Greek, not on "he must continue," as if his continuance for some [considerable] time were implied, as ALFORD wrongly thinks. The time of external Christianization (while the beast's wound continues) has lasted for centuries, ever since Constantine. Rome and the Greek Church have partially healed the wound by image worship.
11
無標題
11. 那不是的獸——他的獸性因國家的外在上基督化而被壓抑，直到他作為「第八位」王重新躍起，他的「傷……醫好了」（13:3），反基督以對神最充分、最強烈的反對顯明出來。希臘文中「他」是強調語。他，獨特地、卓越地：對應但以理書中「有人的眼和說誇大話的口的小角」，在他面前十角中的三角被連根拔起，而十角都「將自己的能力權勢給他」（17:12, 13, 17）。
一位有位的反基督將站在反基督教國度的首領位置上，這從舊約中的反基督——安提阿古·依比芬尼（但8:9-12中的「小角」）的類比看來是可能的。此外，「不法之人，沉淪之子」（帖後2:3-8）在此對應「歸於沉淪」，且此語在唯一另一處出現時（約17:12）應用於一個人——猶大。他本質上是沉淪之子，因此他從無底坑上來不多時，便「歸於沉淪」（17:8, 11）。「當教會經過肉身的死進入聖靈的榮耀時，獸則經過肉身的榮耀進入死亡」（奧伯倫）。
是那七位中的一個——更宜作「從七位中生出來」。第八位不僅是七位中一位的復原，而是從七位中出來的一個新力量或新人物，同時集中並成就了以前七位所有敵對神的特徵；因此說頭不是八個，而只有七個，因為第八位是七位的總體化身。在預備「重生」的生產之難中有戰爭、地震和動亂（奧伯倫），反基督由此興起（「海」，13:1; 可13:8; 路21:9-11）。他不像其他七位那樣傾倒（17:10），而是被主親自毀滅，歸於自己的沉淪。
英文原文
11. beast that . . . is not--his beastly character being kept down by outward Christianization of the state until he starts up to life again as "the eighth" king, his "wound being healed"
(Re 13:3),
Antichrist manifested in fullest and most intense opposition to God. The "he" is emphatic in the Greek. He, peculiarly and pre-eminently: answering to "the little horn" with eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, before whom three of the ten horns were plucked up by the roots, and to whom the whole ten "give their power and strength"
(Re 17:12, 13, 17).
That a personal Antichrist will stand at the head of the Antichristian kingdom, is likely from the analogy of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Old Testament Antichrist, "the little horn" in
Da 8:9-12;
also, "the man of sin, son of perdition"
(2Th 2:3-8),
answers here to "goeth into perdition," and is applied to an individual, namely, Judas, in the only other passage where the phrase occurs
(Joh 17:12).
He is essentially a child of destruction, and hence he has but a little time ascended out of the bottomless pit, when he "goes into perdition"
(Re 17:8, 11).
"While the Church passes through death of the flesh to glory of the Spirit, the beast passes through the glory of the flesh to death" [AUBERLEN].
is of the seven--rather "springs out of the seven." The eighth is not merely one of the seven restored, but a new power or person proceeding out of the seven, and at the same time embodying all the God-opposed features of the previous seven concentrated and consummated; for which reason there are said to be not eight, but only seven heads, for the eighth is the embodiment of all the seven. In the birth-pangs which prepare the "regeneration" there are wars, earthquakes, and disturbances [AUBERLEN], wherein Antichrist takes his rise ("sea,"
Re 13:1; Mr 13:8; Lu 21:9-11).
He does not fall like the other seven
(Re 17:10),
but is destroyed, going to his own perdition, by the Lord in person.
