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Revelation 17 Bible study: The woman and the beast that carries her

The angel asks John, "Why do you wonder?" (17:7), and then says, "I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her" (17:7). And he says, "For God has put in their hearts to do what he has in mind" (17:17).

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“For God has put in their hearts to do what he has in mind, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.”
Revelation 17:17 · World English Bible

Try it · Did you catch it?

“In Revelation 17:1, the angel who says "Come here. I will show you" is one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls.”

Is that in the text, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

The judgment of the great prostitute

In the text

John says, "One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters," (17:1) (tap Come here and judgment) "with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality. Those who dwell on the earth were made drunken with the wine of her sexual immorality.”" (17:2). The angel's words run from 17:1 to the end of 17:2. These notes identify no one and nothing in this chapter with any city, empire, church, religion, nation, ruler, institution, event or era, then or now: not the woman, Babylon the great, the great city, the beast, the seven heads, the seven mountains, the seven kings, the eighth, the ten horns and the ten kings, the kings of the earth, or the waters and the peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. They set no place beside any of it, apply none of it to anyone, count or reckon nothing from it, and say no more of any of it than the chapter's own words.

Where the Old Testament leads here

Lord of lords

Interpretation

Deuteronomy 10:17leads toRevelation 17:14

Moses calls the LORD your God "God of gods and Lord of lords" (10:17). Revelation says of the Lamb, "the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings" (Revelation 17:14), and of the one on the white horse (Revelation 19:11), "He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written", "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:16). Revelation doesn't cite Deuteronomy 10, so this is a reading. Some hear the title Deuteronomy gives the LORD given in Revelation to the Lamb. Others note that the title is also in "Give thanks to the Lord of lords" (Psalm 136:3) and in 1 Timothy 6:15, and read Revelation as using a title found across Scripture without pointing to this chapter.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Revelation 17

That was a taste

The rest of Revelation 17 is waiting in Favor

  • Into a wilderness
  • Why do you wonder?
  • The waters which you saw
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  • 9 more Greek words
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The Greek word behind it

κρίμαkrimasay KREE-mah

Strong's: "a decision", and among the English it gives is "judgment". "I will show you the judgment" (17:1): behind judgment is this noun. Revelation has it three times, and this is the first (counted in RP2018, and in all eight editions TAGNT compares).

For your group

Revelation 17 Bible study questions

  1. 1"Come here. I will show you" (17:1). Who has helped you see something in the Bible you hadn't noticed before?
  2. 2"Why do you wonder? I will tell you" (17:7). What question about the Bible would you most like to have answered, and who could you ask?
  3. 317:17 speaks of "the words of God" being accomplished. Which of God's words are you counting on this week, and why?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Revelation 17 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home