Nero is personally identified with the Beast, but he is also identified as one of the seven heads of the Beast.
Five are fallen (Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius), and one is (Nero), and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space (Galba, who reigned from June, 68 to January, 69).
These are the Seven Heads of the Beast upon whom the Whore sits (and, of course, Nero is the reigning Head when John writes; hence Nero's direct personal identification with the Beast).
The whore Babylon, who is the “Great City” (Revelation 18:10) whom John tells us specifically is Jerusalem (Rev. 11:8), ~~ This is a false equivalence and total baloney. "And the woman which thou sawest is the great city which hath kingdom over the kings of the earth." (Revelation 17.18) Rome had kingdom over the kings of the earth, not Jerusalem. Rome is the great city referred to here. Thus, Rome is mystical Babylon.
Tsk, tsk -- You are confusing the political power of the Beast of Seven Hills (Rome) with the religious power of the Harlot Great City (Jerusalem).
Josephus points out repeatedly that the nations had historically recognized the sanctity and centrality of the Temple: “This celebrated place . . . was esteemed holy by all mankind” (The Jewish War, v.i.3; cf. v.ix.4; v.xiii.6). In fact, the action of Jewish rebels, in the summer of A.D. 66, of halting the daily sacrifices for the Emperor (in violation, Josephus points out, of long-standing practice) was the single event which finally precipitated the Roman war against the Jews (ii.xvii.2-4). Even at the very end, as Titus prepared to raze the city to the ground, he was still pleading with the Jewish priests to offer up the sacrifices, which by now had been entirely discontinued (vi.ii.1). (Chilton, "The Days of Vengeance")
And so again we see -- The Whore Babylon is the Great City Jerusalem (Revelation 11:8) who is seated upon the Beast of Seven Hills (Revelation 17:3,9) who has Seven Heads (the Caesars), the Whore who will come to be hated and ruined by the Beast.
"Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication: and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her; And the merchants of the earth have been made rich by the power of her delicacies." (Revelation 18.3) - Jerusalem was not a major city and not a place of great merchandising.... "And they cast dust upon their heads and cried, weeping and mourning, saying: Alas! alas! that great city, wherein all were made rich, that had ships at sea, by reason of her prices. For, in one hour she is made desolate." (Revelation 18.19) - Jerusalem had no ships, and made no one rich.
Hermann, now you're just being silly.
In the midst of a lengthy passage describing Jerusalem’s extensive commerce, Edersheim reports: “In these streets and lanes everything might be purchased: the production of Palestine, or imported from foreign lands – nay, the rarest articles from the remotest parts. Exquisitely shaped, curiously designed and jewelled cups, rings, and other workmanship of precious metals; glass, silks, fine linen, woolen stuffs, purple, and costly hangings; essences, ointments, and perfumes, as precious as gold; articles of food and drink from foreign lands – in short, what India, Persia, Arabia, Media, Egypt, Italy, Greece, and even the far-off lands of the Gentiles yielded, might be had in these bazaars. Ancient Jewish writings enable us to identify no fewer than 118 different articles of import from foreign lands, covering more than even modern luxury has devised.” (Chilton, ibid.)
"And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived in delicacies with her, shall weep and bewail themselves over her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning:" (Revelation 18.9) - no kings wept for the burning of Jerusalem.
As we have already seen, the Temple of Jerusalem "was esteemed holy by all mankind" and Titus himself was begging the Jews to offer up the Sacrifices for the Emperor even as he razed the Whore City to the ground.
"And saying: Alas! alas! that great city, which was clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet and was gilt with gold and precious stones and pearls." (Revelation 18.16) - a description of imperial majesty.
A description of the Temple of the Whore Jerusalem, whose splendor virtually defied Josephus' power to describe:
Josephus described the luxurious wealth of the Temple’s facade (cf. Luke 21:5): “The first gate was 70 cubits high and 25 broad; it had no doors, displaying unhampered the vast expanse of heaven; the entire face was covered with gold, and through it the arch of the first hall was fully visible to an onlooker without in all its grandeur, and the surroundings of the inner gate, all gleaming with gold, struck the beholder’s eye.... The gate opening into the building was, as I said, completely overlaid with gold, as was the whole wall surrounding it. Above it, moreover, were the golden grapevines from which hung grape clusters as tall as a man. In front of these hung a veil of equal length of Babylonian tapestry embroidered with blue, scarlet and purple, and fine linen, wrought with marvelous craftsmanship.... The exterior of the sanctuary did not lack anything that could amaze either mind or eye. Overlaid on all sides with massive plates of gold, it reflected in the first rays of the sun so fierce a flash that those looking at it were forced to look away as from the very rays of the sun. To strangers as they approached it, it seemed in the distance like a mountain clad with snow; for any part not covered with gold was of the purest white.” (Chilton, ibid.)
