“That a woman ought not to be adorned in a worldly fashion. In the Apocalypse: "And there came one of the seven angels having vials, and approached me, saying, Come, I will show thee the condemnation of the great whore, who sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. And I saw a woman who sate upon a beast. And that woman was clothed with a purple and scarlet robe; and she was adorned with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of curses, and impurity, and fornication of the whole earth." Also to Timothy: "Let your women be such as adorn themselves with shamefacedness and modesty, not with twisted hair, nor with gold, nor with pearls, or precious garments, but as becometh women professing chastity, with a good conversation." Of this same thing in the Epistle of Peter to the people at Pontus: "Let there be in a woman not the outward adorning of ornament, or of gold, or of apparel, but the adorning of the heart." Also in Genesis: "Thamar covered herself with a cloak, and adorned herself; and when Judah beheld her, she appeared to him to be a harlot."”

“"There came one of the seven angels, which have the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the judgment of that great whore who sitteth upon many waters. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs." The decrees of that senate are always accomplished against all, contrary to the preaching of the true faith; and now already mercy being cast aside, itself here gave the decree among all nations.”

“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." 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."”

“Come, I will show you the condemnation of the great harlot, etc. The multitude of the lost, who, forsaking the Creator, surrendered themselves to demons to be defiled, is remembered as sitting on the waters, that is, in the discord of the peoples. Conversely, the multitude of believers was of one heart and one soul. Whom the Apostle betrothed to one man to present a chaste virgin to Christ.”

“With them he says "the kings of the earth committed fornication." And these are the ones who reigned over them; for these are the kings of the earth who have shared in her fornication and idolatry. "And", he says, "the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication"; and indeed the rest, over whom she was mistress, have also apostatized from God, some controlled by her, others led by her.”

“"And I saw the woman herself sitting upon the scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy." But to sit upon the scarlet beast, the author of murders, is the image of the devil. Where also is treated of his captivity, concerning which we have fully considered. I remember, indeed, that this is called Babylon also in the Apocalypse, on account of confusion; and in Isaiah also; and Ezekiel called it Sodom. In fine, if you compare what is said against Sodom, and what Isaiah says against Babylon, and what the Apocalypse says, you will find that they are all one.”

“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.”

“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." 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. 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.”

“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.”

“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. … 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.”

“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." 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 "the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, purple" for the kingdom, and "scarlet" for the shedding of the many holy bloods. "Adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls." As a queen fittingly the text says "adorned" about her, with royal adornment. "Holding a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations", golden indeed because honorable for her rulership, yet full nevertheless of idolatry and pollutions, by which she was nourished and to which she poured sacrifices to her own demons. And he says, "the impurities of the earth's fornication"; for she attributes to it the causes of the idolatry of the other nations as well, as to the chief author of evils and of idolatrous madness.”

“Nor does he want to openly say that the Roman empire must be destroyed, which those who rule it regard as eternal. Therefore, according to the Apocalypse of John, on the forehead of the purple-clad prostitute, the name of blasphemy is written, that is, the eternal Rome. For if he had openly and boldly said that the Antichrist would not come unless the Roman empire was first destroyed, it would have seemed like a just cause for persecution to then arise against the Church in the east.”

“And it is said to have been "written" also upon "her forehead", as one says in some inscription, who she was; and that it is "Babylon", the "mother of prostitutes", "Babylon" because of the turmoil and confusion in her and the persecutions of the saints; for confusion, as has been said, is signified by the name of Babylon; and "mother" of the fornication and apostasy from God. For how could she not be mother and teacher of the one who persecuted the evangelical word and those who proclaimed it, persuading the nations to adhere to the ancestral deception?”

“"There came one of the seven angels, which have the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the judgment of that great whore who sitteth upon many waters. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs." The decrees of that senate are always accomplished against all, contrary to the preaching of the true faith; and now already mercy being cast aside, itself here gave the decree among all nations.”

“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. 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.”

“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," and ancient Jerusalem is named "you had a whore's face," and in the letter of Peter the older Rome is called "Babylon." 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? 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.”

“And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, etc. It is one body, opposing within and without: although it seems separated by place, it nevertheless operates in common by the unity of the spirit. Thus, the descendants of the wicked are accused of stoning Zechariah by the same spirit, although they themselves did not do it.”

“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."”

“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." 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."”

