Revelation 17 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativecausecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The invitation — come, see the judgment of the great whore 17:1–2

And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came,independent — a bowl-angel as guide — the whore's fall belongs to the bowl series (16:19; cf. 21:9, the same formula for the Bride)

and he spoke with me,independent — parataxis — the second καί-verb

saying:participial — the pleonastic speech-participle — the Semitic 'saying'

'Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitutecontent — the invitation — Δεῦρο and a future: not the woman first but her κρίμα, her sentence

who is seated on many waters,participial — Jer 51:13 — Babylon enthroned on many waters; decoded at v. 15

with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication,relative — on τῆς πόρνης — the kings her clients (Isa 23:17; Ezek 16:26 ff.)

and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.relative — the relative continued paratactically — Jer 51:7: the golden cup that made all the earth drunk

The vision — the woman on the scarlet beast 17:3–6

v. 3 — the transport, and the beast beneath her

And he carried me away into a wilderness in the Spirit.independent — the Spirit-transport (1:10; 4:2; 21:10) — Isa 21:1's oracle of the wilderness of the sea; Babylon viewed from the desert

And I saw a womanindependent — the tableau opens — εἶδον, the vision-verb

seated on a scarlet beast,participial — the mount — v. 1's καθημένης now on the beast: waters, beast, mountains, one throne (vv. 9, 15)

full of blasphemous names,participial — case discord — γέμω with accusative ὀνόματα for the expected genitive; the beast of 13:1, its blasphemy now total

having seven heads and ten horns.participial — SOLECISM kept — masculine nominative ἔχων against the neuter accusative θηρίον (cf. 1:16); Dan 7's horns on one composite beast

vv. 4–5 — the woman's array, and the name on her forehead

And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet,independent — the portrait column — imperial purple and scarlet, the Bride's linen inverted (19:8)

and gilded with gold and precious stone and pearls,participial — the periphrasis continued — κεχρυσωμένη χρυσίῳ, gilded with gilding; the triad returns in the dirge (18:16)

holding in her hand a golden cupparticipial — Jer 51:7 — the golden cup of v. 2's wine, now in her own hand

full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication,participial — case discord — γέμον with genitive βδελυγμάτων then accusative τὰ ἀκάθαρτα in one breath; gold outside, filth inside

and on her forehead a name written,independent — verbless tableau-line — the harlot's name-band on the brow; the counterfeit of the sealed foreheads (7:3; 14:1)

a mystery:phrase modifier — apposition — the name is a cipher, not a street sign; read with v. 7's promise to tell τὸ μυστήριον

Babylon the great, the mother of the prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.phrase modifier — the title itself — Babylon the code for the great city (14:8; 1 Pet 5:13); mother: every lesser whoredom is her offspring

v. 6 — drunk with blood; the seer's wonder

And I saw the womanindependent — the second εἶδον — the camera closes on her face

drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.participial — the cup decoded — v. 2's drunkenness turned on her: not wine but blood, the double ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος tolling twice (cf. 18:24)

And when I saw her I marveled with great amazement.independent — cognate accusative — ἐθαύμασα θαῦμα, the Semitic figure; the seer caught in the earth-dwellers' wonder (13:3), rebuked in v. 7

The mystery told — the beast that was and is not 17:7–14

v. 7 — the rebuke, and the promise to interpret

And the angel said to me:independent — the frame — the guide becomes interpreter (the angelus interpres of Dan 7:16)

'Why did you marvel?content — the rebuke-question — wonder is what the beast trades on (v. 8; 13:3); the seer must not pay it

I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beastcontent — emphatic ἐγώ — the promise that governs vv. 8–18; τὸ μυστήριον picks up the forehead-word of v. 5

that carries her,participial — βαστάζοντος — the beast is her porter; the rider depends on the mount (v. 16 will prove it)

which has the seven heads and the ten horns.participial — the agenda — heads (vv. 9–11) and horns (vv. 12–14), announced in the order they will be decoded

v. 8 — the beast-riddle: was, is not, will come — the angel's discourse runs flush (the letters' precedent)

