Whore of Babylon

A 1523 woodcut by Hans Burgkmair, for Martin Luther's translation of the New Testament, depicting the Whore of Babylon riding the seven-headed Beast (a hand-coloured copy)

The Whore of Babylon or Babylon the Great is a symbolic female figure and also place of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Her full title is given as "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth." (Greek: Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς;  transliterated Babylōn hē megalē, hē mētēr tōn pornōn kai tōn bdelygmatōn tēs gēs.)

Passages from Revelation

The "great whore", of the biblical Book of Revelation is featured in chapters 17 and 18:

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. ["Fornication" is interpreted/translated as "idolatry" in the Amplified Bible (AMP), the New American Bible mentions "harlotry"]
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, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. [King James Version; the New International Version uses "prostitutes" instead of "harlots"].
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 sitteth. [King James Version; the New International Version Bible and the New American Bible use "hills" instead of "mountains"].
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 sitteth, 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.

— Revelation 17:4–18 (various)

See also: Revelation 17:1, Parallel Translations

Symbolism

The whore of Babylon as illustrated in Hortus deliciarum by Herrad of Landsberg, 1180.

See also: Babylon

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 metaphorically as "Idolatress"). The Whore's apocalyptic downfall is prophesied to take place in the hands of the image 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.

Preterist interpretations

Some scholars interpret 'Babylon' as being based on historical places and events.

Rome and the Roman Empire

See also: Dea Roma

Many Biblical scholars believe that "Babylon" is a metaphor for the pagan Roman Empire at the time it persecuted Christians, before the Edict of Milan in 313: perhaps specifically referencing some aspect of Rome's rule (brutality, greed, paganism). Some exegetes interpret the passage as a scathing critique of a servant people of Rome who do the Empire's bidding, interpreting that the author of Revelation was speaking of the Herodians—a party of Jews friendly to Rome and open to its influence, like the Hellenizers of centuries past—and later, corrupt Hasmoneans, where the ruler of Jerusalem or Roman Judea exercised his power at the pleasure of the Emperor, and was dependent on Roman influence, like Herod the Great in the Gospel of Luke.

In 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch and the Sibylline Oracles, "Babylon" is a cryptic name for Rome. Reinhard Feldmeier speculates that "Babylon" is used to refer to Rome in 1 Peter 5:13. In Revelation 17:9 it is said that she sits on "seven mountains", typically understood as the seven hills of Rome. A Roman coin minted under the Emperor Vespasian (ca. 70 AD) depicts Rome as a woman sitting on seven hills.

According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "The characteristics ascribed to this Babylon apply to Rome rather than to any other city of that age: (a) as ruling over the kings of the earth (Revelation 17:18); (b) as sitting on seven mountains (Revelation 17:9); (c) as the center of the world's merchandise (Revelation 18:3, 11–13); (d) as the corrupter of the nations (Revelation 17:2; 18:3; 19:2); (e) as the persecutor of the saints (Revelation 17:6)."

According to Eusebius of Caesarea Babylon would be Rome or the Roman Empire:

"And Peter makes mention of Mark in his first epistle which they say that he wrote in Rome itself, as is indicated by him, when he calls the city, by a figure, Babylon, as he does in the following words: «The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, salutes you; and so does Marcus my son.»(1 Peter 5:13)"

Jerusalem

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts (1850)

Alan James Beagley, David Chilton, J. Massyngberde Ford, Peter Gaskell, Kenneth Gentry, Edmondo Lupieri, Bruce Malina, Iain Provan, J. Stuart Russell, Milton S. Terry point out that although Rome was the prevailing pagan power in the 1st century when the Book of Revelation was written, the symbolism of the whore of Babylon refers not to an invading infidel of foreign power, but to an apostate false queen, a former "bride" who has been unfaithful and who, even though she has been divorced and cast out because of unfaithfulness, continues to falsely claim to be the "queen" of the spiritual realm. This symbolism did not fit the case of Rome at the time. Proponents of this view suggest that the "seven mountains" in Rev 17:9 are the seven hills on which Jerusalem stands and the "fall of Babylon" in Rev 18 is the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Several Old Testament prophets referred to Jerusalem as being a spiritual harlot and a mother of such harlotry (Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 3:1–11; Ezekiel 16:1–43; Ezekiel 23, Galatians 4:25). Some of these Old Testament prophecies as well as the warnings in the New Testament concerning Jerusalem are in fact very close to the text concerning Babylon in Revelation, suggesting that John may well have actually been citing those prophecies in his description of Babylon.