“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. 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 beast which you saw, was and is not, and is about to rise up out of the abyss," he says. For the Devil had indeed been, before the existence of the sensible world, made by God for good works, like the other glorious angels; but it is not shown in what respect the evangelist indicates concerning the things about the end of the age, in which he will go into the fire prepared for him and his angels. For to be in these things is not properly to be. Then when his activity is about to be revealed in the last days he says: "and is about to rise up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition." For through the rise of the Antichrist there will be an increase to the Devil, deceiving men and persuading them to worship him as previously said in many places. Or, think not that it was and is not so; the apostle writing to the Philippians says, "to all the saints in Christ Jesus, who are in Philippi," (Philip. 1:1) being called saints because "they are in" Christ and in a family unit relationship and remembrance of God. If then "they are" holy, the accursed Devil "is not" now, even if he was before or was cast down by the Almighty God from his proper order. Likewise the impious, even if they appear to exist so far as subsistence and essence, are not so far as to have the election and remembrance of God; and that this is so, the book of Genesis does not record the genealogies from Cain, (see Gen. 5:1-6:1) as it says that by reason of impiety they were not, but it declares their perdition in which they are about to perish. That is, the just punishment of Gehenna against him; for the Lord says concerning those condemned in it, speaking to Matthew: "But fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." (Matt. 10:28) And he says that "those who dwell on the earth will marvel." Not all, 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 appear and be destroyed; for those who had trusted in him will be most astonished at the change that will come upon him. For wishing to be ruler of the world and so showing himself, he will not only be deposed from his rule, but will also receive a worthy end for his wickedness.”

“These things, beloved, we impart to you with fear, and yet readily, on account of the love of Christ, which surpasseth all. For if the blessed prophets who preceded us did not choose to proclaim these things, though they knew them, openly and boldly, lest they should disquiet the souls of men, but recounted them mystically in parables and dark sayings, speaking thus, "Here is the mind which hath wisdom," how much greater risk shall we run in venturing to declare openly things spoken by them in obscure terms! Let us look, therefore, at the things which are to befall this unclean harlot in the last days; and (let us consider) what and what manner of tribulation is destined to visit her in the wrath of God before the judgment as an earnest of her doom.”

“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.”

“Therefore, he says, "here is the mind that has wisdom." Therefore, so says the mind that has been made wise: let the riddle be known how it "was and is not", and is about to ascend from the abyss. For even for that which departs from being into non-being, the thing that is about to ascend again from the abyss seems to be contradictory, unless someone should apprehend it in some other way, as has already been said. "The seven heads" he says "are seven mountains, on which the woman sits." From this most clearly it is shown that what has been said refers to Rome; for it is related that she herself sits on seven mountains, and there is no other city.”

“For as the times are noted from the foundation of the world, and reckoned from Adam, they set clearly before us the matter with which our inquiry deals. 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 6,000 years must needs be accomplished, in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day "on which God rested from all His works." For the Sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they "shall reign with Christ," when He comes from heaven, as John says in his Apocalypse: for "a day with the Lord is as a thousand years." Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6,000 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. But some one may be ready to say, How will you prove to me that the Saviour was born in the year 5500? Learn that easily, O man; for the things that took place of old in the wilderness, under Moses, in the case of the tabernacle, were constituted types and emblems of spiritual mysteries, in order that, when the truth came in Christ in these last days, you might be able to perceive that these things were fulfilled. For He says to him, "And thou shalt make the ark of imperishable wood, and shalt overlay it with pure gold within and without; and thou shalt make the length of it two cubits and a half, and the breadth thereof one cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half the height; " which measures, when summed up together, make five cubits and a half, so that the 5500 years might be signified thereby. At that time, then, the Saviour appeared and showed His own body to the world, (born) of the Virgin, who was the "ark overlaid with pure gold," with the Word within and the Holy Spirit without; so that the truth is demonstrated, and the "ark" made manifest. From the birth of Christ, then, we must reckon the 500 years that remain to make up the 6000, and thus the end shall be. And that the Saviour appeared in the world, bearing the imperishable ark, His own body, at a time which was the fifth and half, John declares: "Now it was the sixth hour," he says, intimating by that, one-half of the day. But a day with the Lord is 10000 years; and the half of that, therefore, is 500 years. For it was not meet that He should appear earlier, for the burden of the law still endured, nor yet when the sixth day was fulfilled (for the baptism is changed), but on the fifth and half, in order that in the remaining half time the gospel might be preached to the whole world, and that when the sixth day was completed He might end the present life. Since, then, the Persians held the mastery for 330 years, and after them the Greeks, who were yet more glorious, held it for 300 years, of necessity the fourth beast, as being strong and mightier than all that were before it, will reign 500 years. When the times are fulfilled, and the ten horns spring from the beast in the last (times), then Antichrist will appear among them. When he makes war against the saints, and persecutes them, then may we expect the manifestation of the Lord from heaven.”

