Whore of Babylon
Babylon the Great
Babylon the Great, commonly known as the Whore of Babylon, refers to both a symbolic female figure and place of evil mentioned in the New Testament in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Her full title is stated in Revelation 17 (verse 5) as “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth” (Ancient Greek: μυστήριον, Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς; transliterated mystērion, Babylōn hē megalē, hē mētēr tōn pornōn kai tōn bdelygmatōn tēs gēs). Revelation 17 (verse 18) identifies the woman as a representation of “the great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth”.
Passages from Revelation (Chapter 17:1-18)
The “great whore” of the Book of Revelation is featured in chapter 17:
| 1 | And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: |
| 2 | With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. |
| 3 | 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. |
| 4 | 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: |
| 5 | And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. |
| 6 | And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. |
| 9 | And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. |
| 10 | And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space. |
| 11 | And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition. |
| 12 | And the ten horns which thou saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. |
| 15 | And he said unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. |
| 18 | And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth. |
— Revelation 17:1–18, King James Version, Bible Scriptures
