He says, Come, I will show you the damnation of the harlot who is seated upon many waters. And I saw, it says, a woman drunk from the blood of the saints and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus Christ.^[1] For all the saints have suffered martyrdom because of a decree of the Senate of this city,^[2] and although tolerance is proclaimed, it is she who has given to all nations every law against the preaching of the faith.

Having completed its discourse about the consummation of the present age and what will happen at that time, the vision now reveals to the Evangelist what will befall Rome. He said to me, it says, Come, I will show you the judgment of the harlot who is seated upon many waters. By judgment he means that way of life and conduct in which, he has judged, she lived and which she pursued. He calls [Rome] a harlot because she had fornicated, that is, apostatized from God. For this is called fornication by the divine Scriptures, as in the saying by the prophet to the God of all things: You have destroyed every one who fornicates from you.^[1] By many waters he refers to the nations that [Rome] rules and governs, as he says later on. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, it says. These are those who ruled among them [the nations]. For these kings of the earth are those who participated in her fornication and the madness of her idolatry. Those who dwell on the earth have become drunk with the wine of her fornication, it says. For indeed also the rest [of humankind], over whom she was ruling, apostatized from God along with her. She was sometimes compelling the rest and sometimes leading the way.

Isaiah speaks of the devil in a similar manner when he foretells the fall [of the devil] under the figure of the leader of Babylon. How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who has risen in the morning.^[1] Speaking of the body of all the lost, which he often calls by various yet suitable names, the Holy Spirit considers that it always moves to a greater variety of excesses and is corrupted by its wickedness and is hooked on its errors and is made mad by such a level of impiety that it is opposed by the gentle. And so [the Holy Spirit] depicts this body which is perishing with a suitable description, calling it a harlot. For being forsaken by the Creator, she has given herself over to prostitution, allowing herself to be ravished by demons. She is called great because of the enormity of her transgressions through which she has offended the saints for a long time. She sits upon many waters, that is, upon many nations.

Some consider this harlot to be old Rome, since she sits on seven hills, and the seven heads of the beast that carries [the harlot] to be the more ungodly kings from Domitian to Diocletian who persecuted the church. However, we are guided as much as possible by the sequence of events and think that she is either the earthly kingdom generally, depicted as in one body, or that city that is ruled until the arrival of the antichrist. For old Rome lost the power of dominion a long time ago, and we do not suppose that the ancient status will again return to it. But should we grant this, the power that governs today will have been destroyed beforehand. For the Revelation says, The woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.^[1]

The multitude of the lost, who, abandoned by the Creator, gave themselves over to the corruption of demons are said to sit upon the waves, that is, upon the seditious discord of the nations. The company of those who believed were of one heart and soul,^[1] whom the apostle betrothed to one husband, to present her as a pure bride to Christ.^[2] The kings of the earth have committed fornication [with the harlot], and with the wine of her fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk. The whole is greater than the parts. For the kings and the inhabitants of the earth each seek arrogantly after the things of the earth, and through the lust of vice they are corrupted by the allurements of the world and are made drunk by the madness of their minds.

[The woman is] she who is responsible for murders, and she has the image of the devil. . . . Because of the dispersion of the peoples, in the Apocalypse she is called Babylon, as does Isaiah.^[1] However, Ezekiel calls her Sor.^[2] And if one would compare what is said of Sor and what the Apocalypse and Isaiah say about Babylon, one would discover that they are the same.

The wilderness symbolizes her coming desolation. And I saw, it says, a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. The beast is the devil on whom she was resting and by whom she was being commanded, and it is scarlet because she has become red by the blood of the saints. And the beast was full of blasphemous names, for by attributing to himself that worship due to God, the devil sinned against God. He had seven heads and ten horns, it says. The Evangelist will explain this later on, saying that the heads and the horns are kings who have ruled in [the harlot] and those who will rule.^[1]

The desert refers to the absence of God, for his presence is paradise. [He was led] in the spirit, because these realities can [only] be seen in the spirit. In whose image does the divine word most depict her, if not the image of the woman from whom is the beginning of sin, and because of her, as it is written, we all die.^[1] She is said to sit on a beast, since from it she is raised up high by the pride of presumption. [The beast is] scarlet, since it is a bloody beast, as we said, and it is a body arrayed against the Lamb. At times we are to recognize the devil in this beast, at other times the head which appears as though slain, at other times the people of the beast, which is the whole of Babylon, that is, confusion. And so, it is scarlet because it is bloody in its impiety, and it was drunk by its corruptions as though they were blood. It was full of blasphemous names. Although it is worse to perform blasphemy by way of deeds than to be called blasphemous, here he nevertheless says that it fully abounds with names so that it might not be thought that it is lacking in any excess.^[2] And because it is one thing to sin before God and another thing to sin against God, he who blasphemes against God is guilty of the greater offense.

