Bible Strands
Revelation 17:15
Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — An angel addresses the visionary, providing the symbolic key for the preceding vision while the narrative moves from the Lamb’s triumph to the beast’s impending violence. The words — ὕδατα (hudata) translates literally as "waters," functioning as the primary symbol the angel immediately decodes. The thread — The angel defines these waters explicitly as "peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues," establishing the symbol’s referent before Revelation 17:16 details how political powers will destroy the system seated upon them. Why it lands — The text requires the reader to identify the opposing forces not as abstract evil or isolated events, but as concrete human populations and cultural systems that must be understood in their spiritual alignment.
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The Greek words
King James Version
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Cross-references
- Revelation 17:1 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
- Isaiah 8:7 the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
- Jeremiah 51:13 You who dwell by many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come; the thread of your life is cut.
- Jeremiah 51:55 For the LORD will destroy Babylon; He will silence her mighty voice. The waves will roar like great waters; the tumult of their voices will resound.
- Psalms 65:7 You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
- Psalms 93:3 The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Jeremiah 51:42 The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves.
- Revelation 10:11 And they told me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
- Revelation 11:9 For three and a half days all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will view their bodies and will not permit them to be laid in a tomb.
- Psalms 18:4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.