And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
9. And here ] Omit “and.” Compare Rev 13:18. As there, the words seem to indicate that “the mind which hath wisdom” will recognise the meaning of the image, though it is obscurely expressed. But the “wisdom” required is not merely the faculty of guessing riddles it is the wisdom enlightened from above; including however, we may suppose, an intelligent knowledge of the facts and principles of human history.
seven mountains ] These words prove decisively that Babylon represents the City of Rome It is needless to quote classical descriptions of Rome as the City of the Seven Mountains: the designation is as unmistakeable as the name would be. Nevertheless, it is curious that the number is rather conventionally than actually true. The original seven hills were the Palatium, the Germalus (virtually a part of the Palatine hill), the Velia (the low ridge crossing the Forum), the Cispius, Oppius, and Fagutal (three summits of the Esquiline), and the Suburra which is not a hill at all. But Rome in the days of its greatness covered the Palatine, Capitol, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline (two of the ridges of which, though not very well defined, are yet as distinct as the two next), the Quirinal, the Viminal (these two, for some inexplicable reason, were never counted among the “seven mountains,” though higher than any of them, but were always called “hills”), and the Janiculum and Vatican on the other side of the Tiber. In modern Rome, the buildings have spread over the Pincian Hill, but the Caelian, Palatine, Aventine, and much of the Esquiline are nearly uninhabited.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And here is the mind which hath wisdom – Here is what requires wisdom to interpret it; or, here is a case in which the mind that shows itself able to explain it will evince true sagacity. So in Rev 13:18. See the notes on that place. Prof. Stuart renders this, Here is a meaning which compriseth wisdom. It is undoubtedly implied that the symbol might be understood – whether in the time of John, or afterward, he does not say; but it was a matter which could not be determined by ordinary minds, or without an earnest application of the understanding.
The seven heads are seven mountains – Referring, undoubtedly, to Rome – the seven-hilled city – Septicollis Roma. See the notes on Rev 12:3. (d).
On which the woman sitteth – The city represented as a woman, in accordance with a common usage in the Scriptures. See the notes on Isa 1:8.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Here is the mind which hath wisdom.] It was said before, Re 13:18, Here is wisdom. Let him that hath A MIND, or understanding, (,) count the number of the beast. Wisdom, therefore, here means a correct view of what is intended by the number 666; consequently the parallel passage, Here is THE MIND which hath WISDOM, is a declaration that the number of the beast must first be understood, before the angel’s interpretation of the vision concerning the whore and the beast can admit of a satisfactory explanation.
The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.] This verse has been almost universally considered to allude to the seven hills upon which Rome originally stood. But it has been objected that modern Rome is not thus situated, and that, consequently, pagan Rome is intended in the prophecy. This is certainly a very formidable objection against the generally received opinion among Protestants, that papal Rome is the city meant by the woman sitting upon seven mountains. It has been already shown that the woman here mentioned is an emblem of the Latin Church in her highest state of antichristian prosperity; and therefore the city of Rome, seated upon seven mountains, is not at all designed in the prophecy. In order to understand this scripture aright, the word mountains must be taken in a figurative and not a literal sense, as in Rev 6:14; Rev 16:20. See also Isa 2:2; Isa 2:14; Jer 51:25; Da 2:35, c. in which it is unequivocally the emblem of great and mighty power. The mountains upon which the woman sitteth must be, therefore, seven great powers; and as the mountains are heads of the beast, they must be the seven GREATEST eminences of the Latin world. As no other power was acknowledged at the head of the Latin empire but that of Germany, how can it be said that the beast has seven heads? This question can only be solved by the feudal constitution of the late Germanic league, the history of which is briefly as follows: At first kings alone granted fiefs. They granted them to laymen only, and to such only who were free; and the vassal had no power to alienate them. Every freeman, and particularly the feudal tenants, were subject to the obligation of military duty, and appointed to guard their sovereign’s life, member, mind, and right honour. Soon after, or perhaps a little before, the extinction of the Carlovingian dynasty in France, by the accession of the Capetian line, and in Germany by the accession of the house of Saxony, fiefs, which had been entirely at the disposal of the sovereign, became hereditary. Even the offices of duke, count, margrave, c., were transmitted in the course of hereditary descent and not long after, the right of primogeniture was universally established. The crown vassals usurped the sovereign property of the land, with civil and military authority over the inhabitants. The possession thus usurped they granted out to their immediate tenants; and these granted them over to others in like manner. Thus the principal vassals gradually obtained every royal prerogative; they promulgated laws, exercised the power of life and death, coined money, fixed the standard of weights and measures, granted safeguards, entertained a military force, and imposed taxes, with every right supposed to be annexed to royalty. In their titles they styled themselves dukes, c., Dei gratis, by the grace of God a prerogative avowedly confined to sovereign power. It was even admitted that, if the king refused to do the lord justice, the lord might make war upon him. The tenants, in their turn, made themselves independent of their vassal lords, by which was introduced an ulterior state of vassalage. The king was called the sovereign lord, his immediate vassal was called the suzereign, and the tenants holding of him were called the arrere vassals. See Butler’s Revolutions of the Germanic Empire, pp. 54-66. Thus the power of the emperors of Germany, which was so very considerable in the ninth century, was gradually diminished by the means of the feudal system; and during the anarchy of the long interregnum, occasioned by the interference of the popes in the election of the emperors, (from 1256 to 1273,) the imperial power was reduced almost to nothing. Rudolph of Hapsburg, the founder of the house of Austria, was at length elected emperor, because his territories and influence were so inconsiderable as to excite no jealously in the