In the beast the whole people who are evil is recognized, and in the woman its corruption is revealed. It says that the woman sits [on the beast] in the desert, because she sits on the impious, those who are dead in their souls and those who are deserted by God. [He was led] in the spirit, it says, because a desertion [by God] of this kind cannot be seen except in the spirit.

It is necessary to say what we think concerning the wilderness into which he says he was led in the spirit. We think that in spiritual matters every city or populated place is a wilderness that is blameworthy because of a drunkenness of soul and fornication from God and of other such activities. It is also to be noted that in the vision that the spirit gives, the apostle sees the devastation of the harlot, whom he saw as a woman because she was softened for sin and unmanly. She was seated upon a scarlet beast because through evil deeds she reposed on the devil, who is murderous and delights in blood. Through such evil deeds she becomes a co-worker with the apostate in his blasphemies against God. The beast with its scarlet appearance is an indication of its cruelty and savagery and murderous intention.

The prophecy of holy Daniel says that as the final persecution approaches, there will be ten kings.^[1] This book often symbolizes them in the seven heads and ten horns of the beast, as it does here. Earlier it is said that diadems are worn by them, for when all the kingdoms have been overthrown, they only will reign in the whole world. Indeed, the diadems are signs of the conquered kingdoms, which are displayed as trophies upon the arrogant heads [of these kings]. Therefore, through a mind of wisdom [this book] also says that the seven heads must be understood to be seven hills, so that it might signify Rome, which sits upon seven hills.^[2] For since Rome once exercised an absolute monarchy in all the world, [this prophecy] has adduced it as a similitude for the kingdom of those [ten rulers], and in the name of Rome symbolizes the power of the entire earthly kingdom. In the number seven this passage intends to indicate the universality of its domination, since from the number three and from the number four, that is, from an odd and an equal number it is seen to consist of diverse members and so its universality is suggested. . . . In the seven churches we have indicated that [this universality] is indicated in the good sense, since it is foretold that the one church of Christ will possess the whole world. In this passage the same number is used in the contrary sense to refer to those seven heads that are in opposition and in which that universal power is said to have everywhere dominion. For holy Scripture frequently uses the number seven in both a good and in a bad sense. In view of his sevenfold work, the prophet Isaiah testifies that the Holy Spirit is to be regarded as sevenfold,^[3] and here seven is used in the good sense. Similarly, however, an evil spirit is often described as sevenfold. Since the monarchy of these kings, which is often placed in opposition to the church of Christ, not only assails the faithful by way of open aggression but also desires to ensnare them by a bogus form of the truth, this passage indicates its manifest power by the ten horns and its fraudulent truth by the seven heads. Therefore, this future persecution is predicted to be violent, during which the practice of this deceiving power is supported and what is lacking to the deceit is supplemented by power. The illusory nature of this fraud was earlier indicated when it was said that one head of the seven heads seemed to have been wounded unto death, but its mortal wound was healed.^[4] That is to say, one head from that universal rule of the worldly kingdom that opposes the church, namely the antichrist, who seeks to be received as though he were the Christ, will claim that he is resurrected, as though he had been dead, for he impiously seeks to separate the incautious from Christ, who really did die and truly did rise again. Concerning this [head] it has already been said that the dragon, that is, the devil, has given to him his own power and throne and authority, and so it says that he is full of blasphemous names, even as it said that a blasphemous name was upon its head.^[5] And there cannot be a more grievous blasphemy than as one who is opposed to Christ, which is what the name antichrist indicates, to wish to be regarded as Christ, so that he might seduce by a skewed truth those whom he was unable to break by violent terrors, and that he might lead those to adopt an imitation of the truth who had refused manifest error.

The Lord taught in the Gospel that we should be on our guard for this plague, saying, When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, but he finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And then he goes and brings with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.^[1] Did he not speak above of one unclean spirit? Why then did he mention seven others more wicked than himself, unless the unclean spirit is sevenfold in such a way that through his hidden evils he is discovered to be seven times more despicable?

And that what we say may be become more plain and clear, it is well that the reader be attentive. The good Spirit is a Spirit of wisdom, to which is opposed the evil spirit who is a spirit of foolishness and who is worse because it feigns wisdom. The good Spirit is a Spirit of understanding, while the evil spirit is a spirit of silliness and is worse because it feigns discipline. The good Spirit is a Spirit of counsel, while the evil spirit is a spirit of imprudence and is worse because it feigns prudence. The good Spirit is a Spirit of fortitude, to which is opposed the evil spirit who is spirit of open cowardliness and who is worse because its weakness deceives by the appearance of strength. The good Spirit is a Spirit of knowledge, to whom the spirit of ignorance stands in opposition and is worse because it steals knowledge [for its own use]. The good Spirit is a Spirit of piety, while the evil spirit is a spirit of impiety and is worse because it is covered with a false piety. The good Spirit is a Spirit of the fear of God, to whom the spirit of recklessness is opposed, and this one is worse because it deceives through a fake religiosity.^[2] I have extended a little my discussion of the deception of this adversary, so that this exposition might contribute to our understanding of many passages. The apostle too announced this future persecution, which will be so characterized by force and cunning, when he said, Then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming. The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders, and with every wicked seduction for those who are to perish.^[3] By power he indicates its violent force, and by seduction he means its lying hypocrisy.

Showy adornments and clothing and the allurements of beauty are not becoming in any except prostitutes and shameless women, and of none, almost, is the dress more costly than those whose modesty is cheap. Thus in holy Scripture, by which the Lord has wished us to be instructed and admonished, a harlot city is described, beautifully attired and adorned, and with her adornments, and rather because of those very adornments, destined to perish.^[1] . . . Let chaste and modest virgins shun the attire of the unchaste, the clothing of the immodest, the insignia of brothels, the adornment of harlots.

The purple symbolizes the pretense and deceit of her false rule, and the scarlet indicates the bloody disposition of her impiety. . . . [The jewels] symbolize all the allurements of that which deceitly claims to be true. . . . And then he discloses what is really on the inside of this beauty, saying, She had in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and the impurities of the fornication of the whole world. The gold symbolizes the hypocrisy, for as the Lord said, on the outside they appear to everyone as righteous, but on the inside they are full of every form of uncleanness.

The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, purple because of her sovereignty and scarlet because she had shed the blood of many saints. She was bedecked with gold and a precious stone and pearls. The passage appropriately describes her as a queen in royal garb. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations. It was gold because of the rank of her sovereignty but yet full of idolatries and defilements by which she was nourished and by which she offered a libation to her own demons. And the impurities of the fornication of the earth, it says. It ascribes to her the idolatries also of other nations, since she was the primary cause of their own evils and of the madness of their idolatry.

She is clothed in scarlet and purple, for these are symbols of her dominion and rule over all. Therefore, she is decorated with precious stones and pearls. The cup indicates the sweetness of evil deeds before they are tasted, and it is gold because such deeds seem precious, as someone said of Job, who drinks scoffing like water.^[1] Moreover, the cup demonstrates that she is not sated by her evil but pursues further evil with a thirst for her own destruction. Therefore, she multiplies abominations for herself, that is, [she demands] practices that are abominable to God and that she makes the multitude who love the martyrs to drink. In this way she draws, as though it were a sweet drink, the abominable stupor of sin and the pollution of fornication from God.

And there was written upon her forehead, as though inscribed upon a public monument, as I might put it, that she was Babylon, the mother of harlots. She is Babylon because of the terror and confusion in her and the persecutions of the saints—for the name Babylon means confusion, as we have said—and she is mother because of her fornication, that is, her apostasy from God. For how is she not mother and teacher who persecutes the gospel and those who preach it and persuades the nations to remain loyal to the error traditional to their forefathers?

The writing on the forehead indicates the shamelessness of the fullness of sins and of the confusion of the heart. She is mother because for those cities ruled by her she is the teacher of their spiritual fornication, giving birth to transgressions that are loathsome to God.

This corrupter is immediately shown in her very face to be the nurturer of vices. However, since she is recognized only by the wise mind, for she is dressed in precious clothing, he indicates that this name is that of a mystery.

There is one body that opposes the church within and without. For within the church there are false Christians, and outside the church there are heretics and pagans. And although this body might seem to be separated in terms of place, yet when it persecutes the church there is working a unity of spirit. For it is impossible that a prophet perish away from Jerusalem, which persecutes the prophets.^[1] That is to say, it is impossible for good Christians to suffer any persecution without evil Christians. And so the descendants of their ancestors are accused of consenting to the stoning of Zachariah, even though they themselves did not do it.^[2]

From many examples we learn that descriptive names can be ascribed to cities because of their reputations. Ancient Babylon is named in this way and is called a pleasant harlot, skilled in sorcery,^[1] and ancient Jerusalem is named you had a whore’s face,^[2] and in the letter of Peter the older Rome is called Babylon.^[3] More recently, she who held power among the Persians is called Babylon and a harlot, as well as any other city that rejoices in murder and blood. And so, when the Evangelist saw one of these cities polluted with the blood of the saints, he was perplexed and learned about it from the angel, inasmuch as one who bears the power of the earthly kingdom at the end of time must suffer for its trespasses. And this is so whether one believes it to be the power of the Persians, or old Rome or new Rome, or whether the kingdom is taken generically as in one body. For we know that in each of these there are different sins and the shedding of innocent blood, sometimes more, sometimes less. Indeed, who could reckon the blood of the martyrs shed until Diocletian, or the torments of these at the hands of the Persians?^[4] Moreover, for those who read them, the histories relate the perfidies done secretly under Julian and those done in new Rome against the orthodox during the time of the Arians.

The beast that you saw, it says, was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit. For the devil was before the foundation of the visible world, having been created by God for good works, even as were also the other holy angels. But he is not in respect to the events surrounding the consummation of the age which are shown to the Evangelist, in which he will go into the fire prepared for him and his angels. For it is certainly so that he is among them and not among them. Accordingly, since by his activity the antichrist will be manifested around the days of the end, it says that he will ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition. For through the antichrist the devil will experience an ascent and a kind of increase, since the antichrist will deceive humankind and persuade them to worship, as the many predictions above have indicated. Or you might interpret the phrase he was and is not in this way. Writing to the Philippians, the apostle says, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi,^[1] calling the saints those who are because they are in Christ and in the possession and memory of God. If, therefore, the saints are those who are, the wicked devil is not now, although he was before he acted arrogantly against God and fell from his rank. It is similar also with the ungodly. Although they appear to exist so far as their substance and essence are concerned, yet they do not exist in regard to the judgment and memory of God. And since this is the case, the book of Genesis gives no genealogy of those who descended from Cain, because they were not because of their ungodliness.^[2] Rather, it speaks of perdition to which he is destined to go, namely, to the just punishment of Gehenna against him. For in Matthew the Lord says that those condemned in it are destroyed: Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.^[3]

The holy Scriptures teach that from the beginning of the world there has been the rise and the advance to the present time of two cities. Of these, one is of God and the other is of the devil, and in this passage [the city of the devil] is indicated by the beast as [representing] altogether the whole body of the wicked. And so it says that it was and is not, because in the passing away of generations that succeed one another, it is built up and supplemented. And, therefore, it follows that it is going to ascend from the abyss as well as go to destruction. For by the hidden yet just judgment of God, it is brought to its end, so that the psalm says, Your judgments are like the great deep.^[1] Or it claims that [the beast] will come forth from the hearts of the impious, of which the psalm speaks, The deep calls forth the deep.^[2]

We understand this to mean that an evil people is born out of an evil people. And so we can say the beast comes out of the beast and the abyss out of the abyss. And what does it mean that the beast comes out of the beast, unless an evil people is born out of an evil people? This is so because wicked children copy and replace their wicked parents, and while some are dying, others succeed to them. Therefore, those who from the beginning have always plotted against the church are never lacking, whether they be few or many, whether they be hidden or manifest. And although in this world we can never be separated from having some contact with them, let us beseech the mercy of God, that we might be so separated in our conduct that we do not go with them to an eternal punishment. Rather, when they hear, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, may we be worthy to hear, Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom.^[1]

The beast is the devil who is always seeking someone to devour. He was killed by the cross of Christ, but, it is said, he will live again at the end, effecting the denial of salvation through the deceit of the antichrist in signs and wonders. In this way he was and was powerful before the cross, but he no longer is after the salvific sufferings, for he has become powerless and is deprived of his authority that he had over the nations on account of idolatry. And at the end he will come, in the way we have indicated, arising from the abyss or from wherever he was condemned and where the demons, thrown out by Christ, begged him not to send them, but rather into the swine.^[1] Or he will come out of the present life, which is figuratively called abyss because of the depth of sin that lives in it and that is blown about and agitated by the winds of passion. From this place the antichrist, having Satan in himself, will come for the destruction of men, going himself to perdition in the age to come.

The devil ruled in the world at one time, but when the Lord was crucified, he was cast out. However, at the end of the world, when he has been released from the confinement of his prison, he will perish for eternity by the breath of the mouth of the Lord. Tyconius interprets the beast to be the entire body of the devil, which is supplemented by the course of generations that pass away and succeed themselves. And especially for this reason he shows the woman seated on the beast whom he had promised to show seated upon the many waters, that is, upon the people.

And, it says, the dwellers on earth will marvel. Not all dwellers, but those whose names are not in the Book of Life. And why will they marvel? Because the beast was and is not and will come and be destroyed. For those who trusted in him will be amazed at the great change that has come upon him. For desiring to be ruler of the world and manifesting himself in this way, he will not only be stripped of his power but he will also receive a fate corresponding to his depravity.

He is referring to those very same people from whose members the body destined to damnation is built up. And should the names make for some ambiguity, in his epistle [John] has spoken of the same thing in the singular: As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now there are many antichrists.^[1] And shortly thereafter he says, They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.^[2] Therefore, those whose names are not written in the Book of Life and who will still be living at the end of the world and who will experience the destruction of their own damnation, these will realize too late that he whom they had thought to be the Christ is not. And they will be amazed, for they had been deceived by the hidden seduction of the beast. Rather, when they have been most justly condemned, they [will realize that the Christ] is our Christ whom they will realize is indeed the judge. Therefore, since the foundation of the world, as the Lord knows those who are his,^[3] so he has also promised that he would say to them, Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.^[4] And so also, those who are not his, he has not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world. But as those unknown to him and foreknown from afar he will condemn to the punishment of that eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.^[5] For the Lord is high and regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar,^[6] and so he says, I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.^[7]

On account of the false miracles, those whose names are not written in the book of those who live forever and who have not been sufficiently taught in the prophecies of Christ concerning him will be astonished at his coming and wonder how he had regained his ancient power.

This calls for a mind with wisdom, it says. Here is a mind made crafty and cunning, it says. Let it understand the riddle how he was and is not and will ascend from the bottomless pit. For even though he is passing from being into nonbeing, his re-emergence from the bottomless pit seems to indicate the opposite, only it is not so if one understands according to the words here stated. . . . The seven heads are seven mountains, it says, on which the woman is seated. From this it is clearly evident that the passage refers to Rome, for it and no other city is reported to be on seven hills.^[1]

Since what is to be interpreted is spiritual, there is need, it says, for a spiritual wisdom, not a worldly wisdom to understand what is being said. . . . We believe that the seven heads and the seven mountains are to be interpreted as seven places that excel the rest in excellence and worldly power. In these places we recognize that at various times the kingdom of the world is established, such as at first the rule of the Assyrians in Nineveh. Second, in Ecbatana there was the power of the Medians who from the time of Arbakes seized power from the Assyrians whose king, Sardanapal, Arbakes is said to have destroyed. After these there was the power of the Chaldeans in Babylon, whose king was Nebuchanezzar. Then after their fall the rule of the Persians in Susa was initiated by Cyrus. And after the destruction of this kingdom by Alexander, there was the rule of the Macedonians. After these there was in old Rome the power of the Romans that was sovereign under Augustus Caesar and its recent emperors and consuls and was possessed by wicked men until Constantine. After the fall of these, the royal powers of emperors favorable to Christ were transferred to new Rome.

The times are noted from the foundation of the world and are reckoned from Adam. . . . For the first appearance of our Lord in the flesh took place in Bethlehem, under Augustus, in the year 5500; and he suffered in the thirty-third year. And it is necessary that six thousand years be accomplished, in order that the sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day on which God rested from all his works.^[1] For the sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they shall reign with Christ,^[2] when he comes from heaven, as John says in the Apocalypse: For a day with the Lord is as a thousand years.^[3] Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that six thousand years must be fulfilled. And they are not yet fulfilled, as John says, five are fallen; one is, that is, the sixth; the other is not yet come. In mentioning the other, moreover, he specifies the seventh, in which there is rest.

This must be understood in terms of the time when the Apocalypse was written, for Domitian was Caesar at that time. However, before him there was Titus, his brother, and Vespasian, their father, also Otho, Vitellius and Galba. These are the five who have fallen. One is, it says. This is Domitian, in whose reign the Apocalypse was written. The other has not yet come. This refers to Nerva, who when he comes, he must remain only a little while, for he did not complete even two years [as Caesar].

It is appropriate that he recognizes kings in the heads, for the kings exercise the fullness of Roman hegemony. However, why, when so many kings have ruled for Rome, did he mention only seven heads on the beast? He mentions these seven only, since they especially have represented the beast, that is, the devil and have caused it to raise its head against the Christians by initiating persecutions against the church. Of these the first was Nero, the second was Domitian, then Trajan, after him Severus, Decius, Valerian and Diocletian. Of those who ruled Rome, these constantly persecuted the church, as Eusebius reports in his Chronicle. He says that five of these seven have fallen by death—Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Severus, Decius—while one is, namely, Valerian. The other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. He identifies the other as Diocletian, after whom the government seated in Rome ceased and was transferred to the city named for pious Constantine when Constantine moved the seat of government there. All these things were with great accuracy announced to the Evangelist, especially the information about Diocletian that when he comes he must remain only a little while. By remain he means the persecution directed against the Christians. For although he reigned for twenty years, he instigated his persecution in the final two years and then forfeited his imperial power.

As we have said frequently, in each member of a species the whole genus is indicated. Hence when we indicate what the whole beast is, there are the seven heads, and again the heads are called seven mountains and seven kings. That is to say, they are the entire reality of wicked people, which consists in the leaders as well as in kings and their subjects.^[1] It is called by the various names on account of the different actions by which it either exercises force or deceives by fraud. For whenever it creeps with smooth movements, it seizes people by the delights of sensual things. As we read in the Scripture, Death has entered through our windows.^[2] And I think that this can rightly be understood to refer to our fivefold senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. And for that reason, the Lord said to the Samaritan woman, You have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband.^[3] What there is called husbands, understand here as the kings, by whose governance, as we know, the basic realities of human life are guided and administered. And the beasts appear to have these things in common with us. And what is said there, And he whom you now have is not your husband, namely, that she was not living with a legitimate husband, that is, [she was living with] error, here is expressed in this way, Five have fallen, one remains. And when it says, Another has not yet come, he means that there remains outstanding another part of that same evil body that will succeed the generation that is passing away, and . . . it will similarly possess the same malignant spirit that we have noted consists in a sevenfold form. For it says that five have fallen, and that one still is, and that another is yet to come, and that makes seven in all.

We think that the seven kings display the same idea [as the seven mountains], for the change of peoples in no way damages the identity of the notion, even though there the seven heads are shown in the form of a woman and the seven mountains in a neutral way. Here he showed seven kings. For often in the Scripture male names indifferently are given in the place of female names, and vice versa. For example, Ephraim is a heifer made mad,^[1] or again, Ephraim is a dove having no heart.^[2] According to the theologian, There are three who witness to Christ, the blood and the water and the Spirit,^[3] and according to Solomon, There are three, the goat and the rooster and a king who is speaking publicly.^[4] Therefore, through the seven heads he shows the cities after the manner of a woman, and through the seven mountains he depicts in neutral form seven majestic powers that at various times rise up over the rest of the earth, not by any geographical placement among the nations but because of their position of glory. And, as we said, we have interpreted the kings to be either those places made glorious by their royal prominence, or those kings who have ruled first in each of the aforementioned kingdoms, by periphrasis each standing for the entire kingdom—so, Nines for Assyria, Arbakes for Media, Nebuchanezzar for the Babylon, Cyrus for Persia, Alexander for Macedonia, Romulus for old Rome and Constantine for new Rome.

It says that the heads of the beast are kings of the world. For because of the swelling of their pride, they are compared with high mountains on which wanton ungodliness rests, so that they oppress by force and deceive by fraud. . . . Since the number seven indicates the full [duration] of earthly dominion, whose final period, that of the kingdom of the antichrist, has not yet come; it accordingly indicates that five have passed away, the sixth now exists, and the seventh is yet to come. When he comes, he must remain only a little while. Since the Lord considers us, both the proud and the weak, it says that those days that he will inflict on us and that will be especially evil will be made short for mercy’s sake. [This will be] so that he might terrify their arrogance by the adversities of that time yet might revive their weakness because of its brevity.

[The beast belongs to the seven], for before the reign of these kings, Nero reigned. But it is an eighth, since it will soon come and is reckoned to the eighth place. And since with him the consummation will occur, it adds, and it goes to perdition. For ten kings have received royal power. When [Nero] moves from the east, these will be sent by the city of Rome with their armies.^[1] He calls these ten horns and ten diadems. And Daniel also reveals this: three of the first will be rooted up,^[2] that is, three of these chieftains will be killed by the antichrist. And the remaining seven will give him glory and honor and kingdom and power. Concerning these it says, these will hate the harlot, speaking here of the city, and they will devour her flesh with fire.

He has ranked the devil first and last as a persecutor and one of like mind with the seven. For how would this one not be ranked with the seven, when he in fact had been their guiding power?

Lest we should think him of a different kind, it adds that the one whom it calls the eighth is from the seven and goes to perdition. In this way it shows that he is of the same evil genus, and by going beyond the number seven, it indicates that he is even a worse hypocrite. As the Lord was speaking of one unclean spirit and mentions seven, he suddenly adds, And he brings with him seven other spirits more evil than himself.^[1] So in this passage, beginning with seven it indicates the other seven in one of the same genus, that is, in the eighth. Therefore, it says that he is from the seven and goes to perdition, in order to show that he merits the same punishment due to his singular genus.