12
無標題
12. 十王……還沒有得國；但……與獸同得王權——由此及從17:14, 16看來，這十王或十國似乎是與獸在其最後——即第八——形式（即反基督）同時期的。比較但2:34, 44，「石頭砸在腳上」——即十趾上——在但2:41-44中被解釋為「王」。因此這十國不是羅馬（異教）傾覆時興起的十國，而是在第八頭之下從第四國的最後狀態中興起的。我同意阿福德——「如王」一語暗示他們在與獸的聯盟中保留了自己的王權——在其中他們「將自己的能力權勢給他」（17:13）。他們有王的名，卻沒有完整的王權[華茲華斯]。見奧伯倫較不甚可能的看法（見17:3註釋）。
一時——一段明確而短暫的時間，其間「魔鬼降到地上和海上的居民那裏，心中大怒，因為他知道自己的時候不多了。」大概是三年半（11:2, 3; 13:5）。反基督在巴比倫傾覆之前早已存在；但只有在巴比倫傾覆時他才獲得十王的臣服。他首先以自己之名冒充猶太人的彌賽亞；然後逼迫那些拒絕他褻瀆要求的人。直到第六碗——在他掌權的後期——他才以鬼魔之靈行的奇事拉攏十王與他一同與羔羊爭戰。他與以色列的關係從他「坐在神的殿裏」（帖後2:4）可以看出——他作為那「那行毀壞可憎的站在聖地」（但9:27; 12:11; 太24:15）和「在我們主被釘十字架之城」（11:8）的預表。值得注意的是愛任紐[駁異端，5:25]和耶路撒冷的區利羅[魯菲努斯，《修士史》，10.37]曾預言反基督將以耶路撒冷為所在並復興猶太國。叛教者猶利安很久以後偏袒猶太人，並幫助他們建造聖殿——在此作反基督的前驅。
英文原文
12. ten kings . . . received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings . . . with the beast--Hence and from
Re 17:14, 16,
it seems that these ten kings or kingdoms, are to be contemporaries with the beast in its last or eighth form, namely, Antichrist. Compare
Da 2:34, 44,
"the stone smote the image upon his feet," that is, upon the ten toes, which are, in
Da 2:41-44,
interpreted to be "kings." The ten kingdoms are not, therefore, ten which arose in the overthrow of Rome (heathen), but are to rise out of the last state of the fourth kingdom under the eighth head. I agree with ALFORD that the phrase "as kings," implies that they reserve their kingly rights in their alliance with the beast, wherein "they give their power and strength unto" him
(Re 17:13).
They have the name of kings, but not with undivided kingly power [WORDSWORTH]. See AUBERLEN'S not so probable view, see on
Re 17:3.
one hour--a definite time of short duration, during which "the devil is come down to the inhabitant of the earth and of the sea, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Probably the three and a half years
(Re 11:2, 3; 13:5).
Antichrist is in existence long before the fall of Babylon; but it is only at its fail he obtains the vassalage of the ten kings. He in the first instance imposes on the Jews as the Messiah, coming in his own name; then persecutes those of them who refuse his blasphemous pretensions. Not until the sixth vial, in the latter part of his reign, does he associate the ten kings with him in war with the Lamb, having gained them over by the aid of the spirits of devils working miracles. His connection with Israel appears from his sitting "in the temple of God"
(2Th 2:4),
and as the antitypical "abomination of desolation standing in the Holy place"
(Da 9:27; 12:11; Mt 24:15),
and "in the city where our Lord was crucified"
(Re 11:8).
It is remarkable that IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 5:25] and CYRIL OF JERUSALEM [RUFINUS, Historia Monachorum, 10.37] prophesied that Antichrist would have his seat at Jerusalem and would restore the kingdom of the Jews. JULIAN the apostate, long after, took part with the Jews, and aided in building their temple, herein being Antichrist's forerunner.
13
無標題
13. 同心——一個意願。
將——如《科普特譯本》。但A、B抄本和《敘利亞譯本》作「給」。
權勢——希臘文作「權威」。他們成為他依附的盟友（17:14）。因此反基督自立為萬王之王，但他剛發出聲稱，真正的萬王之王便顯現，頃刻之間將他摔落歸於毀滅。
英文原文
13. one mind--one sentiment.
shall give--So Coptic. But A, B, and Syriac, "give."
strength--Greek, "authority." They become his dependent allies
(Re 17:14).
Thus Antichrist sets up to be King of kings, but scarcely has he put forth his claim when the true KING OF KINGS appears and dashes him down in a moment to destruction.
14
無標題
14. 他們與羔羊爭戰——比較16:14, 16; 19:19。這是哈米吉多頓之戰——反基督教勢力與基督及其聖徒的最後對決。
羔羊必勝過他們——這是確定的結果，因為羔羊是「萬主之主、萬王之王」。反基督自立為萬王之王（17:13-14），但真正的萬王之王以一句話將他傾覆（19:21）。
同着羔羊的……蒙召被選有忠心的——不是被動的跟隨者，而是積極的爭戰者。此處蒙召、被選、忠心三重標記表明：他們的呼召（有效呼召）、他們的揀選（永遞的定旨）、以及他們的忠心（在試煉中的堅忍）。這是教會在與基督一同得勝中的榮耀身分——正如他在十字架上已經得勝，他們也藉着羔羊的血和他們見證的道得勝（12:11）。
英文原文
14. These shall . . . war with the Lamb--in league with the beast. This is a summary anticipation of
Re 19:19.
This shall not be till after they have first executed judgment on the harlot
(Re 17:15, 16).
Lord of lords, &c.--anticipating
Re 19:16.
are--not in the Greek. Therefore translate, "And they that are with Him, called chosen, and faithful (shall overcome them, namely, the beast and his allied kings)." These have been with Christ in heaven unseen, but now appear with Him.
