Revelation 17:10 7 mountains are 7 kings or 7 mountains + 7 kings?

[LittleLambofJesus]

Because of differing Bible versions, some members are at odds on whether the 7 kings are the 7 mountains or the 7 kings are in addition to the 7 mountains. Any help on this will be appreciated. I made this a poll thread so please vote.

The Seven Hills the harlot Sits on

The Seven Hills is a MISNOMER from the start. The 7 Headed Beast IS = to the Seven Mountains and they are ALSO 7 Kings.....5 have fallen {Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece} ONE IS {Rome}, and one is YET TO COME {Anti-Christ}.
So the 7 Headed Beast is = to 7 Powers who ARISE. How can it be a city on 7 hills/mountains, when it's 7 different Kingdoms ? !!

That's not even possible since no mountains on the beast fell in the past since it rises with all 7 intact. The manuscripts the KJV do not make this terrible mistake and do not wrongly equate the 7 heads with 7 kings, 6 having fallen long before the beast actually rises from the sea.

I might put this up on the Christian Scriptures board. This is profound.

Some Bible versions:

Revelation 17:10 biblehub

New American Standard Bible
and they are seven kings; five have fallen,
King James Bible
And there are seven kings: five are fallen,....
English Standard Version
they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen
New International Version
They are also seven kings. Five have fallen.............
English Revised Version
and they are seven kings; the five are fallen
Berean Study Bible
There are also seven kings. Five have fallen,
Darby Bible Translation
And there are seven kings:
Douay-Rheims Bible
9 upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings
=====================
Here is a word for word translation from the Greek text and interlinear:

καὶ βασιλεῖς ἑπτά εἰσιν<eisin 1510> verb present active indicative 3rd person plural

Revelation 17:10
The seven Heads seven Mountains are-being, where the Woman is sitting upon them.
and kings seven [they/there] are being, the five fall,

10 καὶ βασιλεῖς ἑπτά εἰσιν· οἱ πέντε ἔπεσαν, ὁ εἷς ἔστιν, ὁ ἄλλος οὔπω1 ἦλθεν, καὶ ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὀλίγον αὐτὸν δεῖ μεῖναι.

Stephens 1550 Textus Receptus
kai basileiV epta eisin oi pente epesan

Revelation 17:10 Commentaries: biblehub

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
10. And there are seven kings] Rather, and they [the seven heads] are seven kings: they have a double significance—standing both for the seven mountains and the seven kings.

Pulpit Commentary
Verse 10. - And there are seven kings; and they are. Here we have the same idea (cf. ver 9), with a somewhat different aspect. The phrase in ver. 9, "seven mountains," regarded the world power as one universal indivisible whole, without respect to particular times or modes in which it might be exhibited. In this phrase, "seven kings," we have the same world power viewed in its successive exhibitions by different nations;

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(10) And there are seven kings. . . .—Better. They are seven kings: five (not “are fallen,” but fell, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he shall come, he must continue a short time

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
10. there are—Translate, "they (the seven heads) are seven kings."five … one—Greek, "the five … the one"; the first five of the seven are fallen

Matthew Poole's Commentary
And there are seven kings; the seven heads do not only signify seven hills or mountains, but also seven kings, that is, (according to the best interpretation I meet with),

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And there are seven kings,.... The Arabic version renders it, "who are seven kings"; and it should be rendered, as it is by the Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Ethiopic versions, "and they are seven kings";
that is, the seven heads signify seven kings also, for they have in them a double representation, first of seven mountains, and then of seven kings; by which are meant not seven ages of the world, as from Adam to Noah; from Noah to Abraham; from Abraham to David; from David to the Babylonish captivity; from the Babylonish captivity to Christ; from Christ to antichrist; and from antichrist to the end of the world;

 

[ewq1938]

Here's the basic issue:

Some translations are based on a manuscript, and some are based on a different manuscript. The manuscripts differ in various ways and this is one of them:

Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Rev 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

The KJV has the 7 heads/mountains as separate as the 7 kings while other translations have the 7 heads/mountains as also being the 7 kings:

Rev 17:9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
Rev 17:10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.

Both cannot be correct but there is an easy way to figure out which one is right and which isn't.



Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

"having seven heads" means the beast possess all 7 heads. If the manuscripts the ESV is based upon are right then the beast would have one head since it says 6 of the heads would have fallen (no longer exist) by the time of the 7th king/head. The fact that the beast has all 7 heads, and none of the heads had fallen means the ESV version is simply wrong. Furthermore, Rev 13 tells us one head was wounded and then healed so instead of 6 heads supposedly falling before the arrival of the 7th head, all the heads are perfectly intact and one even survives a serious wound and does not fall.

The manuscripts the KJV is based upon are correct because they accurately keep the intact and unfallen 7 heads of the Rev 13:1 beast separate from the completely different information about previous kings which were successive and fell one by one until there was a 7th that was standing alone. These 7 kings are the same as the 4 successive beasts in Daniel. Only one existed at a time with the previous falling away. The 4th being equal to the 7th king (who has a beast-kingdom of course) of Rev 17.


Rev 17:9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;

The 7 heads of the beast are said to be mountains and those are areas of land where kingdoms exist. The only things of the beast which represent kings are the horns:

Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

So, 7 heads are 7 mountains, not kings. The ten horns are the kings of the beast and of course there are 10, not 7 and they are kings for the entire "one hour" the beast reigns over the world. None of the horns or mountains fall leaving others to stand. When it's time for any of the beast to fall, they all fall at the same time being defeated by Christ at Armageddon.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Since daniel may be a different prophecy than revelation, Michael's announcement regarding the hills may be different. Who can say?

 

[Gregory Thompson]

But you know ... if the scripture says so in the passage, then that's just what it is.

 

[eleos1954]

Because of differing Bible versions, some members are at odds on whether the 7 kings are the 7 mountains or the 7 kings are in addition to the 7 mountains. Any help on this will be appreciated. I made this a poll thread so please vote.

The Seven Hills the harlot Sits on


I might put this up on the Christian Scriptures board. This is profound.

Some Bible versions:

Revelation 17:10 biblehub

New American Standard Bible
and they are seven kings; five have fallen,
King James Bible
And there are seven kings: five are fallen,....
English Standard Version
they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen
New International Version
They are also seven kings. Five have fallen.............
English Revised Version
and they are seven kings; the five are fallen
Berean Study Bible
There are also seven kings. Five have fallen,
Darby Bible Translation
And there are seven kings:
Douay-Rheims Bible
9 upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings
=====================
Here is a word for word translation from the Greek text and interlinear:

καὶ βασιλεῖς ἑπτά εἰσιν<eisin 1510> verb present active indicative 3rd person plural

Revelation 17:10
The seven Heads seven Mountains are-being, where the Woman is sitting upon them.
and kings seven [they/there] are being, the five fall,

10 καὶ βασιλεῖς ἑπτά εἰσιν· οἱ πέντε ἔπεσαν, ὁ εἷς ἔστιν, ὁ ἄλλος οὔπω1 ἦλθεν, καὶ ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὀλίγον αὐτὸν δεῖ μεῖναι.

Stephens 1550 Textus Receptus
kai basileiV epta eisin oi pente epesan

Revelation 17:10 Commentaries: biblehub

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
10. And there are seven kings] Rather, and they [the seven heads] are seven kings: they have a double significance—standing both for the seven mountains and the seven kings.

Pulpit Commentary
Verse 10. - And there are seven kings; and they are. Here we have the same idea (cf. ver 9), with a somewhat different aspect. The phrase in ver. 9, "seven mountains," regarded the world power as one universal indivisible whole, without respect to particular times or modes in which it might be exhibited. In this phrase, "seven kings," we have the same world power viewed in its successive exhibitions by different nations;

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(10) And there are seven kings. . . .—Better. They are seven kings: five (not “are fallen,” but fell, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he shall come, he must continue a short time

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
10. there are—Translate, "they (the seven heads) are seven kings."five … one—Greek, "the five … the one"; the first five of the seven are fallen

Matthew Poole's Commentary
And there are seven kings; the seven heads do not only signify seven hills or mountains, but also seven kings, that is, (according to the best interpretation I meet with),

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
And there are seven kings,.... The Arabic version renders it, "who are seven kings"; and it should be rendered, as it is by the Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Ethiopic versions, "and they are seven kings";
that is, the seven heads signify seven kings also, for they have in them a double representation, first of seven mountains, and then of seven kings; by which are meant not seven ages of the world, as from Adam to Noah; from Noah to Abraham; from Abraham to David; from David to the Babylonish captivity; from the Babylonish captivity to Christ; from Christ to antichrist; and from antichrist to the end of the world;

Revelation does not deal with individual personalities, whether past or present, but rather with systems and world powers—whether political or religious.

The Greek word oros means “mountain,”not “hill,” as some translators suggest in order to show that the city of Rome, situated on seven hills, is in view here. However, since the seven mountains in Revelation 17 are successive, they cannot be interpreted in a literal manner. In the Old Testament, mountains often represent world powers or empires (Jer. 51:25; Ezek. 35:2–5; Dan. 2:35). For instance, the kingdom of Judah in the Old Testament is often referred to as Mount Zion (Ps. 48:1–3; Isa. 29:8).

The angel clearly does not refer to literal mountains since he immediately explains to John that these seven mountains actually represent “seven kings” (Rev. 17:10). However, these cannot be interpreted as individual kings, for at least three reasons. First of all, we have established that Revelation does not deal with individual personalities but systems. Second, these seven kings are equated with the seven mountains—a symbol of kingdoms or empires. Third, in the Old Testament, “kings” is another expression for kingdoms or empires (Dan. 2:37–39; 7:17).

 

[ewq1938]

Revelation does not deal with individual personalities, whether past or present, but rather with systems and world powers—whether political or religious.

Except the two prophets that die and are resurrected, and of course the false prophet.

However, since the seven mountains in Revelation 17 are successive, they cannot be interpreted in a literal manner.

Rev 13 shows them all a part of the beast at the same time so they are not successive.

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

It has all 7, not only one head/mountain.