Revelation 17:3

And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The angel addresses John, transporting him spiritually to a desolate location to reveal a vision of a woman mounted on a beast. This occurs within the sequence of apocalyptic judgments following the exposure of Babylon’s corrupt influence.

The words — ἀπήνεγκέν (apēnegken) translates literally as “he carried away,” describing the angel’s physical and spiritual transport of the seer. ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati) means “in the Spirit,” indicating the divine agency enabling the visionary experience.

The thread — The seven-headed, ten-horned beast reappears in Revelation 12:3 and Revelation 13:1, establishing a consistent symbol of oppressive worldly power. The wilderness setting echoes Revelation 12:6, where God provides refuge for the faithful.

Why it lands — The vision demands recognition of how worldly systems co-opt religious imagery to justify blasphemy and corruption. It calls the reader to discern spiritual realities behind political and cultural structures without being deceived by their outward splendor.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Cross-references

Revelation 12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads.
Revelation 13:1 Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Revelation 17:6 I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
Revelation 17:9 This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
Revelation 17:18 And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
Daniel 7:8 While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
Daniel 7:20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn whose appearance was more imposing than the others, with eyes and with a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
Daniel 7:25 He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.
Revelation 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.