German princes, who were willing to preserve the forms of constitution, the power and vigour of which they had destroyed. See Robertson’s Introduction to his History of Charles V. Before the dissolution of the empire in 1806, Germany “presented a complex association of principalities more or less powerful, and more or less connected with a nominal sovereignty in the emperor, as its supreme feudal chief.” “There were about three hundred princes of the empire, each sovereign in his own country, who might enter into alliances, and pursue by all political measures his own private interest, as other sovereigns do; for if even an imperial war were declared he might remain neuter, if the safety of the empire were not at stake. Here then was an empire of a construction, without exception, the most singular and intricate that ever appeared in the world; for the emperor was only the chief of the Germanic confederation.” Germany was, therefore, speaking in the figurative language of Scripture, a country abounding in hills, or containing an immense number of distinct principalities. But the different German states (as has been before observed) did not each possess an equal share of power and influence; some were more eminent than others. Among them were also a few which might, with the greatest propriety, be denominated mountains, or states possessing a very high degree of political importance. But the seven mountains on which the woman sits must have their elevations above all the other eminences in the whole Latin world; consequently, they can be no other than the SEVEN ELECTORATES of the German empire. These were, indeed, mountains of vast eminence; for in their sovereigns was vested the sole poorer of electing the head of the empire. But this was not all; for besides the power of electing an emperor, the electors had a right to capitulate with the new head of the empire, to dictate the conditions on which he was to reign, and to depose him if he broke those conditions. They actually deposed Adolphus of Nassau in 1298, and Wenceslaus in 1400. They were sovereign and independent princes in their respective dominions, had the privilegium de non appellando illimitatum, that of making war, coining, and exercising every act of sovereignty; they formed a separate college in the diet of the empire, and had among themselves a particular covenant or league called Kur verein; they had precedence of all the other princes of the empire, and even ranked with kings. The heads of the beast understood in this way, is one of the finest emblems of the German constitution which can possibly be conceived; for as the Roman empire of Germany had the precedence of all the other monarchies of which the Latin empire was composed, the seven mountains very fitly denote the seven PRINCIPAL powers of what has been named the holy Roman empire. And also, as each electorate, by virtue of its union with the Germanic body, was more powerful than any other Roman Catholic state of Europe not so united; so was each electorate, in the most proper sense of the word, one of the highest elevations in the Latin world. The time when the seven electorates of the empire were first instituted is very uncertain. The most probable opinion appears to be that which places their origin some time in the thirteenth century. The uncertainty, however, in this respect, does not in the least weaken the evidence of the mountains being the seven electorates, but rather confirms it; for, as we have already observed, the representation of the woman sitting upon the beast is a figure of the Latin Church in the period of her greatest authority, spiritual and temporal; this we know did not take place before the commencement of the fourteenth century, a period subsequent to the institution of the seven electorates. Therefore the woman sits upon the seven mountains, or the German empire in its elective aristocratical state; she is said to sit upon them, to denote that she has the whole German empire under her direction and authority, and also that it is her chief support and strength. Supported by Germany, she is under no apprehension of being successfully opposed by any other power: she sits upon the seven mountains, therefore she is higher than the seven highest eminences of the Latin world; she must therefore have the secular Latin empire under her complete subjection. But this state of eminence did not continue above two or three centuries; the visible declension of the papal power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, occasioned partly by the removal of the papal see from Rome to Avignon, and more particularly by the great schism from 1377 to 1417, though considered one of the remote causes of the Reformation, was at first the means of merely transferring the supreme power from the pope to a general council, while the dominion of the Latin Church remained much the same. At the council of Constance, March 30, 1415, it was decreed “that the synod being lawfully assembled in the name of the Holy Ghost, which constituted the general council, and represented the whole Catholic Church militant, had its power immediately from Jesus Christ; and that every person, of whatsoever state or dignity, EVEN THE POPE HIMSELF is obliged to obey it in what concerns the faith, the extirpation of schism, and the general reformation of the Church in its head and members.” The council of Basil of 1432 decreed “that every one of whatever dignity or condition, NOT EXCEPTING THE POPE HIMSELF, who shall refuse to obey the ordinances and decrees of this general council, or any other, shall be put under penance, and punished. It is also declared that the pope has no power to dissolve the general council without the consent and decree of the assembly.” See the third tome of Du Pin’s Ecclesiastical History. But what gave the death blow to the temporal sovereignty of the Latin Church was the light of the glorious reformation which first broke out in Germany in 1517, and in a very few years gained its way, not only over several of the great principalities in Germany, but was also made the established religion of other popish countries. Consequently, in the sixteenth century, the woman no longer sat upon the seven mountains, the electorates not only having refused to be ruled by her, but some of them having also despised and abandoned her doctrines. The changes, therefore, which were made in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, in the number of the electorates, will not affect in the least the interpretation of the seven mountains already given. The seven electors were the archbishops of Mentz, Cologne, and Triers, the count palatine of the Rhine, the duke of Saxony, the marquis of Brandenburgh, and the king of Bohemia. But the heads of the beast have a double signification; for the angel says:-
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And here is the mind which hath wisdom; that is, here is that which requireth a mind endued with spiritual wisdom.
