Revelation 17:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The mark on the forehead bears witness to the shamelessness of unrighteousness, to fullness of sin, and to inward confusion. She is a mother because, in the cities subject to her, she guides the fornication of souls and incites them to iniquities abominable before God.

It is said: "And on her forehead was written," as though on a pillar, who she is: Babylon, the mother of harlots. She is called Babylon because of the conflicts, confusion, and persecutions of the saints that take place in her, for the name Babylon, as is known, means confusion. She is mother to fornication and apostasy from God. Is she not indeed a mother and teacher, a persecutor of the evangelical word and its heralds, and an exhorter of the nations to remain in the delusion inherited from their fathers?

The very face of this harlot is shown, as well as the fact that she nourishes vices. Yet because only the experienced and discerning recognize her when she is clothed in splendid garments, it is said here that her name is mystery.

The inscription on the forehead shows shamelessness amid the fullness of vices. Covering itself with mystery and sacred names, this God-opposing society, sunk in sins, has always been and will remain for a time a teacher of abominable iniquities to other people. From this very source many scandals for these little ones have arisen and still arise (cf. Mt 18:6-7).

Mystery, Babylon the Great. In the first century the actual Babylon on the Euphrates was already an insignificant city. Therefore another city is hidden here under its name. According to the common opinion of all, this city is Rome. It deserved the name Babylon because of its great importance as the capital of the world and the city of the ruling people, and also because of its pride and corruption.