For example, in Matthew 23:34–37 and Luke 11:47–51, Jesus himself assigned all of the bloodguilt for the killing of the prophets and of the saints (of all time) to the Pharisees of Jerusalem, and, in Revelation 17:6 and 18:20,24, almost identical phrasing is used in charging that very same bloodguilt to Babylon. This is also bolstered by Jesus' statement that "it's not possible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem." (Luke 13:33).

Historicist and idealistic interpretations

Pre-Reformation (Catholic) view

For medieval Spanish Catholics, the Whore of Babylon (Revelation, 17.4-5) (a Christian allegory of evil) was incarnated by the Emirate of Córdoba.

In the most common medieval (Catholic) view from St. Augustine's City of God, Babylon and Jerusalem referred to two spiritual cities (or civilizations) spiritually at war with one another, throughout all of history:

Babylon [from Babel] is interpreted confusion, Jerusalem vision of peace. . . . They are mingled, and from the very beginning of mankind mingled they run on unto the end of the world. . . . Two loves make up these two cities: love of God makes Jerusalem, love of the world makes Babylon.

They also represented two principles at war with one another, inside each individual person, even inside seemingly worldly Christian monarchs; thus Augustine could boast approvingly, "...believing [Christian] monarchs of this world, came to the city of Rome, as to the head of Babylon: they went not to the temple of the Emperor, but to the tomb of the Fisherman." On the other hand, even seemingly religious popes could become so entangled in worldly pursuits as to constitute "Babylon," in Dante's eyes:

Dante equated the corruption and simony of the pontificate of Pope Boniface VIII with the Whore of Babylon in Canto 19 of his Inferno:

Di voi pastor s'accorse il Vangelista,

quando colei che siede sopra l'acque

puttaneggiar coi regi a lui fu vista...

(Shepherds like you the Evangelist had in mind when he saw the one that sits upon the waters committing fornication with the kings.)

Reformation view

See also: Historicist interpretations of the Book of Revelation § Antichrist

Whore of Babylon wearing the papal tiara from a woodcut in Luther Bible

Historicist interpreters commonly used the phrase "Whore of Babylon" to refer to the Roman Catholic Church. Reformation writers from Martin Luther (1483–1546) (who wrote On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church), John Calvin (1509–1564), and John Knox (1510–1572) (who wrote The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women) taught this association.

Most early Protestant Reformers believed, and the modern Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches, that in Bible prophecy a woman represents a church. "I have likened the daughter of Zion To a lovely and delicate woman." (Jeremiah 6:2 nkjv) A harlot, it is argued, is representative of a church that has been unfaithful:

"Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry

And children of harlotry,

For the land has committed great harlotry

By departing from the LORD." (Hosea 1:2 nkjv)

They also believed that the primary location of this unfaithful church is stated in the same chapter.

"And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth." (Revelation 17:18)

The connection noted above on the seven hills of Rome is argued to locate the church.

Identification of the Pope as the Antichrist was written into Protestant creeds such as the Westminster Confession of 1646. The identification of the Roman Catholic Church with the Whore of Babylon is kept in the Scofield Reference Bible (whose 1917 edition identified "ecclesiastical Babylon" with "apostate Christendom headed by the Papacy").

Seventh-day Adventist view

Adventists believe that the fallen state of traditional Christianity can be seen especially in the Catholic Church, which they teach is the great whore in prophecy as seen in Rev 17:1-:, a false church. Her harlot daughters are interpreted as other false churches (predominantly Protestant) which adopt false doctrines, some drawn from Catholicism itself despite the separation of Protestants from the Roman Catholic Church on disagreement on doctrines. Adventists further hold that the persecution of the true believers prophesied in Rev 17:6 was fulfilled in the persecution of the early believers who rejected the changes to doctrine by the Roman Catholic Church, which desiring to win adherents from a largely pagan Roman Empire,introduced pagan beliefs into their faith. This is seen in the persecution during the Middle Ages of anyone daring to oppose the Church such as the Albigensian Crusades in southern France and against the Waldensians and Huguenots, and especially the Inquisition.

Seventh-day Adventists interpret Rev 17:18 as a prophecy of the false church which has power over the kings of the earth. They consider the pope to be in apostasy for allowing pagan rituals, beliefs and ceremonies to come into the church, having those who pointed out its apostasy persecuted and killed and never repenting of or fully admitting the true extent of its actions. They see the Papacy (termed papal Rome) stepping in after the Roman Empire (termed pagan Rome) as fulfillment of 2 Thessalonians 2:7 which says, "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way."

