And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Waters ... where the whore sitteth - (Isaiah 8:7; Revelation 17:1.) In impious parody of Yahweh, who 'sitteth upon the flood' (Alford). Contrast the "many waters," Revelation 19:6, "Alleluia." The 'peoples,' etc., mark the universality of the Church's spiritual fornication. The 'tongues' remind us of Babel, the confusion of tongues, the beginning of Babylon, and of idolatrous apostasy after the flood, as the tower was doubtless dedicated to the defied heavens. Thus, Babylon is the harlot's appropriate name. The pope, as her chief representative, claims a double supremacy over all peoples, typified by the "two swords" (Luke 21:38); according to Boniface VIII, in the Bull, 'Unam Sanctum,' and represented by the two keys-namely, spiritual, as the universal bishop, whence he is crowned with the mitre; and temporal, whence he is also crowned with the tiara, in token of imperial supremacy. Contrast with the pope's diadems the 'many diadems' of Him who alone, and of right, shall exercise the twofold dominion (Revelation 19:12).