The beast that you saw was, and is not,independent — the riddle, first form — the parody of ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος (1:4): the beast has no IS, only a WAS and a gap

and is about to rise from the abyssindependent — the third member — not ὁ ἐρχόμενος but a climb out of the abyss (11:7)

and goes to destruction.independent — the verdict appended — present ὑπάγει: it rises already en route to ἀπώλεια; repeated verbatim at v. 11

And the dwellers on the earth will marvel,independent — the seer's θαῦμα (v. 6) writ large — the earth-dwellers' wonder is worship (13:3–4)

whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world,relative — distributive singular τὸ ὄνομα — the unwritten marvel (13:8); the register decides who wonders

when they see the beast,participial — case discord — genitive βλεπόντων for the expected nominative, drawn to ὧν: a loose genitive absolute

that it was and is not and will be present.content — the riddle, second form — παρέσται caps the parody: the beast gets a παρουσία of its own (cf. 2 Thess 2:9)

vv. 9–11 — the heads decoded: seven mountains, seven kings, and the eighth

Here is the mind that has wisdom.independent — the wisdom-summons — the formula of 13:18; what follows is a cipher to be worked, not a sight to be wondered at

The seven heads are seven mountains,independent — first identification — the seven hills: the woman is enthroned on Rome

where the woman sits on them;relative — resumptive ἐπ' αὐτῶν doubles ὅπου — the Semitic pleonasm (cf. 7:2, 9); her third throne: waters, beast, mountains

and they are seven kings.independent — second identification, coordinate with the first — the cipher is polyvalent: the heads are place AND succession at once

Five have fallen,independent — the count — ἔπεσαν, fallen like the city they rule (14:8); which five, the text refuses to say

one is,independent — the present head — the only ἔστιν in the chapter granted to the beast's side, and it is a king's brief now

the other has not yet come;independent — the seventh — οὔπω: the schema is complete before he arrives

and when he comes,conditional — temporal (ὅταν + subj.) — leans on δεῖ below

he must remain only a little while.independent — δεῖ — even the seventh's ὀλίγον is divinely fixed (cf. 12:12: the devil's own ὀλίγον καιρόν)

And the beast that was and is not —independent — the riddle, third form — casus pendens: the formula itself is now the beast's name; resumed by αὐτός

it too is an eighth,independent — apodotic καί with resumptive αὐτός — masculine, sliding from the neuter beast toward the man; an eighth, outside the sacred seven

and is of the seven,independent — the paradox — new head, yet ἐκ τῶν ἑπτά: one of the WAS returning (the redivivus expectation, 13:3, 12)

and goes to destruction.independent — v. 8's verdict repeated verbatim — the refrain that closes every form of the riddle

vv. 12–14 — the horns decoded: ten kings, one hour, war on the Lamb

And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings,independent — Dan 7:24 — the ten horns as kings; a round number of client powers, not a roster

who have not yet received a kingdom,relative — οὔπω again — kings still waiting in the schema, like the seventh head

but they receive authority as kings for one hour together with the beast.relative — the relative continued adversatively — ὡς βασιλεῖς: kingship in quotation marks; μίαν ὥραν, the hour of the city's fall (18:10, 17, 19)

These have one purpose,independent — μίαν γνώμην — their unanimity; v. 17 will name its real author

and they give their power and authority to the beast.independent — the surrender — what the dragon gave the beast (13:2), the kings now give it again

These will make war on the Lamb,independent — anaphoric οὗτοι, second of the run — the war of 16:14 and 19:19 announced out of order, and settled in a line

and the Lamb will conquer them,independent — νικήσει — the book's verb (5:5); the outcome declared before the battle is fought

because he is Lord of lords and King of kings,cause — the ground — Deut 10:17; Dan 2:47: the ten borrow kingship for an hour, he owns it; the title returns on the thigh at 19:16

and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.cause — the ὅτι-clause's verbless tail — the Lamb's companions against the beast's coalition: a triple predicate, no verb needed