The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth; the seven heads which he saw the beast with, signified seven mountains or hills upon which Rome is situated; they were named before: See Poole on “Rev 17:3“. They tell us now Rome is situated in Campo Martio. Resp. Whatever it now is, certain it is, that in St. Johns time it was situated upon them, and they are now within the compass of Rome.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Compare Rev 13:18;Dan 12:10, where similarlyspiritual discernment is put forward as needed in order to understandthe symbolical prophecy.
seven heads and sevenmountainsThe connection between mountains and kingsmust be deeper than the mere outward fact to which incidentalallusion 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 awoman seated on seven hills. Coin of Vespasian, described byCAPTAIN SMYTH[Roman Coins, p. 310; ACKERMAN,1, p. 87]). The seven heads can hardly be at once seven kingsor kingdoms (Re 17:10),and seven geographical mountains. The true connection is, asthe head is the prominent part of the body, so the mountainis prominent in the land. Like “sea” and “earth”and”waters . . . peoples” (Re17:15), so “mountains” have a symbolical meaning,namely, prominent seats of power. Especially such as are prominenthindrances to the cause of God (Psa 68:16;Psa 68:17; Isa 40:4;Isa 41:15; Isa 49:11;Eze 35:2); especially Babylon(which geographically was in a plain, but spiritually iscalled a destroying mountain, Jer51:25), in majestic contrast to which stands Mount Zion, “themountain of the Lord’s house” (Isa2:2), and the heavenly mount; Re21:10, “a great and high mountain . . . and that great city,the holy Jerusalem.” So in Da2:35, the stone becomes a mountainMessiah’suniversal kingdom supplanting the previous world kingdoms. As natureshadows forth the great realities of the spiritual world, soseven-hilled Rome is a representative of the seven-headed world powerof which the dragon has been, and is the prince. The “sevenkings” are hereby distinguished from the “ten kings”(Re 17:12): the former arewhat the latter are not, “mountains,” great seats of theworld 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-Slavonicempire (the clay of the fourth kingdom mixed with its iron inNebuchadnezzar’s image, a fifth material, Dan 2:33;Dan 2:34; Dan 2:42;Dan 2:43, symbolizing this lasthead). These seven might seem not to accord with the seven heads inDa 7:4-7, one headon the first beast (Babylon), one on the second (Medo-Persia),four on the third (Greece; namely, Egypt, Syria, Thrace withBithynia, and Greece with Macedon): but Egypt and Greece are in bothlists. Syria answers to Assyria (from which the name Syria isabbreviated), and Thrace with Bithynia answers to theGothic-Germanic-Slavonic hordes which, pouring down on Rome from theNorth, founded the Germanic-Slavonic empire. The woman sitting onthe seven hills implies the Old and New Testament Churchconforming to, and resting on, the world power, that is, on all theseven world kingdoms. Abraham and Isaac dissembling as to their wivesthrough fear of the kings of Egypt foreshadowed this. Compare Eze 16:1-63;Eze 23:1-49, on Israel’swhoredoms with Egypt, Assyria, Babylon; and Mat 7:24;Mat 24:10-12; Mat 24:23-26,on the characteristics of the New Testament Church’s harlotry,namely, distrust, suspicion, hatred, treachery, divisions intoparties, false doctrine.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And here is the mind which hath wisdom,…. This refers either to what goes before, concerning the beast, his various states, rise, and ruin, and his admirers; or to what follows after, concerning the meaning of his heads and horns, or to both; and the sense is, that notwithstanding the interpretation of these things by the angel, yet it requires a large share of wisdom to understand them; and here is enough to exercise the mind that is ever so well stored with knowledge and understanding; and so the Arabic version renders it, “here it is required that one should have judgment and wisdom”; for to a man that has not, the affair will still be obscure and unintelligible. The words may be rendered, “here is the mind, he that hath wisdom”; that is, let him make use of it, as in Re 13:18 and so the Vulgate Latin version renders it, “and this is the sense, he that hath wisdom”; this is the sense of the beast, and of his heads and horns; and he that has wisdom, let him consider it, and take it in, and apply it to proper persons, things, and times; and so the Ethiopic version, “he that has wisdom and understanding, let him know this”; or take cognizance of it, it being a matter of importance, and attended with difficulty:
