And he took me away in spirit into the desert. And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
και απηνεγκεν με εις ερημον εν πνευματι και ειδον γυναικα καθημενην επι θηριον κοκκινον γεμον ονοματα ονοματων βλασφημιας εχον κεφαλας επτα και κερατα δεκα
6 Church Fathers comment on this verse
The woman sitting on the scarlet beast is the agent of murders and bears the image of the devil. John calls her Babylon in the Apocalypse because of the confusion of the nations, and Isaiah also calls her this (cf. Is 21:9). Ezekiel, however, called her Sor. If you compare what is said about Sor with what Isaiah and John's Apocalypse say about Babylon, you will understand that they are one and the same. Sor is the Hebrew name for Tyre; cf. Ezek 26, 27, 28.
Now let us explain what should be understood by the wilderness into which the seer of mysteries was brought in the Spirit.
In the spiritual sense, we consider a wilderness to be, in general, every city or human society hated by the Lord because of spiritual blindness, adulteries, and other vices.
But this can also be understood otherwise. The Apostle John saw and contemplated the desolation of this harlot, who is represented under the image of a woman in order to show her inclination and weakness toward sin.
She sat on a scarlet beast because, by her evil deeds, she as it were rests upon the devil, who rejoices in murder and blood. Through her blasphemies she becomes as though the helper of the apostate.
The scarlet color of the beast indicates his cruelty and inclination to murder. What the seven heads and ten horns mean, we shall learn, with God’s help, from the angel’s following words.
By the beast is understood the whole evil people; through the woman corruption is shown. John says that the woman sits in the wilderness because she sits among the impious and in their dead souls, abandoned by God. John said, "in the Spirit," because only in the Spirit can such abandonment by God be seen.
The word wilderness hints at her future desolation. "And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast." By the beast he means the devil, upon whom she rests and who drives her. He is called scarlet because he is dyed with the blood of the saints. He was full of blasphemous names because the devil, having given himself the honor due to God, sinned against God. He had seven heads and seven horns. John himself explains this further, saying that the heads and horns are the kings who ruled in Rome and those who will rule (cf. Rev 17:12).
The wilderness indicates the absence of God, for His presence is paradise. It is "in the spirit," because this can be discerned in the spirit.
In what image does the divine Word chiefly portray her, if not in the image of a woman? Of her it is written that from her came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die (Sir 26:27). It is said that she sits upon the beast because she has exalted herself in the pride of self-conceit.
The beast is said to be scarlet, that is, bloody, and is a being opposed to the Lamb. In him sometimes the devil is recognized, sometimes something like the head that was slain, and sometimes the people who are the whole Babylon, that is, confusion.
Thus he is scarlet, that is, bloodied with impiety and drunk with bloody fornications.
"Full of blasphemous names." Although it is worse to commit blasphemy in deed than to be called a blasphemer, here he is said to be full of names, lest anyone suppose that he is deficient in vices. Therefore one thing is to sin before God, and another is to sin against God. He who sins against God is guilty of a greater sin.
When the final persecutions draw near, ten kings will appear, as the prophecy of holy Daniel declares (see Dan 7:24). This book often signifies them, as here, by the seven heads and ten horns of the beast.
Since, when all kingdoms have been destroyed, only they will be able to rule the whole world, it was said earlier that they had diadems. Perhaps the diadems are signs of conquered kingdoms displayed as trophies upon proud heads.
Then the book calls the mind that has wisdom to understand the seven heads as seven hills. By indicating Rome, which stands on seven hills (see Rev 17:9-10) and once held absolute dominion over the whole world, John presented it by the likeness of those kingdoms. Under the name of Rome he signified the power of the universal kingdom.
The author wished to convey the universality of its power through the number seven. Being composed of three and four, of odd and even, and thus as it were of opposites, this number suggests universality.
The earlier image of the seven churches is a positive example of what is depicted, since through it the one Church of Christ is shown beforehand as possessing the whole earth. Here, by contrast, the same number applied to the seven heads appears as the opposite example. These heads indicate that a universal dominion will be established.
For Holy Scripture often uses the number seven with reference to both good and evil. As the Holy Spirit, because of His sevenfold operation, is confessed in a good sense as sevenfold according to the testimony of the prophet Isaiah, so the evil spirit is often called sevenfold.
Since the power of these kings, who commonly oppose the Church of Christ, not only attacks the faithful by the open use of force, but also seeks to entice them with falsehood under the appearance of truth, the author portrays manifest force in the ten crowns and plausible falsehood in the seven heads.
According to the word of prophecy, this coming persecution will be violent. During it the craft of falsehood will receive support, and whatever is lost through falsehood will be supplied by violence.
The phantom character of this lie was indicated above: "One of his heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but his mortal wound was healed" (Rev 13:3). That is said of one of the heads of the universal power of the worldly kingdom that opposes the Church, namely the antichrist.
He wished to pass himself off as Christ by proclaiming that he had supposedly died and come to life. Thus he tried impiously to turn the careless away from Christ, Who truly died and truly rose.
Of this head it has already been said that the dragon, that is, the devil, gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. Therefore it is said that he was filled with blasphemous names. Again: "On his heads were blasphemous names" (Rev 13:1).
No more dreadful blasphemy can be imagined than when someone, setting himself against Christ, which is what the name antichrist means, wants to be received as Christ. Those whom he cannot break by violence and fears he will try to seduce by distorted truth. Those who rejected manifest error he will lead to accept plausible falsehood.
The good Spirit is the spirit of wisdom, opposed by the evil spirit of foolishness. The latter is worse because it imitates wisdom. The good Spirit is the spirit of understanding, and the evil spirit is the spirit of unreason. The latter is worse because it imitates the discipline of the mind.
The good Spirit is the spirit of counsel, and the evil spirit is the spirit of imprudence. The latter is worse because it imitates foresight. The good Spirit is the spirit of steadfastness, opposed by the evil spirit of manifest cowardice. The latter is worse because its weakness deceives by the appearance of strength.
The good Spirit is the spirit of knowledge, opposed by the evil spirit of ignorance, most evil because it steals knowledge. The good Spirit is the spirit of piety, and the evil spirit is the spirit of impiety. The latter is worse because it hides beneath the mask of false piety.
The good Spirit is the spirit of the fear of God, opposed by the evil spirit of levity. The latter is worse because it employs the tricks of deceitful religiosity.
St. Andrew says: "In the spiritual sense we understand the wilderness as any city, or any large and populous society, guilty before God of the soul's drunkenness through fornication and other similar crimes. He saw her sitting on a scarlet beast because, on account of her wicked deeds, she rests upon the devil, who rejoices in murders and blood. In this way she assists the apostate in blasphemies against God."
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 23 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS