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But then (xiv. 6-7) an angel in the midst of heaven announces good tidings to the people on the earth, saying, "Fear
God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea."
Here follows (xv. 5-xvi. 21) the vision of the seven angels coming out of the Temple with "seven golden vials full of
the wrath of God who liveth for ever and ever." The first angel pours out his vial upon the earth and there falls an
evil and grievous sore (comp. Ex. ix. 8) upon the men who bear the mark of the beast and worship his image (an allusion to
the cult of the emperors and to the Roman coins). The second angel pours out his vial (comp. Ex. vii. 19) on the sea, which
turns into blood, so that all living things therein die. The third pours out his vial upon the rivers, and they become blood,
the angel of the waters praising the justice of God ("ẓidduḳ ha-din"), which makes those drink
blood who have shed that of the saints and prophets. The fourth pours out his vial upon the sun, which becomes a fire to scorch
the people who blaspheme and repent not. The fifth pours out his vial upon the seat of the beast (Rome), and its empire becomes
full of darkness; yet the people repent not. The sixth pours out his vial upon the great Euphrates (comp. Sanh. 98a), and
it is dried up, so as to prepare the way for the kings of the East (the Parthians) to gather in Armageddon ('Ir Magdiel, symbolic
name for Rome; xvi. 13-15 is an interpolation; see Targ. Yer. to Gen. xxxvi. 43; Pirḳe R. El. xxxviii.; Gen. R.
lxxxiii.). The seventh pours out his vial into the air and causes an earthquake which splits the great city (Rome) into three
parts, and the cities of the nations fall, and islands and mountains are removed, and Babylon (Rome) takes from the hand of
God the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath (comp. Jer. xxv. 15).
Rome the Great Harlot
In ch. xvii.-xix., in imitation of Isaiah's and Ezekiel's vision of Tyre (Isa. xxiii. 17; Ezek. xxvii.-xxviii.), the apocalyptic
writer then proceeds to dwell on the judgment held over the great harlot that sits upon the many waters, with whom the kings
of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have been made
drunk. He then sees in the wilderness "a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast full of names of blasphemy [idolatry]
and having [seven heads and] ten horns [comp. Dan. vii. 7], herself arrayed in purple and scarlet and decked with gold and
precious stones, and holding in her hand a golden cup full of the filthiness of her fornication" (the picture is taken
probably from the Syrian representations of Astarte riding on a lion with a cup of destiny in her hand). Greatly astonished
at this sight, he learns from the interpreting angel (verses 5-14 and 16 are later insertions which anticipate the interpretation)
that "the many waters" are the many nations given into the power of the beast, and that the woman is the great city
(of Rome) which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Then he beholds (xviii. 1-8) one of the glorious angels descending from heaven, and crying out (in the words of the ancient
seers—Isa. xxi. 9, xxiv. 11-13), "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and has become the habitation of demons,"
for all the nations have drunk of the glowing wine of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication
with her (Isa. xxiii. 17; Jer. xxv. 15, 27). "Go out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and receive
not of her plagues" Jer. li. 6, 9); "for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities"
(Ps. cxxxvii. 8; Jer. l. 15, 29). In rhythmic sentences, taken from the Bible, the voice is heard saying: "Fill her cup
double of what she offered you, and give her as much torment and grief as she has had glory and pleasure." All that is
said of Babel (Isa. xlvii. 7-9; Jer. l. 32-34) is applied to her; and Ezekiel's lamentation over the fall of Tyre (xxvi. 16-xxvii.
36) is repeated by the kings of the earth overthe fall of Babylon (Rome). "Alas, alas, Babylon the great, mighty city!
in one hour is thy judgment come!" is the refrain (xviii. 10, 19). The rhythmic form in which the whole is composed indicates
a Hebrew author, whereas the Christian interpolations always spoil both context and rhythm.
Finally (xviii. 21-24), an angel casts a large stone into the sea (comp. Jer. li. 63-64), saying, "Thus shall Babylon
be cast down forever and no longer be found"; her musicians shall no longer be heard in her (comp. Ezek. xxvi. 14); nor
shall any craftsman be seen; nor shall "the sound of a millstone" or "the voice of bridegroom and bride be
perceived"; nor shall "the light of a candle" shine in her (comp. Jer. xxv. 10
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