the seven heads are seven mountains of which the woman sitteth that is, they signify seven mountains, or are symbolical representations of them; just as the seven good kine, and seven good ears, in Pharoah’s dream, signified seven years of plenty, and seven thin kine, and seven empty ears, seven years of famine, Ge 41:26. As the woman is a city, Re 17:18 these seven mountains, on which she sits, must be so many mountains on which the city is built; and what city can this be but Rome, which is so famous for being built on seven hills? This is taken notice of by Virgil m, Horace n, Ovid o, Claudian p, Starius q, Martial r, and others; and indeed there is scarce a poet that speaks of Rome but observes it: hence it has been sometimes called, by writers, the seven hilled city, and sometimes Septiceps, the seven headed city, which comes near to the language here: the names of the seven mountains were these, Capitolinus, Palatinus, Aventinus, Esquilinus, Coelius, Viminalis, and Quirinalis; the four first of these were taken in by Romulus, the first founder of it, and the three last by Servius Tullius, when he enlarged it; and upon the addition of the seventh mountain there was a feast kept, called Septimontium; and which was kept in seven places in the city s; and was annually observed; and in this situation it was in John’s time; for Pliny t, who was contemporary with him, expressly says, that in his time it took in seven mountains; and that this refers to a city in John’s time, then reigning over the kings of the earth, is certain from Re 17:18. Now there was no imperial city, so built in his time, but Rome: for though Constantinople is built on seven hills, yet this was not in being in John’s time, but was built by Constantine many years after, in imitation of Rome; and though the situation is much altered now, being in Campus Martius, it being greatly reduced, and in a less compass, yet this hinders not but that it is the same city here designed: and this confirms that the beast before spoken of, on whom the woman sat, is the Roman empire, since she is here said to sit on the seven mountains, on which Rome, the metropolis of that empire, was built; and this shows the pope of Rome to be antichrist, the great whore, Babylon, the mother of harlots, since no other has his seat at Rome but he.
m Aeneid. 6. n In Carmine Seculari. o De Trist. l. 1. Eleg. 4. p L. 3. de Laud. Stilicon. l. 3. ver. 135. q Syl. l. 1. Syl. 2. ver. 191. r L. 4. Ep. 53. s Alex. ab Alex. Genial Dier. l. 6. c. 11. t Nat. Hist. l. 3. c. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here is the mind which hath wisdom (H ). “Here is the intelligence which has wisdom” (Charles). A variation of 13:18, but the same idea.
Seven mountains ( ). Rome was known as the city on seven hills (Vergil, Horace, Ovid, Cicero, etc.).
On which (–‘ ). “Where–upon them.” Pleonasm like — in 12:6. In 13:1ff. it is the beast that has the seven heads, while here the woman riding the beast has seven heads, a slight change in the symbolism, and the heads are further identified as kings.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Here is [] . Bespeaking attention and spiritual discernment for that which follows. See on ch. Rev 13:18.
The mind [ ] .
Nouv is the organ of mental perception and apprehension – of conscious life, the mind, comprising the faculties of perceiving and understanding, of feeling, judging, determining.
(a) The intellectual faculty or understanding (Luk 24:45). So here, according to some.
(b) The reason, regarded as the faculty of perceiving divine things : of recognizing goodness and hating evil (Rom 1:28; Rom 7:23; Eph 4:17).
(c) The power of calm and impartial judgment (2Th 2:2 )2_Nouv is a particular mode of thinking and judging : moral consciousness as a habit of mind or opinion. Hence thoughts, feelings, purposes (Rom 14:5; 1Co 1:10). Some render here meaning.
Seven mountains. Many interpreters regard this as conclusively defining the reference of the woman to Rome, which was built upon seven hills. Others deny the local reference, and understand the principle of worldly greatness and ambition. Others again claim that many cities besides Rome can boast of their seven hills, as Constantinople, Brussels, and especially Jerusalem.
Upon them. Redundant, the idea being already expressed by where. A Hebraism.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And here is the mind which hath wisdom,” (hode ho nous ho echon sophian) “here (this is, exists) the mind having or holding wisdom,” wisdom from above, true wisdom, to understand the signs of the times and revelation of last things, Pro 1:7; Dan 12:10; 1Th 5:4-9; Rev 13:18.
2) “The seven heads are seven mountains,” (hai hepta kephalai hepta ore eisin) “the seven heads (of the beast) are (exist as) seven mountains,” governments – seven government establishments, or established provincial governments, Rev 13:1.
