Symbolism
The Whore is associated with the Antichrist and the Beast of Revelation by connection with an equally evil kingdom. (The word "Whore" can also be translated as "Idolatress".) The Whore's apocalyptic downfall is prophesied to take place in the hands of the beast with seven heads and ten horns. There is much speculation within Christian eschatology on what the Whore and Beast symbolize as well as the possible implications for contemporary interpretations.
The “great whore”, of the biblical book of Revelation is featured in chapters 17 and 18. Many passages define symbolic meanings inherent in the text.
| 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: |
| 17:2 | 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. |
| 17:3 | 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. |
| 17:4 | 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: |
| 17:5 | And upon her forehead was a name written a mystery: Babylon The Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the Earth. . |
| 17:6 | 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. |
| 17:9 | And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sat. . |
| 17:10 | 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. |
| 17:11 | And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition. |
| 17:12 | 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. |
| 17:15 | And he said unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sat, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. |
| 17:18 | And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth. |
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- — Revelation 17:4–18 (various)
- See also: Revelation 17:1, Parallel Translations
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Read more about this topic: Whore Of Babylon
Famous quotes containing the word symbolism:
“...I remembered the rose bush that had reached a thorny branch out through the ragged fence, and caught my dress, detaining me when I would have passed on. And again the symbolism of it all came over me. These memories and visions of the poor—they were the clutch of the thorns. Social workers have all felt it. It holds them to their work, because the thorns curve backward, and one cannot pull away.”
—Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933)