15
無標題
15. 你所看見那淫婦坐的眾水——這是天使對約翰的解釋——比較17:1——「我將……那坐在眾水上的大淫婦指給你看」。
就是列國——比較17:2——「地上的君王與她行淫」；17:18——「那女人就是管轄地上眾王的大城」。「眾水」在此被明確解釋為列國（希臘文 ethne）——即各種民族和語言的人。淫婦坐在眾水上——意味着背叛教會對萬民的屬靈統治——她以虛假的宗教統一各民族，正如真正的教會以福音使萬民作門徒。
多民、多人、多國、多方——四重的「多」強調其普世性——淫婦的影響範圍是全人類。這四重表達也見於5:9; 7:9; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6——在那裏描述的是福音或選民的普世性——此處則是背叛教會的普世性——正如光與暗在世界末日同時達到頂峰。
英文原文
15.
(Re 17:1; Isa 8:7.)
An impious parody of Jehovah who "sitteth upon the flood" [ALFORD]. Also, contrast the "many waters"
Re 19:6,
"Alleluia."
peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues--The "peoples," &c., here mark the universality of the spiritual fornication of the Church. The "tongues" remind us of the original Babel, the confusion of tongues, the beginning of Babylon, and the first commencement of idolatrous apostasy after the flood, as the tower was doubtless dedicated to the deified heavens. Thus, Babylon is the appropriate name of the harlot. The Pope, as the chief representative of the harlot, claims a double supremacy over all peoples, typified by the "two swords" according to the interpretation of Boniface VIII in the Bull, "Unam Sanctam," and represented by the two keys: spiritual as the universal bishop, whence he is crowned with the miter; and temporal, whence he is also crowned with the tiara in token of his imperial supremacy. Contrast with the Pope's diadems the "many diadems" of Him who alone has claim to, and shall exercise when He shall come, the twofold dominion
(Re 19:12).
16
無標題
16. 在獸上——但 A、B、《武加大譯本》與《敘利亞譯本》讀作「和獸」。
使她荒涼——首先將她從坐於獸上的寶座（
啟 17:3）
卸下。
赤身——剝去她一切華麗的裝飾（
啟 17:4）。
正如耶路撒冷利用屬世的權勢來釘死她的救主，隨後又被那同一權勢——羅馬——所毀滅；照樣，教會既已背道歸向世界，必先受世界權勢——獸與其盟友——的審判；而這些隨後必受基督親自的審判。照樣，以色列倚靠埃及這根會刺人的折斷蘆葦，反被其刺傷；隨後埃及自己也受懲罰。照樣，以色列與亞述、巴比倫行屬靈的淫亂，便受亞述與巴比倫之擄作為懲罰。照樣，教會隨從世界，彷彿世界本身就是實體，卻不為其背離神作見證，便是對其信仰的不忠。教會既已不再是實體，而成了虛假之物，便理當受那暫時利用教會以遂己圖、卻始終「恨惡」基督那不屬世之信仰的世界所審判；而如今世界已不再需要教會的幫助。
吃她的肉——希臘文為複數，「一塊塊的肉」，即「屬肉體的財物」；暗示教會已深陷於屬肉體的豐盈之中。對這淫婦的審判一而再地被描述（
啟 18:1; 19:5）：
首先由一位「有大權柄的天使」（
啟 18:1），
然後由「另有聲音從天上來」（
啟 18:4-20），
再由「一位大力的天使」（
啟 18:21-24）。
試比較
結 16:37-44，
該段原是論到以色列，但亦適用於新約教會在陷入屬靈淫亂之時。關於以「吃……肉」喻掠奪他人的財物、損害其名聲與身體，試比較
詩 14:4; 27:2； 耶 10:25； 彌 3:3。
拿破崙一世於 1809 年在羅馬發布的詔書，沒收教皇領地並將其併入法國，以及隨後透過路易·拿破崙實質上將教皇大片領土割離其統治、併入義大利國王版圖之舉，實為這淫婦滅亡預言完全應驗的首筆分期。她的「肉」似乎指向她屬世的尊榮與資源，有別於「她自己」（希臘文）。何等驚人的報應：她當初既因承認篡位者丕平為法國合 法之王，而獲得其最初的屬世領土——拉溫那總督區、倫巴底王國（LOMBARDs）、與羅馬城邦——如今竟被法國另一位篡位者——拿破崙王朝——奪去一切領土！
用火焚燒——這是可憎之淫亂當受的法定刑罰。
英文原文
16. upon the beast--But A, B, Vulgate, and Syriac read, "and the beast."
shall make her desolate--having first dismounted her from her seat on the beast
(Re 17:3).
naked--stripped of all her gaud
(Re 17:4).