3) “On which the woman sitteth,” (hopou he geine kathetai ep’ autou) “where the woman sits, (rests upon)or is supported by them;- This woman is the harlot, whore, and mother of harlots, undergirded by civil governments that have adopted her church-state form of government and thereby financially undergird her continuity.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(9) And here is the mind . . .Better, Here (omit and) is the mind, &c. Attention is asked to the fuller explanation which follows. It needs true wisdom to behold many incidents of the worlds history and not find stumbling-blocks in them (Psa. 73:2-3; Psa. 119:165). The seven heads are seven mountains where the woman sitteth upon them. The description seems to be drawn from Rome, the seven-hilled city. This keeps the reference to Rome before us, but at the same time the further explanation (in Rev. 17:10) widens our thoughts, and shows us that the literalism on which the imagery is based is used to convey a broader symbolical meaning. The seven heads are seven mountains, &c., and they (the seven heads; the words There are seven kings in the English version are confusing) are seven kings: the woman rides on the seven-headed beast; even so Rome dwells on her seven hills, and so also the world-city, seen in vision, sits among the various empires which have risen, like great mountains, in the history of the world.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Here is Or rather, here let there be. To the interpreter who would solve what follows, let there be mind with wisdom.
The seven heads are seven mountains That Rome is here meant even the ablest champions of Popery admit, such as Bellarmine, Baronius, and Bossuet, as quoted by Dr. Wordsworth, in his “Lectures.” “St. John, in the Apocalypse,” says Cardinal Bellarmine, “calls Rome Babylon; for no other city except Rome reigned in his age over the kings of the earth, and it is well known that Rome was seated on seven hills.” “It is confessed,” says Cardinal Baronius, “that Rome is signified in the Apocalypse by the name of Babylon.” Bossuet says, “The features (in the Apocalypse) are so marked that it is easy to decipher Rome under the figure of Babylon.” Romanistic authors maintain either that pagan Rome only is meant, or that the prophecies, as applied to Christian Rome, are to be fulfilled at some future day.
‘Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. And they are seven kings, five are fallen, the one is and the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must continue a little while, and the beast that was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is of the seven and goes into destruction.’
The seven heads of the Beast bear a dual significance. Firstly they are ‘seven mountains on which the woman sits’, they are the foundation of ‘Babylon’, and secondly they represent seven kings. (The Beast himself is the eighth king shortly to be mentioned). Rome was built on seven mountains, but so was Babylon. Indeed many cities boasted of being built on seven mountains for mountains had a divine significance and seven was the number of divine perfection, and where the ground is hilly it is not difficult to discern seven. Thus the seven mountains represent an idea, being seated on the mountains of the gods, while at the same time in context representing both Rome and Babylon. But the fact is that the woman was founded on the Beast, which itself represents the activity of Satan. She is the product of the evil and greed of past empires whose propensities are found in the Beast, who may well be the fourth Beast of Dan 7:7.
Like the heads of the clone beast the heads of the scarlet beast represent the same seven emperors and in doing so represent the whole empirate, for the scarlet beast incorporates the clone beast, and both are dependent on the red monster (Rev 12:3). Five are in the past and are dead (they are ‘fallen’), one is, and one must continue for a little while. If the ‘seven’ is intended to cover the whole empirate, then the fact that the present emperor was the sixth (six being the number of man) may be a deliberate method of indicating that the sixth emperor was but a man. The ‘seventh’ would then indicate the future empirate. But in the end this is only important because it relates the Beast to the Roman Empire, for the benefit of Christians living at that time. In the end it is the eighth Beast who is important..
Note On The Identification Of The Seven.
Attempts have been made to determine who the sixth emperor might be, for it would give us a date for the book. But different scholars come to different conclusions. If we work from Augustus, the first specifically named as emperor, then including Augustus the first emperors would be, Augustus, Tiberias, Gaius (Caligula), Claudius and Nero. This would then make the sixth emperor the little known Galba, or (if we ignore Galba, Othos and Vitellius on the grounds that they only reigned briefly in Rome and were never acknowledged by the eastern provinces), Vespasian. The seventh could then be either Titus, or Domitian, depending on whether we exclude Titus due to the shortness of his reign. We can, however, already see what shaky ground we are on, especially as nowhere is it said that the five include all emperors to that date. Furthermore, Augustus may have been represented by the Beast, with the horns being ensuing emperors. This would then make the sixth either Titus or Domitian.
But while no doubt the five were intended to be in some kind of sequence it does not necessarily mean that they were to be seen as directly consecutive. In many genealogies there is sequence, but with gaps between the persons named (e.g. in Matthew 1), and in the lists of the ten patriarchs (Genesis 5, 11) there were undoubtedly names missed out. In these last two ten important names were selected in order to represent the whole. So it may have been with the seven. So while the verse does definitely indicate that the Empirate had a future represented by the seventh king, who ‘has not yet come’, and who thus represents the future line of kingship, identification is difficult. The seventh is to continue for a little while. ‘A little while’ in Revelation is a period of uncertain duration.
