independentparticipialrelativecausecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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The invitation — come, see the judgment of the great whore 17:1–2
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Καὶ ἦλθεν εἷς ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλων τῶν ἐχόντων τὰς ἑπτὰ φιάλας,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)
καὶ ἐλάλησεν μετ’ ἐμοῦindependent — parataxis — the second καί-verb
λέγων·participial — the pleonastic speech-participle — the Semitic 'saying'
Δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὸ κρίμα τῆς πόρνης τῆς μεγάληςcontent — the invitation — Δεῦρο and a future: not the woman first but her κρίμα, her sentence
τῆς καθημένης ἐπὶ ὑδάτων πολλῶν,participial — Jer 51:13 — Babylon enthroned on many waters; decoded at v. 15
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μεθ’ ἧς ἐπόρνευσαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς,relative — on τῆς πόρνης — the kings her clients (Isa 23:17; Ezek 16:26 ff.)
καὶ ἐμεθύσθησαν οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν γῆν ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς.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
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καὶ ἀπήνεγκέν με εἰς ἔρημον ἐν πνεύματι.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
καὶ εἶδον γυναῖκαindependent — the tableau opens — εἶδον, the vision-verb
καθημένην ἐπὶ θηρίον κόκκινον,participial — the mount — v. 1's καθημένης now on the beast: waters, beast, mountains, one throne (vv. 9, 15)
γέμον ὀνόματα βλασφημίας,participial — case discord — γέμω with accusative ὀνόματα for the expected genitive; the beast of 13:1, its blasphemy now total
ἔχων κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα.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
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καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἦν περιβεβλημένη πορφυροῦν καὶ κόκκινον,independent — the portrait column — imperial purple and scarlet, the Bride's linen inverted (19:8)
καὶ κεχρυσωμένη χρυσίῳ καὶ λίθῳ τιμίῳ καὶ μαργαρίταις,participial — the periphrasis continued — κεχρυσωμένη χρυσίῳ, gilded with gilding; the triad returns in the dirge (18:16)
ἔχουσα ποτήριον χρυσοῦν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτῆςparticipial — Jer 51:7 — the golden cup of v. 2's wine, now in her own hand
γέμον βδελυγμάτων καὶ τὰ ἀκάθαρτα τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς,participial — case discord — γέμον with genitive βδελυγμάτων then accusative τὰ ἀκάθαρτα in one breath; gold outside, filth inside
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καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον αὐτῆς ὄνομα γεγραμμένον,independent — verbless tableau-line — the harlot's name-band on the brow; the counterfeit of the sealed foreheads (7:3; 14:1)
μυστήριον,phrase modifier — apposition — the name is a cipher, not a street sign; read with v. 7's promise to tell τὸ μυστήριον
Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς.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
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καὶ εἶδον τὴν γυναῖκαindependent — the second εἶδον — the camera closes on her face
μεθύουσαν ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τῶν ἁγίων καὶ ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τῶν μαρτύρων Ἰησοῦ.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)
Καὶ ἐθαύμασα ἰδὼν αὐτὴν θαῦμα μέγα.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
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καὶ εἶπέν μοι ὁ ἄγγελος·independent — the frame — the guide becomes interpreter (the angelus interpres of Dan 7:16)
Διὰ τί ἐθαύμασας;content — the rebuke-question — wonder is what the beast trades on (v. 8; 13:3); the seer must not pay it
ἐγὼ ἐρῶ σοι τὸ μυστήριον τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ τοῦ θηρίουcontent — emphatic ἐγώ — the promise that governs vv. 8–18; τὸ μυστήριον picks up the forehead-word of v. 5
τοῦ βαστάζοντος αὐτήν,participial — βαστάζοντος — the beast is her porter; the rider depends on the mount (v. 16 will prove it)
τοῦ ἔχοντος τὰς ἑπτὰ κεφαλὰς καὶ τὰ δέκα κέρατα.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)
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τὸ θηρίον ὃ εἶδες ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν,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
καὶ μέλλει ἀναβαίνειν ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσουindependent — the third member — not ὁ ἐρχόμενος but a climb out of the abyss (11:7)
καὶ εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑπάγει·independent — the verdict appended — present ὑπάγει: it rises already en route to ἀπώλεια; repeated verbatim at v. 11
καὶ θαυμασθήσονται οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς,independent — the seer's θαῦμα (v. 6) writ large — the earth-dwellers' wonder is worship (13:3–4)
ὧν οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα ἐπὶ τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου,relative — distributive singular τὸ ὄνομα — the unwritten marvel (13:8); the register decides who wonders
βλεπόντων τὸ θηρίονparticipial — case discord — genitive βλεπόντων for the expected nominative, drawn to ὧν: a loose genitive absolute
ὅτι ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν καὶ παρέσται.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