The beast is the antichrist. He is the eighth because he arises after the seven kingdoms for the deception and devastation of the earth. He is from the seven because he arises from one of these. For he will not come forth from a nation other than those mentioned before, but as a king of the Romans for the defeat and destruction of those who believed in him. And after this he will go into the destruction of Gehenna.

The all-wise prophet, Daniel, remarked concerning these ten kings or horns that they would arise in the last times out of the Roman rule.^[1] And the antichrist will rise up in the middle of them. And for this reason it says that they have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings. It rightly says as kings because of the rapid demise and fleeting nature of their reign. Then it continues, they receive it for one hour, together with the beast. Here it calls the antichrist beast as it had also in earlier passages, saying, I saw another beast coming up from the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb. That they rule for one hour signifies either the short duration of their rule, or it is a figure of speech indicating by one hour one year.

He is speaking again of every kingdom of the world, which just above he indicated in the kings and their subjects.^[1] The kings receive power with the beast for one hour. Here the hour is to be interpreted as referring to the time from the passion of the Lord, as the apostolic voice says, It is the last hour.^[2] Therefore, until all the future is fulfilled, it says that they have not yet received the kingdom. For although they indeed now rule over many, yet the insane power of that arrogance will be more intense when it also deceives many by signs.

Daniel also saw these ten horns that precede the antichrist.^[1] After rooting out three of them, the accursed one will subdue the others. The one hour indicates either the brevity of time or the one hour of the year, or by way of figure of speech, clearly meaning a three-month period, after which they will submit themselves to the antichrist as to their leader.

In persecuting the church, the kingdoms of the world have not yet fully demonstrated their power. For although now they indeed rule over most, nevertheless the power of their insane boasting will be the more acute when they will deceive most through signs. Some interpret this to mean that when the last persecution draws near, there will be ten kings who divide the world among themselves, according to the prophecy of Daniel, who said concerning the fourth beast: It had ten horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up.^[1] [These interpreters further say] that the antichrist would arise from Babylon and would overcome the kings of Egypt, Africa and Ethiopia, and that when these had been killed, seven other kings would submit their necks to the conqueror.^[2] However, others say that the antichrist is placed as the number eleven, as an indication of his collusion. For they think that eleven is a departure from the number ten, which is perfect. [They receive power] as kings, for those who oppose the kingdom of Christ rule as though in a dream.

Although these future ten kings have no agreement among themselves, yet they are of one mind in this, that they give their power and authority to the beast, that is, to the antichrist. For they will be defeated by him, and he alone will finally rule over all things. Although they will be defeated against their will, it is said nonetheless that they have one mind, since the ten suffer the same experience of defeat and ruin. It is as though he had said, The ten agreed and consented to be defeated by the antichrist. These will make war on the Lamb, it says. For before they are wholly destroyed by the antichrist, these kings, about whom the passage is speaking, will persecute the church. However, Christ will triumph, for he will hand these evil men over to the yet more evil antichrist for death. And Christ will triumph in another way also, since his servants struggle unto death for their faith in him. For it says, they are called and chosen and faithful, that is, the servants of Christ.

It now says clearly that that power that they had received with the beast they will hand over to the beast, that is, to that head that seemed to have died and to have come to life again. For by a common consent and will they will give to him every worship of their desire and effort and exhibit their servitude. . . . Although it is describing the power of this adversarial body, it now rightly foretells the victory of the Lamb. And to indicate that he will triumph in his followers, it adds, And those with him, the elect, the faithful and the called. And with good reason does it mention the elect first, for the Lord said, Many are called, but few are chosen.^[1]

Indeed! For no one can serve two masters.^[1] And so those who conspire together with an evil agreement and ally themselves with the antichrist will oppose themselves to Christ. However, the Lamb of God who was slain for us will conquer them. For he was not deprived of his kingdom and lordship over all things when he became man, so that he might acquire even his elect as participants in his own rule.

It says that the waters on which the harlot sits are the peoples and nations, clearly those over which the city exercises its rule. But how will these kings lay waste to Rome, for we see that the Revelation depicts it so? Perhaps it will be the object of warfare among the kings, as a queen who is both strong and populous and the recipient of tribute. Thus, in the war for it, it will be necessary that it, lying open as the prize of victory, suffer terribly at the hands of all, being ravaged by fire and made desolate. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose. Through God’s allowance of these things, those who oppose it and desire to capture it follow along. And he causes them to be of one mind and to give their royal power to the beast, just as they agreed to be handed over to the antichrist as subjects, as we explained above. Until the words of God shall be fulfilled. They will become subject to the beast, it says, until the punishment of the antichrist overtakes him and all the words spoken by God through the prophets against him receive their fulfillment. And wishing to indicate even more clearly what will befall the city, the passage continues, The woman is the great city which has dominion over all.