But if John was seeing the ‘seven’ as including all emperors, then the five may simply be the figure needed to make the present emperor the sixth, six being the number of man, underlining the fact that the current emperor was not divine. The seventh would then be an ‘ideal’ emperor, indicating the future empirate.
End of note.
The explanation of the heads, the beasts, and the horns:
v. 9. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth.
v. 10. And there are seven kings; five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
v. 11. And the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
v. 12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
v. 13. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
v. 14. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them; for He is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and they that are with Him are called and chosen and faithful.
As the angel tells John, it is not an easy matter to understand the mystery here revealed: Here is the mind that has wisdom. Here is work for the discerning mind, to be able to tell what the meaning of the various features in the picture is. He explains: The seven heads are seven mountains, where the woman sits on them. The city of seven hills Rome is called, and so this reference to the Church of Anti-Christ, to the Church of Rome, is clear; for Rome was the seat of the Pope from the beginning, and all the adherents of papacy recognize Rome as the capital of their empire.
But there is another interpretation: And there are seven kings; five have fallen, one now is in existence, the other is not yet come, and when he comes, he is destined to remain but a short while, The Roman Empire is here conceived of as the continuation of the ancient world empires, of which five had fallen, the Egyptian, the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Persian, and the Greek-Macedonian. At the time when John wrote, the Roman Empire was in power. And as for the seventh ruler and empire, that is undoubtedly to be found in the Christianized Roman Empire, in the kingdom of Anti-Christ. The papal state, indeed, was not of great extent, but the dominion of the Pope, during the thousand years of his kingdom, reached far beyond the boundaries of his province, and his influence and authority are still evident in the life of the nations. This fact is shown also in the next verse: And the beast that was and is not is itself the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition. So it is the so-called spiritual power of popery which is here alluded to, whose temporal empire is now a negligible factor, and which still wants to be recognized as an empire.
In just what manner the papacy exerts its power is next indicated: And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, such as have not yet received a kingdom; but they will receive power as kings for one hour with the beast. These are of one mind, and they give their strength and their power to the beast. Here there is a reference to the ten great provinces into which the Roman Empire was divided. At the time of John’s vision these provinces were not yet independent, but they later became autonomous and had their own rulers. Their heirs and successors may be found in practically the entire world today. And of the great majority of rulers and states it is true that they have directly or indirectly furthered the cause of the beast, of Anti-Christ. No matter how dissimilar they may be otherwise, in their admiration for the papacy they are all alike, and they place themselves, more or less directly, into the power of Anti-Christ, to be used as the tool of the Pope.
The climax is reached in the next verse: These will wage war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for the Lord of lords He is and the King of kings, and with Him are the called and the elect and the faithful. It is not only a defensive. alliance which the rulers of the world have made with Anti-Christ, but also a coalition for offensive tactics. Again and again not only Roman princes and rulers, but also such as professed the Protestant faith have become the instruments of Rome in attempting to suppress the true Gospel-preaching with all the means at their disposal. But what will their puny attempts avail in the end? In waging war with the Lamb, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, their inevitable end is destruction. And in overthrowing these enemies, the Lamb incidentally protects them that are His, those whom He has called, those whom He has chosen, those that are faithful to Him to the end.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Ver. 9. Here is the mind ] q.d. Here is work for wise men to busy their brains about. Sapientia est vel codicibus vel cordibus. Wisdom is either from books or from the hearts.
Seven mountains ] The Jesuits cannot deny but that Rome is here pointed at, as being set upon seven hills, . So the ancient Rome was, whereof the present Rome is but a carcase, retaining nothing of the old but her ruins, and the cause of them her sins.
Rev 17:9 . , cf. Prop. iii. 11, 57 (“Septem urbs alta iugis, quae praesidet orbi”), Verg. Georg . ii. 534.
And. Omit.
mind. Same as “understanding” in Rev 13:18.
wisdom. Compare App-132.
The . . . sitteth. This belongs to Rev 17:10.
are. i.e. represent.
on. App-104.
