Revelation 17:18
◄  Revelation 17:18  ►
New International Version (©2011)
The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

New Living Translation (©2007)
And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the world."

English Standard Version (©2001)
And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
And the woman you saw is the great city that has an empire over the kings of the earth."

International Standard Version (©2012)
The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

NET Bible (©2006)
As for the woman you saw, she is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth."

Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
“And The Woman which you saw is that Great City, which has rule over the Kings of The Earth.”

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
The woman you saw is the important city which dominates the kings of the earth."

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And the woman whom you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.

American King James Version
And the woman which you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.

American Standard Version
And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the woman which thou sawest, is the great city, which hath kingdom over the kings of the earth.

Darby Bible Translation
And the woman which thou sawest is the great city, which has kingship over the kings of the earth.

English Revised Version
And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the woman whom thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Weymouth New Testament
And the woman whom you have seen is the great city which has kingly power over the kings of the earth."

World English Bible
The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."

Young's Literal Translation
and the woman that thou didst see is the great city that is having reign over the kings of the land.'

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:15-18 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. Believers will be received to the glory of the Lord, when wicked men will be destroyed in a most awful manner; their joining together in sin, will be turned to hatred and rage, and they will eagerly assist in tormenting each other. But the Lord's portion is his people; his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure, to his glory, and the happiness of all his servants.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. A repetition of the assertion made in ver. 5, viz. that the harlot and Babylon are identical (see on ver. 5). Many writers have been led by this verse to believe that Rome, either pagan or papal, is thus pointed out as the antitype of the harlot. That this is one fulfilment of the vision need hardly be doubted. Rome was in St. John's time the foremost embodiment of the hostile forces of the world. But this is not the whole fulfilment, which is in all time (see above, especially on ver. 1 of this chapter).

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the woman which thou sawest,.... Revelation 17:3 as there described,

is that great city, often mentioned in this book; great Babylon, the city of Rome, Revelation 11:8 which reigneth over the kings of the earth; which then reigned in John's time over the kings of the earth; and this clearly points out the city of Rome, for there was no other city then, but that, which reigned over the kings of the earth; that was then the metropolis of the Roman empire, to which the whole world was subject; and therefore it is called all the world, Luke 2:1 and since, all the kings of the empire have been under the jurisdiction of Rome Papal. It was formerly called Urbs Regum, a "city of kings" (z), either for the reason in the text, or because its inhabitants looked like kings.

(z) Justin. l. 18. c. 2.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

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.

Revelation 17:18 Parallel Commentaries

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The Victory of the Lamb
…16And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18And the woman which you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.

Revelation 11:8 Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city--which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt--where also their Lord was crucified.
Revelation 16:19 The 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.