“"And there are seven kings: five have fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he is come, he will be for a short time." The time must be understood in which the written Apocalypse was published, since then reigned Caesar Domitian; but before him had been Titus his brother, and Vespasian, Otho, Vitellius, and Galba. These are the five who have fallen. One remains, under whom the Apocalypse was written-Domitian, to wit. "The other has not yet come," speaks of Nerva; "and when he is come, he will be for a short time," for he did not complete the period of two years.”

“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. 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." 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." 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," or again, "Ephraim is a dove having no heart." According to the theologian, "There are three who witness to Christ, the blood and the water and the Spirit," and according to Solomon, "There are three, the goat and the rooster and a king who is speaking publicly." 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.”

“"And the beast which thou sawest is of the seven." Since before those kings Nero reigned. "And he is the eighth." He says only when this beast shall come, reckon it the eighth place, since in that is the completion. He added:- "And shall go into perdition." For that ten kings received royal power when he shall move from the east, he says. He shall be sent from the city of Rome with his armies. And Daniel sets forth the ten horns and the ten diadems. And that these are eradicated from the former ones,-that is, that three of the principal leaders are killed by Antichrist: that the other seven give him honour and wisdom and power, of whom he says:- "These shall hate the whore, to wit, the city, and shall burn her flesh with fire." Now that one of the heads was, as it were, slain to death, and that the stroke of his death was directed, he speaks of Nero. For it is plain that when the cavalry sent by the senate was pursuing him, he himself cut his throat. Him therefore, when raised up, God will send as a worthy king, but worthy in such a way as the Jews merited. And since he is to have another name, He shall also appoint another name, that so the Jews may receive him as if he were the Christ. Says Daniel: "He shall not know the lust of women, although before he was most impure, and he shall know no God of his fathers: for he will not be able to seduce the people of the circumcision, unless he is a judge of the law." Finally, also, he will recall the saints, not to the worship of idols, but to undertake circumcision, and, if he is able, to seduce any; for he shall so conduct himself as to be called Christ by them. But that he rises again from hell, we have said above in the word of Isaiah: "Water shall nourish him, and hell hath increased him; "who, however, must come with name unchanged, and doings unchanged, as says the Spirit.”

“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." 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.”

“And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, etc. The Antichrist, who is to rule at the end of the world, because of the unity of the same body of the wicked, of which he is the head, belongs to the number of the kingdoms of the world; but because of the singular power of his wickedness, he is also contained in the order of his own proper place.”

“In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord's disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned. He teaches us what the ten horns shall be which were seen by Daniel, telling us that thus it had been said to him: "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but shall receive power as if kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and give their strength and power to the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings." It is manifest, therefore, that of these [potentates], he who is to come shall slay three, and subject the remainder to his power, and that he shall be himself the eighth among them. And they shall lay Babylon waste, and burn her with fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to flight. After that they shall be destroyed by the coming of our Lord. For that the kingdom must be divided, and thus come to ruin, the Lord [declares when He] says: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." It must be, therefore, that the kingdom, the city, and the house be divided into ten; and for this reason He has already foreshadowed the partition and division [which shall take place]. Daniel also says particularly, that the end of the fourth kingdom consists in the toes of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar, upon which came the stone cut out without hands; and as he does himself say: "The feet were indeed the one part iron, the other part clay, until the stone was cut out without hands, and struck the image upon the iron and clay feet, and dashed them into pieces, even to the end." Then afterwards, when interpreting this, he says: "And as thou sawest the feet and the toes, partly indeed of clay, and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, and there shall be in it a root of iron, as thou sawest iron mixed with baked clay. And the toes were indeed the one part iron, but the other part clay." The ten toes, therefore, are these ten kings, among whom the kingdom shall be partitioned, of whom some indeed shall be strong and active, or energetic; others, again, shall be sluggish and useless, and shall not agree; as also Daniel says: "Some part of the kingdom shall be strong, and part shall be broken from it. As thou sawest the iron mixed with the baked clay, there shall be minglings among the human race, but no cohesion one with the other, just as iron cannot be welded on to pottery ware." And since an end shall take place, he says: "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven raise up a kingdom which shall never decay, and His kingdom shall not be left to another people. It shall break in pieces and shatter all kingdoms, and shall itself be exalted for ever. As thou sawest that the stone was cut without hands from the mountain, and brake in pieces the baked clay, the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold, God has pointed out to the king what shall come to pass after these things; and the dream is true, and the interpretation trustworthy."”

“He is speaking again of every kingdom of the world, which just above he indicated in the kings and their subjects. "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." 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. 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.”