Rev 17:9. -, mountains-kings) The seven mountains of Rome were formerly defended and adorned with seven citadels. Pacatus in Paneg.: These things thou didst survey, O Rome, from thy hills; and, elevated with seven CITADELS, thou wast lifted up to a greater height through joy: ch. 46. These hills, says G. Fabricius, in ch. 3 of his Rome, Virgil in his Georgics, and Ausonius in his Epithalamium, on account of the royal dwellings which were at one time situated on them, called the seven Citadels. Those seven mountains were the Palatine, the Capitoline, the Clian, the Esquiline, the Viminal, the Quirinal, and the Aventine. But the prophecy regards the seven mountains according to the time of the beast, in which the Palatine is deserted, and the Vatican flourishes. The others are the same as they were of old. Nor indeed have the seven heads of the beast a double signification,-the one of the mountains separately, in a confused manner; the other of the kings separately, in a distinct manner: but they have one signification only, in such a way, however, that the thing signified is something compound, consisting of a mountain and a king. Some seek for the seven mountains at Jerusalem; but, as Wolf forcibly teaches, they do not make out their point. See Isa 10:32. But grant that there were formerly seven mountains there; there were never seven kings there also, much less were seven mountains joined with seven kings individually: the city itself was destroyed before John wrote; Jerusalem is never called Babylon, even when it is most blamed; and the order of the prophecy thrusts Babylon into much later times. All these things are in agreement with the city Rome. And the first head of the beast is the Clian Mount, and on it the Lateran, with Gregory VII. and his successors: the second, the Vatican Mount, with the temple of St Peter, built by Boniface VIII.: the third, the Quirinal Mount, with the temple of St Mark, and with the Quirinal Palace, built by Paul II.: the fourth, the Esquiline Mount, with the temple of St Maria Maggiore, built by Paul V. Thus far the dwelling and the action of the Pontiffs perambulate these mountains; and that in such a manner, that to the first head there is added a second, but not so that the first immediately falls to decay; to these two a third; to the three a fourth; and afterwards to the four a fifth, until the five kings, and all things that have been established by them on the five mountains, fall. Turn over the Bullarium in order: you will observe four times from Gregory VII., in the first of which almost all the Bulls, given in the city, are dated from the Lateran; in the second, at St Peters; in the third, at St Marks and from the Quirinal; in the fourth, at St Maria Maggiore. No fifth, and undoubtedly no sixth or seventh mount, is seen to have been thus honoured by the Popes: and this very fact tends to prove the truth of this interpretation. The seven mountains will be distinctly seen, when the seventh is honoured.– ) for . Hebr. .
here: Rev 13:18, Dan 12:4, Dan 12:8-10, Hos 14:9, Mat 13:11, Mat 24:15
The seven: Rev 17:3, Rev 17:7, Rev 17:18, Rev 13:1
Reciprocal: Act 28:16 – Rome Rev 12:3 – seven heads Rev 16:10 – upon
Rev 17:9. The seven mountains have no special significance except as an item of geography and history by which to identify the city of Rome. On whieh the woman sitteth means that the apostate church rested upon the government of Rome for support.
Comments by Foy E. Wallac
Verse 9.
(3) The great wonder comprehended–Rev 17:9-11. “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: fire are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”
The mind which hath wisdom referred to the deep mystical import of these symbols which were here merely projected but not fully explained or interpreted–the full meaning is reserved for the following chapter.
Everything in the visions revolves around the Jerusalem of the Jews, Rome being only collateral to the accomplishment of the visions. The reference to the seven mountains was not subject to a literal application any more than the literalizing of the woman. Mountains were ordinarily the symbols of the seats and positions of political and governmental authority, where power was concentrated. And while that was true of Rome, surrounded literally by seven hills; it was true also that Jerusalem was the city where apostasy in the realm of religious power was concentrated; and Jerusalem was also surrounded by seven literal mountains: Zion, Acra, Moriah, Bezetha, Millo, Ophel and Antonio; all of which are mentioned in the history of Josephus in connection with the war against Jerusalem (Book 5, Section 5, 8). The application of these symbols to Jerusalem finds consistency in the context.
Here the angel cometh directly to declare and unfold the mystery of the beast, premising first, that it requires heavenly wisdom in a person to understand it, and apply the marks accordingly. Here is the mind that hath wisdom, that is, the mind that hath wisdom may here exercise itself.
The seven heads, saith the angel, are seven mountains, that is, signify seven mountains: a clear description of Rome, as to its local situation, being built upon seven hills. And there are seven kings, that is, seven forms of government, by, and according to, which Rome was governed, namely, by kings, consuls, tribunes, decemviri, dictators, and emperors, that were Pagans.
Five of these were fallen in St. John’s time, that is, utterly extinct, namely, the government by kings, consuls, tribunes, decemviri, and dictators. And one is, to wit, the government by Pagan emperors, which was in St. John’s time in being. And the other is not yet come, that is, the government by Christian emperors was not yet in being, and when it did come, it held but a little while before the bishops of Rome wrested the government out of their hands, and took it into their own.
Behold here! the great mutability of all earthly things; governments have their periods, kingdoms come to an end. Happy they who, serving God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, have secured to themselves a kingdom that cannot be moved! Heb 12:28
Generally, wisdom is the application of knowledge. The seven heads are both seven mountains and seven kings. Some have said the seven mountains are obviously those on which Rome was built and the seven kings are seven of her emperors. Of course, there is a great division over which emperors to count. Coffman suggest the seven heads, mountains, and kings are all representations of the same thing. He believes they stand for empires, since literal kings would not be described as fallen, but dead. He says Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece would be the five that had fallen. Rome would be the sixth and the apostate church persecuting true believers the seventh. Certainly, kingdoms are described as mountains elsewhere in scripture. ( Isa 2:2 ; Jer 51:25 ) Also, Daniel uses the words king and kingdom interchangably. ( Dan 7:17 ; Dan 7:23 ) This would make the eighth either some power not known to us yet, one of the seven described as the eighth or a revival of one of the seven.
