And (1) there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto (2) thee the (a) judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
(1) The state of the Church militant being declared, now follows the state of the church overcoming and getting victory, as I showed before in the beginning of the tenth chapter. This state is set forth in four Chapter s. As in the place before I noted, that in that history the order of time was not always exactly observed so the same is to be understood in this history, that it is distinguished according to the people of which it speaks, and that the stories of the people are observed in the time of it. For first is delivered the story of Babylon destroyed in this and the next chapter (for this Babylon out of all doubt, shall perish before the two beasts and the dragon). Secondly, is delivered the destruction of both the two beasts, chapter nineteen and lastly of the dragon, chapter eighteen. In the story of the spiritual Babylon, are distinctly set forth the state of it in this chapter, and the overthrow done from the first argument, consisting of the particular calling of the prophet (as often before) and a general proposition. (2) That is, that damnable harlot, by a figure of speech called "hyppalage". For John as yet had not seen her. Although another interpretation may be thought of, yet I like this better.
(a) The sentence that is pronounce against this harlot.