The waters, the horns, and the woman decoded 17:15–18

v. 15 — the waters: her empire is humanity

And he says to me:independent — historic present λέγει — the interpretation resumes for its last three decodings

'The waters that you saw,content — the subject fronted — v. 1's ὑδάτων πολλῶν finally taken up

where the prostitute sits,relative — the throne-formula a fourth time — κάθηται is her one verb

are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.content — the fourfold formula (5:9; 7:9) with ὄχλοι for φυλαί — she is seated on mankind itself

vv. 16–17 — the horns turn: the whore destroyed by her own beast

And the ten horns that you saw, and the beast —independent — casus pendens — horns and beast fronted together, resumed by οὗτοι

these will hate the prostitute,independent — the reversal — the mount turns on its rider (Ezek 23:22 ff.): evil is self-devouring

and will make her desolate and naked,independent — Ezek 23:29 — stripped as the adulteress; ἠρημωμένην echoes the ἔρημον where the seer stands (v. 3)

and will devour her flesh,independent — the plural σάρκας — her flesh eaten like Jezebel's (2 Kgs 9:36–37; cf. 19:18)

and will burn her up with fire.independent — the whore's pyre — the harlot-priestess's penalty (Lev 21:9); her smoke rises through ch. 18 (18:8–9, 18)

For God put it into their heartscause — γάρ — the ground of the whole destruction chain: behind the horns' hatred, God's giving hand

to do his purpose,content — epexegetic infinitive — HIS γνώμη: the kings' one mind (v. 13) was God's mind first

and to be of one purpose,content — the second infinitive — their unanimity itself is the gift

and to give their kingdom to the beast,content — the third — even the surrender of v. 13 was scripted; the beast is armed by God against the whore

until the words of God will be fulfilled.conditional — temporal (ἄχρι + future indicative, the rarer construction) — the coalition's lease expires when God's words are finished (cf. 10:7)

v. 18 — the woman: the great city

And the woman whom you saw is the great cityindependent — the final identification — the μυστήριον of v. 5 resolved: not a woman but THE city (11:8; 16:19)

that holds dominion over the kings of the earth.participial — present ἔχουσα — she reigns still as John writes; the counter-claim to 1:5's ὁ ἄρχων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς

Analysis. Revelation 17 is a diptych, and the layout shows both leaves: a vision told in the seer's καί-paratactic narrative (vv. 1–6), then the angel's interpretation (vv. 7–18), which — on the letters' precedent — runs flush at its own discourse level once the frame verbs (εἶπέν, v. 7; λέγει, v. 15) have introduced it, so the interpretive oracle reads as a column of purple main clauses with its internal subordination drawn normally. In the vision half the invitation descends through the speech-participle into blue quoted content (Δεῦρο under λέγων), with the μεθ' ἧς relative and its paratactic ἐμεθύσθησαν continuation both hanging from πόρνης; the woman and her beast are drawn in short participial steps, the book's discords flagged rather than smoothed — γέμον with accusative ὀνόματα (v. 3), nominative ἔχων against the accusative θηρίον (v. 3), γέμον governing genitive and accusative in one breath (v. 4), the loose genitive βλεπόντων (v. 8), the resumptive ἐπ' αὐτῶν doubling ὅπου (v. 9) — and the forehead-title ΒΑΒΥΛΩΝ stands as its own dashed line under ὄνομα. The interpretation's spine is the beast-riddle, kept one line per occurrence so its mutations align down the page — ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν with μέλλει ἀναβαίνειν (v. 8a), with παρέσται (v. 8b), and the eighth-from-the-seven form (v. 11) — each tagged as the parody of ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος. Choices the layout takes a side on: the seven heads are decoded twice (mountains AND kings) as two coordinate identifications; the ὅταν-protasis of v. 10 leans forward on δεῖ; the ἄχρι of v. 17 (with future indicative) is a backward temporal limit anchored on δοῦναι; the verbless κλητοὶ καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ καὶ πιστοί stays inside the ὅτι-ground of v. 14; and v. 17's γάρ grounds the whole destruction chain of v. 16 — God's own hand behind the horns' hatred.