As Jerusalem used the world power to crucify her Saviour, and then was destroyed by that very power, Rome; so the Church, having apostatized to the world, shall have judgment executed on her first by the world power, the beast and his allies; and these afterwards shall have judgment executed on them by Christ Himself in person. So Israel leaning on Egypt, a broken reed, is pierced by it; and then Egypt itself is punished. So Israel's whoredom with Assyria and Babylon was punished by the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. So the Church when it goes a-whoring after the word as if it were the reality, instead of witnessing against its apostasy from God, is false to its profession. Being no longer a reality itself, but a sham, the Church is rightly judged by that world which for a time had used the Church to further its own ends, while all the while "hating" Christ's unworldly religion, but which now no longer wants the Church's aid.
eat her flesh--Greek plural, "masses of flesh," that is, "carnal possessions"; implying the fulness of carnality into which the Church is sunk. The judgment on the harlot is again and again described
(Re 18:1; 19:5);
first by an "angel having great power"
(Re 18:1),
then by "another voice from heaven"
(Re 18:4-20),
then by "a mighty angel"
(Re 18:21-24).
Compare
Eze 16:37-44,
originally said of Israel, but further applicable to the New Testament Church when fallen into spiritual fornication. On the phrase, "eat . . . flesh" for prey upon one's property, and injure the character and person, compare
Ps 14:4; 27:2; Jer 10:25; Mic 3:3.
The First Napoleon's Edict published at Rome in 1809, confiscating the papal dominions and joining them to France, and later the severance of large portions of the Pope's territory from his sway and the union of them to the dominions of the king of Italy, virtually through Louis Napoleon, are a first instalment of the full realization of this prophecy of the whore's destruction. "Her flesh" seems to point to her temporal dignities and resources, as distinguished from "herself" (Greek). How striking a retribution, that having obtained her first temporal dominions, the exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the LOMBARDs, and the state of Rome, by recognizing the usurper Pepin as lawful king of France, she should be stripped of her dominions by another usurper of France, the Napoleonic dynasty!
burn . . . with fire--the legal punishment of an abominable fornication.
17
無標題
17. 已經把——預言性的過去時態，指將來之事。
成就——希臘文作「行」或「作成」。希臘文「poiesai」與下文譯作「成全」的希臘文「telesthesontai」有別。
自己的旨意——希臘文作「自己的心意」或旨意；而牠們卻只想成就自己的目的。
同心——按字面意義作「行（或作成）一個心意」或「一個旨意」。A 與《武加大譯本》省略此句，但 B 支持。
神的話——預言獸的興起與傾覆；希臘文作「hoi logoi」，A、B 與安德烈亞（ANDREAS）如此讀。《英文欽定本》所讀的希臘文「ta rhēmata」支持較弱。這不是僅僅清晰的話語，而是那位本身就是道（希臘文作「logos」）者有效率的話。
得到應驗——
（啟 10:7）。
英文原文
17. hath put--the prophetical past tense for the future.
fulfil--Greek, "do," or "accomplish." The Greek, "poiesai," is distinct from that which is translated, "fulfilled," Greek, "telesthesontai," below.
his will--Greek, "his mind," or purpose; while they think only of doing their own purpose.
to agree--literally, "to do" (or accomplish) one mind" or "purpose." A and Vulgate omit this clause, but B supports it.
the words of God--foretelling the rise and downfall of the beast; Greek, "hoi logoi," in A, B, and ANDREAS. English Version reading is Greek, "ta rhemata," which is not well supported. No mere articulate utterances, but the efficient words of Him who is the Word: Greek, "logos."
fulfilled--
(Re 10:7).
18
無標題
18. 管轄——按字面意義為「對眾王擁有王權」。這淫婦不可能按字面意義僅僅是一個城市，而是在屬靈意義上被稱為城（
啟 11:8）。
同樣，獸也不能代表屬靈的權勢，而是代表世界的權勢。在本節中，這淫婦被擺在我們面前，已成熟而等候審判。第十八章詳述了那審判。
英文原文
18. 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.
Re 17:1-18.
淫婦巴比倫的華飾：她所騎的有七頭十角的獸，將成為審判她的工具。
正如
Re 16:12
一般性地陳述了即將傾倒於淫婦——巴比倫的權勢——的碗之審判，而第十七和十八章詳細論述，照樣第十九章詳細論述對獸和假先知的審判——此審判在
Re 16:13-15
中與主的降臨相連而簡略提及。
1. 到我這裡來——抄本A、B、武加大譯本、敘利亞文譯本和科普特譯本省略。
許多——抄本A如此讀。但抄本B作"那些眾水"
（Jer 51:13）；
下文
Re 17:15
解釋其含義。這淫婦是叛教的教會，正如"那婦人"
（Re 12:1-6）
是教會在忠心之時。撒但既以暴力失敗，便相當成功地以世界的引誘誘惑她；她不像她的主，被這試探所勝；因此她被看見坐在那朱紅色的獸上——不再是妻子，而是淫婦；不再是耶路撒冷，而是按著靈意所多瑪
（Re 11:8）。