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ὧδε ὁ νοῦς ὁ ἔχων σοφίαν.independent — the wisdom-summons — the formula of 13:18; what follows is a cipher to be worked, not a sight to be wondered at
αἱ ἑπτὰ κεφαλαὶ ἑπτὰ ὄρη εἰσίν,independent — first identification — the seven hills: the woman is enthroned on Rome
ὅπου ἡ γυνὴ κάθηται ἐπ’ αὐτῶν.relative — resumptive ἐπ' αὐτῶν doubles ὅπου — the Semitic pleonasm (cf. 7:2, 9); her third throne: waters, beast, mountains
καὶ βασιλεῖς ἑπτά εἰσιν·independent — second identification, coordinate with the first — the cipher is polyvalent: the heads are place AND succession at once
10
οἱ πέντε ἔπεσαν,independent — the count — ἔπεσαν, fallen like the city they rule (14:8); which five, the text refuses to say
ὁ εἷς ἔστιν,independent — the present head — the only ἔστιν in the chapter granted to the beast's side, and it is a king's brief now
ὁ ἄλλος οὔπω ἦλθεν,independent — the seventh — οὔπω: the schema is complete before he arrives
καὶ ὅταν ἔλθῃconditional — temporal (ὅταν + subj.) — leans on δεῖ below
ὀλίγον αὐτὸν δεῖ μεῖναι.independent — δεῖ — even the seventh's ὀλίγον is divinely fixed (cf. 12:12: the devil's own ὀλίγον καιρόν)
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καὶ τὸ θηρίον ὃ ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν,independent — the riddle, third form — casus pendens: the formula itself is now the beast's name; resumed by αὐτός
καὶ αὐτὸς ὄγδοός ἐστινindependent — apodotic καί with resumptive αὐτός — masculine, sliding from the neuter beast toward the man; an eighth, outside the sacred seven
καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἑπτά ἐστιν,independent — the paradox — new head, yet ἐκ τῶν ἑπτά: one of the WAS returning (the redivivus expectation, 13:3, 12)
καὶ εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑπάγει.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
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καὶ τὰ δέκα κέρατα ἃ εἶδες δέκα βασιλεῖς εἰσιν,independent — Dan 7:24 — the ten horns as kings; a round number of client powers, not a roster
οἵτινες βασιλείαν οὔπω ἔλαβον,relative — οὔπω again — kings still waiting in the schema, like the seventh head
ἀλλὰ ἐξουσίαν ὡς βασιλεῖς μίαν ὥραν λαμβάνουσιν μετὰ τοῦ θηρίου.relative — the relative continued adversatively — ὡς βασιλεῖς: kingship in quotation marks; μίαν ὥραν, the hour of the city's fall (18:10, 17, 19)
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οὗτοι μίαν γνώμην ἔχουσιν,independent — μίαν γνώμην — their unanimity; v. 17 will name its real author
καὶ τὴν δύναμιν καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτῶν τῷ θηρίῳ διδόασιν.independent — the surrender — what the dragon gave the beast (13:2), the kings now give it again
14
οὗτοι μετὰ τοῦ ἀρνίου πολεμήσουσιν,independent — anaphoric οὗτοι, second of the run — the war of 16:14 and 19:19 announced out of order, and settled in a line
καὶ τὸ ἀρνίον νικήσει αὐτούς,independent — νικήσει — the book's verb (5:5); the outcome declared before the battle is fought
ὅτι κύριος κυρίων ἐστὶν καὶ βασιλεὺς βασιλέων,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
καὶ οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ κλητοὶ καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ καὶ πιστοί.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
15
Καὶ λέγει μοι·independent — historic present λέγει — the interpretation resumes for its last three decodings
Τὰ ὕδατα ἃ εἶδες,content — the subject fronted — v. 1's ὑδάτων πολλῶν finally taken up
οὗ ἡ πόρνη κάθηται,relative — the throne-formula a fourth time — κάθηται is her one verb
λαοὶ καὶ ὄχλοι εἰσὶν καὶ ἔθνη καὶ γλῶσσαι.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
16
καὶ τὰ δέκα κέρατα ἃ εἶδες καὶ τὸ θηρίον,independent — casus pendens — horns and beast fronted together, resumed by οὗτοι
οὗτοι μισήσουσιν τὴν πόρνην,independent — the reversal — the mount turns on its rider (Ezek 23:22 ff.): evil is self-devouring
καὶ ἠρημωμένην ποιήσουσιν αὐτὴν καὶ γυμνήν,independent — Ezek 23:29 — stripped as the adulteress; ἠρημωμένην echoes the ἔρημον where the seer stands (v. 3)
καὶ τὰς σάρκας αὐτῆς φάγονται,independent — the plural σάρκας — her flesh eaten like Jezebel's (2 Kgs 9:36–37; cf. 19:18)
καὶ αὐτὴν κατακαύσουσιν ἐν πυρί.independent — the whore's pyre — the harlot-priestess's penalty (Lev 21:9); her smoke rises through ch. 18 (18:8–9, 18)
17
ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἔδωκεν εἰς τὰς καρδίας αὐτῶνcause — γάρ — the ground of the whole destruction chain: behind the horns' hatred, God's giving hand
ποιῆσαι τὴν γνώμην αὐτοῦ,content — epexegetic infinitive — HIS γνώμη: the kings' one mind (v. 13) was God's mind first
καὶ ποιῆσαι μίαν γνώμηνcontent — the second infinitive — their unanimity itself is the gift
καὶ δοῦναι τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτῶν τῷ θηρίῳ,content — the third — even the surrender of v. 13 was scripted; the beast is armed by God against the whore
ἄχρι τελεσθήσονται οἱ λόγοι τοῦ θεοῦ.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
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καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἣν εἶδες ἔστιν ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάληindependent — the final identification — the μυστήριον of v. 5 resolved: not a woman but THE city (11:8; 16:19)
ἡ ἔχουσα βασιλείαν ἐπὶ τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς.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.