Since the angel explained these things clearly, a more detailed explanation of them is superfluous. It is remarkable to me how the devil is both enemy and avenger. For he will work through the ten horns, who are guided by him, to oppose that lover of good and virtue, Christ our God, and to lay waste that populous city that has abandoned the divine laws and become servant to his pleasures, and like a bloodthirsty beast they will glut themselves on its blood. He will regard its conflagration as an occasion for rejoicing and the mutilation of human flesh as proper food, and he who always rejoices in duplicity will grant harmony to those ten apostate horns. That which continues makes very clear that the woman who was seen is the great city that exercises power over the kings of the earth, and the sufferings of that power that is ruling during those times is prophesied. From these trials the beneficent God will redeem us and enlist us in the heavenly city, namely, in the Jerusalem above. In this city he will be everything to everyone, as the apostle says,^[1] when he shall destroy every rule, clearly every apostate rule, and every authority and power.^[2] In addition, he will recline with and serve those who have served him here faithfully and wisely, that is, he will give them the enjoyment of the eternal blessings that have been prepared from the foundation of the world.^[3] Of this bliss may also we be found worthy in Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of our souls, with whom be glory and power to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Christ, who teaches and shows that the people of the Gentiles were coming into that place that the Jews had lost and that we were arriving afterward through the merit of faith, made wine from water, that is, he showed that the people of the Gentiles rather would resort together and come to the nuptials of Christ and of his church when the Jews were leaving. For the divine Scripture declares in the Apocalypse that the waters signify the peoples, saying, The waters that you saw on which that harlot sits are peoples and crowds and nations of the heathen and tongues. We perceive that this is actually also contained in the sacrament of the chalice. For because Christ, who bore our sins, also bore us all, we see that people are signified in the water, but in the wine the blood of Christ is shown. But when water is mixed with wine in the chalice, the people are united to Christ, and the multitude of the believers is bound and joined to him in whom they believe. This association and mingling of water and wine are so mixed in the chalice of the Lord that the mixture cannot mutually be separated. Whence nothing can separate the church, that is, the multitude established faithfully and firmly in the church, persevering in that which it has believed, from Christ as long as it clings and remains in undivided love. But thus, in the consecrating of the chalice of the Lord, water alone cannot be offered, nor can wine alone. For if anyone offers wine alone, the blood of Christ begins to be without us. If, in truth, the water is alone, the people begin to be without Christ. But when both are mixed and, in the union, are joined to each other and mingled together, then the spiritual and heavenly sacrament is completed.

The harlot is the life of luxury that is lived by plunder and pleasures. It says that they would hate the harlot, for dissolute persons who are also proud, lustful and arrogant not only persecute the saints, but they also hold themselves in hatred. And in another way do those hate themselves in whom the word of Scripture is fulfilled, Those who love iniquity hate their own soul.^[1] And they will make her desolate and naked. Through the wrath of God and his just judgment by which they are abandoned by him, they themselves will make the world a desert, since they have been given over to it and use it unrighteously. And they will devour her flesh. This is so, because as the apostle says, They will bite and eat one another.^[2]

What the apostle said, God gave them up to a base mind to do what they ought not,^[1] that is also now said. For God has placed in their hearts to do that which is pleasing to him. Righteousness is pleasing to God, through which we know that retribution is visited upon the impious. Moreover, [it is according to God’s will] that they who have given their kingdom to the beast pay their just penalties with the beast, until the words of God be fulfilled, which, to be sure, consist of justice and mercy. For all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.^[2]

This woman is the very one who was given over to the corruptions of flesh and blood and who had prospered through the power of the earthly kingdom. And since she consists of those very kings over whom she is said to reign according to her habit, [the text] has divided the very same one into parts, as though separating a genus into its species, so that the words of the Lord will be fulfilled in the woman, in the city, in the kings, on the kings and on [the woman], when he redeems his own by his mercy and by his justice condemns the insolent.

Later, when the seer is commanded to behold the wife of the Lamb, he sees the holy city coming down from heaven, and he says concerning her, The kings of the earth carried their glory into her.^[1] For in the world there are two cities, one that arises from the abyss and the other that comes down from heaven. And so now he compares the same ungodliness, which he had described in the form of a harlot made naked and burned up, with the ruins of a deserted city.