“And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, etc. The kingdoms of the world have not yet fully demonstrated their power in persecuting the Church; although they now dominate many, the power of insane glory was fiercer when they deceived many with signs. Some interpret that, with the final persecution approaching, there will be ten kings who will divide the world among themselves, according to the prophecy of Daniel, who said of the fourth beast: And it had ten horns; and behold, another little horn came up among them; and three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots before it (Dan. 7); and that the Antichrist, born from Babylon, will overcome the king of Egypt and of Africa and Ethiopia, and after killing them, the other seven kings will also submit to the victor. Others, however, say that the Antichrist is placed in the number eleven to signify transgression. For eleven denotes the transgression of the denary perfection.”

“"And the ten horns which you saw", he says, "are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom." Concerning these "ten kings" or "horns" the most wise prophet Daniel explained from the dominion of the Romans, saying: "they will arise in the last times, in the midst of which the Antichrist will be raised." (see Dan 7:7-12) Therefore he says they have not yet received a kingdom but will "receive authority as kings." He calls them "as kings" because of the brief and shadowy nature of their kingdom. Then he adds that they "receive one hour" together "with the beast." He calls here the beast the Antichrist. For in the preceding passages he also called him accordingly, saying, "And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb." (Rev. 13:11) The expression that they would reign "for one hour", or the brief duration of their kingdom, is an allegory, or an indication of one year's time and change.”

“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."”

“Indeed! For "no one can serve two masters." 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.”

“He says that "they have one mind, and give their power and authority to the beast." For though the ten kings will be opposed to one another in their opinions, yet in this they will have "one mind": in giving "their power and authority to the beast", that is, to the Antichrist. For they will be defeated by him, and he alone of all will rule over the rest. But even if they are defeated contrary to their will, since the ten suffer the same fate of defeat and removal, he said they "have one mind"; therefore, he was saying that as by agreement and unanimity the ten will be defeated by the Antichrist.”

“We have indeed, likewise, a second font, (itself withal one with the former, ) of blood, to wit; concerning which the Lord said, "I have to be baptized with a baptism," when He had been baptized already. For He had come "by means of water and blood," just as John has written; that He might be baptized by the water, glorified by the blood; to make us, in like manner, called by water, chosen by blood. These two baptisms He sent out from the wound in His pierced side, in order that they who believed in His blood might be bathed with the water; they who had been bathed in the water might likewise drink the blood. This is the baptism which both stands in lieu of the fontal bathing when that has not been received, and restores it when lost.”

“He says these "will make war with the Lamb." For before they are completely overthrown by the Antichrist, these will persecute the church about which the book speaks. But Christ will prevail; for though they are evil, he will deliver them over to the worse Antichrist unto death. And in another way Christ will conquer: he will grant his servants endurance unto death for the faith striving toward him. For he says they "are called and chosen and faithful", those, that is, who are servants of Christ.”

“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." "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."”

“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.”

“And the ten horns which you saw, etc. The glory of the world, which they now embrace with wanton love, they will begin to detest with great hatred when they see themselves condemned at the end by the Lamb's victory. It can also be understood in another way, whether it is that there are always quarrels among the proud, or that everyone who loves iniquity hates his own soul (Psalm 10).”

“But how will Rome be laid waste by the kings? For we understood that this was indicated through the Revelation. Perhaps to them she will be fought over as a royal city and stronghold and populous and collecting tributes. Therefore in the war concerning her she is forced to suffer as the prize of victory laid up for all, being burned and laid waste.”

“What the apostle said, "God gave them up to a base mind to do what they ought not," 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."”

“For God has put it into their hearts, etc. God, he says, the just and mighty judge, who is always pleased with righteousness, has permitted the impious to act in such a manner as a punishment for their previous sins, for which he deservedly imposes the end of the entire world, as the Gospels testify happened with Sodom and the flood.”

“"For God", he says, "has put into their hearts to do his purpose." He says that God, granting forgiveness, will persuade those who oppose it and those willing to take it. And he says that they will "make one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast." And just as from one mind they will be handed over as subjects to the Antichrist, as was said before (see his comments on Rev 17:9-14), "until", he says, "the words of God shall be fulfilled." They, he says, will become subject to the beast until the punishment against the Antichrist also comes and the things spoken by the prophets by God are brought to an end, and upon him.”

“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.”

“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, "when he shall destroy every rule," clearly every apostate rule, "and every authority and power." 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." 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.”

“And the woman whom you saw is the great city, etc. Likewise, later he is commanded to behold the bride of the Lamb, and he saw the holy city descending from heaven. As he describes it: And the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it (Rev. 21). For there are two cities in the world: one arising from the abyss, the other from the heavens. Hence, the same impiety, which he had described under the guise of the harlot, now compared to the ruins of a deserted city.”