Ten Horns v. One Whore

An angel unravels the mystery of Babylon the harlot and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns. Most of what the angel says has to do with the beast, first explaining the beast (v. 8), then its seven heads (vv. 9-11), then its horns (vv. 12-18).

The horn section is arranged in a parallel pattern:

A. Ten horns are ten kings, authority with beast, v. 12.

B. They have a single purpose, v. 13a.

C. They give power and authority to beast, v. 13b.

D. The waters on which the harlot sits are nations, v. 15.

A’. Ten horns and beast hate the harlot, v. 16.

B’. God has given them to carry out His purpose, v. 17a.

C’. They give kingdom to the beast, v. 17b.

D. The harlot the city who rules kings of the land, v. 18.

The parallel highlights some crucial differences. In the initial sequence, the ten kings have one purpose, apparently sharing the purpose of the beast; in the second sequence, that one purpose (mia gnome; the phrase is repeated in vv. 13a and 17a) is incorporated into a purpose (gnome again) that is “given” by God; their common aims and plans carry out God’s purpose. Like those who executed Jesus, those who hate the bride, slaughter and burn her, carry out their actions “by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).

The other big shift is implicit in what has just been noted: At the beginning of the chapter, John sees the harlot riding on the back of the beast, supported by the seven heads with their ten horns. But then they turn on the harlot, and they become as united in destroying her is as they were in bearing her.

Neat as this structure is, it’s interrupted by verse 14, which stands awkwardly out of the structure. The horns who are kings make war against the Lamb (as the beast did in chapter 13), but this time the Lamb is victorious. He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and so those who follow Him are safe in His care. Structurally, the verse dangles, but that only calls attention to the central claim of the passage and of Revelation: Jesus is unveiled as Lord and Christ.