Ellen G. White's The Great Controversy states that "Spiritual Babylon" would have worldwide influence, affecting "all nations", that Imperial Roman Empire could not meet the criteria, as she wrote that it only had influence in the Old World. Like many reformation-era Protestant leaders, her writings also describe the Catholic Church as a fallen church, and it plays a nefarious eschatological role as the antagonist against God's true church and that the pope is the Antichrist.

His word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.

— Ellen White

Latter-day Saint view

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) views the Whore of Babylon and its Book of Mormon equivalent, the "great and abominable church", as having dominion over the entire earth and representing a singular group as well as groups of carnal individuals seeking wealth, sexual immorality, and the persecution or death of saints. The Whore of Babylon, or the Devil's Church consists of all organisations not associated or against all faithful people in Christ. Ultimately, the Whore of Babylon's fate is to be destroyed in the last days.

Jehovah's Witnesses view

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Whore of Babylon represents "the world empire of false religion", referring to all other religious groups including, but not limited to, Christendom, which they use to refer to "professed Christianity" as opposed to their own "true Christianity". The interpretation comes from the common biblical symbols of mountains and beasts representing governments(kings, kingdoms) - Re 17:9,10; Da 7:17, waters and seas representing the populace - Re 17:16, and the book of revelation’s own definition of the woman being “the mother of the prostitutes and of the disgusting things of the earth... and ...the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.” and “the woman whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth” - Re 17:5,6,18. The ancient city of Babylon is described as such a city throughout the book of Daniel, and was likely the origin of many unscriptural beliefs. For example, the Babylonians believed in the immortality of the human soul. Astrology likely originated in Babylonian cults “who, from the position of the stars at the hour of birth, by various arts of computation and divining . . . determined the fate of individuals.” Babylon’s religious influence is traced eastward to India in the book New Light on the Most Ancient East, by archaeologist V. Childe (1957, p. 185). If, then, the beast in revelation represents the world’s governments, one could ask, what does the prostitute represent? Since various aspects of Babylon’s religious beliefs are so pervasive throughout “false religion,” and the religions of the world have so openly “fornicated with the kings” right up to present day, it is fitting for the “world empire of false religion” to be named Babylon the great. Jehovah's Witnesses literature often mentions the Great Harlot of Babylon and the subsequent attack on her by the political powers, signaling the beginning of the "great tribulation". They believe that the empire of false religion has persecuted God's people, and that 'false religion' has committed "fornication" with the world's political and commercial elements (based on Revelation 17:1,2).

In popular culture

• In the Lars von Trier film Nymphomaniac, the central character Joe reminisces about a field trip as a young girl that suggests she had a vision of Valeria Messalina and the Whore of Babylon looking over her as she levitates and spontaneously has her first orgasm.
• In the sixth season of Dexter, season antagonist Travis Marshall– who is committing biblical-themed murders while 'guided' by a hallucination of his dead professor that acts as a second personality–kills his sister Lisa to serve as the Whore of Babylon for his apocalyptic tableau in the episode "Sin of Omission".
• In the fifth season of Supernatural, when the protagonists must thwart the apocalypse after Lucifer is released from Hell, the episode "99 Problems" sees protagonists Dean and Sam Winchester and their angel ally Castiel arrive in a small town where a woman named Leah Gideon is presenting herself as a prophet of the Lord, protecting the town from demons by performing exorcisms and encouraging the residents to turn against the 'sinners' among them. Castiel reveals that Leah Gideon is not a prophet as angels are aware of the names of all the prophets, identifying Leah as the Whore of Babylon (Sam speculates that the real Leah was killed months ago and the Whore is now impersonating her), who will come bearing false prophecy and condemn those who follow her to Hell. She can only be slain with a stake made from a cypress tree that grew in Babylon when wielded by a true servant of Heaven.
• The Whore of Babylon, referred to as "The Harlot" and "Mother Harlot", appears as a high level fiend race demon in the Megami Tensei series. She first appears in the updated version Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne as an optional boss that guards the Candelabrum of Beauty.
• The Whore of Babylon is also referenced in the 1978 movie, Damien: Omen II. Carl Bugenhagen, played by Leo McKern takes a fellow archaeologist to a site to show him a painting which proves that Damien Thorn is the Anti-Christ. On their way, a statue of the Whore is pointed out. Shortly afterwards, the site collapses burying both men alive.

See also

• Astaroth
• Anti-Catholicism
• Babalon
• Book of Daniel
• Great Apostasy
• Rastafari Zion vs. Babylon
• The Two Babylons
• Woman of the Apocalypse