Rev 17:9. seven mountains: Rome was described as the city of the seven hills.
Rev 17:10. seven kings: this is a second interpretation of the heads. The most probable explanation is: The five are fallen, i.e. Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero are dead; the one is, i.e. Vespasian is still reigning, the other is not yet come, i.e. Titus is still to ascend the throne as seventh emperor (but cf. p. 928).
Rev 17:11. an eighth and is of the seven: i.e. Nero, who was the fifth emperor in the foregoing list, and on his return would be the eighth.
Rev 17:12. ten horns: probably ten Parthian satraps who were about to assist Nero to recover his kingdom and would be rewarded for their loyalty by receiving kingdoms.for one hour: the rule of Nero redivivus would be of the shortest possible duration.
Rev 17:14. The victory of Christ over the empire of Antichrist.
Rev 17:16. the ten horns: Rev 17:12*.shall hate the harlot: the belief was that Nero would return in fury to wreak vengeance on Rome.
Rev 17:17. God uses the plans and devices of His enemies to fulfil His own purposes.
Rev 17:18. the great city: this verse proves that Babylon in this chapter must mean Rome, for the phrase which reigneth over the kings of the earth could only apply to Rome.
Verse 9
The mind; the meaning.
17:9 {16} And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The {c} seven heads {17} are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
(16) An exhortation preparing for the readers in the same argument, as that of Christ “He that hath ears to hear let him hear”. I would rather read in this passage “Let there be here a mind, etc”. So the angel passes to the second place of this description.
(c) Children know what the seven hilled city is, which is so much spoken of, and where of Virgil thus reports, “And compasses seven towers in one wall”, that city it is, which when John wrote these things, had rule over the kings of the earth. It was and is not, and yet it remains to this day, but it is declining to destruction.
(17) This is the description of the beast by things present (as I said before) by which John endeavoured to describe the same, that he might be both known of the godly in that age, and be further observed and marked of posterity afterwards. This delineation has one tip, that is, his heads, but a double description or application of the type: one permanent, from the nature itself, the other changeable, by the working of men. The description permanent, is by the seven hills, in this verse, the other that flees, is from the seven kings, Rev 17:10-11 . Here it is worthy to be observed, that one type has sometime two or more applications, as seems good to the Holy Spirit to express, either one thing by various types, or various things by one type. So I noted before of the seven spirits in see Geneva “Rev 1:4”. Now this woman that sits on seven hills, is the city of Rome, called in times past by the Greeks, “upon a hill” i. of seven tops or crests and by Varro, “septiceps” i. of her seven heads (as here) of seven heads, and by others, “septem collis” i. standing upon seven hills.
The angel prefaced his identification of the beast’s seven heads with a statement that understanding this part of the revelation requires wisdom (cf. Rev 13:18). Evidently many would incorrectly identify these seven heads. Indeed various writers have suggested a multitude of different interpretations. The most popular of these include seven Roman emperors, [Note: Beckwith, pp. 699, 704-11; Swete, pp. 220-21. For refutation of this view, see Ladd, pp. 228-29.] the seven hills of Rome, [Note: E.g., Newell, p. 263; Mounce, pp. 313-14; Beasley-Murray, p. 256. For extensive evidence that these are kingdoms rather than literal mountains, see Seiss, pp. 391-94.] and various non-literal views, such as the following.
"By his use of seven, he indicates completeness or wholeness. The seven heads of the beast symbolize fullness of blasphemy and evil. It is much like our English idiom ’the seven seas,’ i.e., all the seas of the world." [Note: Johnson, p. 559.]
Rev 17:9-11 are an exposition or clarification of Rev 17:8. The text is always its own best interpreter. The seven heads are "seven kings" (Rev 17:10). They are the heads and personifications of seven empires (cf. Dan 7:17; Dan 7:23). The angel also referred to them as "mountains" (Rev 17:9). In the Bible a mountain is sometimes a symbol of a prominent government (cf. Psa 30:7; Psa 68:15-16; Isa 2:2; Isa 41:15; Jer 51:25; Dan 2:35; Dan 2:44; Hab 3:6; Hab 3:10; Zec 4:7).
"The call for special wisdom in Rev 17:9 a probably has in view the ability to grasp this double meaning of the mountains [i.e., as individuals and kingdoms]." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 8-22, p. 296.]
The woman sits over the seven rulers and empires, but she is not one of them. She exercises authority over them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)