The carnal grandeur of the Whore City Jerusalem, clad in the finest scarlet and purple of Babylon itself.
"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom: but shall receive power as kings, one hour after the beast. ... And the ten horns which thou sawest in the beast: These shall hate the harlot and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and shall burn her with fire." (Revelation 17.12, 16) ~~ Continuing, since the Harlot is Rome, why not interpret the ten kings as the ten German tribes which invaded and destroyed Rome - say the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, Seuvi, Burgundians, Franks, Saxons, Lombards, Allemanians, and The Whore Babylon is the Great City Jerusalem (Revelation 11:8) who is seated upon the Beast of Seven Hills (Revelation 17:3,9) who has Seven Heads (the Caesars), the Whore who will come to be hated and ruined by the BeastBavarians.
Why, you've left out Attila the Hun!! How many times does a guy have to sack Rome to get a mention on your list? Of course, you have to leave out the Huns -- if we counted all the tribes who descended upon the carcass of the Western Empire, we'd end up with a lot more than ten in a hurry.
No, Hermann -- the Ten Horns "have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast"; these being the ten Imperial provinces of Rome: Italy, Achaia, Asia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Germany. "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."
I will grant that there is something to be said for a secondary interpretation of some of these prophecies for Jerusalem, but I think the primary meaning is with Rome.
The Beast is Rome.
The Whore, as John states (the Greek ov Rev. 17 is emphatic with a definite article), is THE Great City -- whom he identified specifically in Revelation 11:8 as "the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified". The Old Covenant bride of God who had made of herself a Whore, clad in Babylonian scarlet and purple, fornicating with the kings of the earth, riding upon the Beast of Rome, drunken with the blood of the Saints: Jerusalem.
(/plagiarism off)
The Whore Babylon is the Great City Jerusalem (Revelation 11:8)
This is an illegitimate connection. Revelation 11 is not directly connected to the events of Revelation 17, so you are making a false equivalence between two cities called "the Great City" in completely different contexts.
In the midst of a lengthy passage describing Jerusalem’s extensive commerce, Edersheim reports: “In these streets and lanes everything might be purchased: the production of Palestine, or imported from foreign lands – nay, the rarest articles from the remotest parts. Exquisitely shaped, curiously designed and jewelled cups, rings, and other workmanship of precious metals; glass, silks, fine linen, woolen stuffs, purple, and costly hangings; essences, ointments, and perfumes, as precious as gold; articles of food and drink from foreign lands – in short, what India, Persia, Arabia, Media, Egypt, Italy, Greece, and even the far-off lands of the Gentiles yielded, might be had in these bazaars. Ancient Jewish writings enable us to identify no fewer than 118 different articles of import from foreign lands, covering more than even modern luxury has devised.”
Again, Jerusalem was a city of a around ten of thousand (the walls then were actually smaller than today, since the area of the Church of the Anastasis, where Christ was crucified and buried was outside the walls).
Cities like Rome, Smyrna, Ephesus, Pergamon, Antioch, Alexandria, Athens and Carthage were many hundreds of thousands. Luxuries were only available in Jerusalem (and the trade was hardly making anyone rich there) because they coudl be brought to the huge market represented by those major cities.
It was the city of Rome and its suffragans for which traders brought goods, not Jerusalem. I'll await your explanation of how the economics of the Jerusalem trade, and not the Roman trade were what made the traders rich.
Why, you've left out Attila the Hun!! How many times does a guy have to sack Rome to get a mention on your list? Of course, you have to leave out the Huns -- if we counted all the tribes who descended upon the carcass of the Western Empire, we'd end up with a lot more than ten in a hurry.
First, the Huns aren't German. Second, the Huns affected little of the Roman Empire and only for a short period. Third, there were ten major German tribal confederations that descended upon Rome.
No, Hermann -- the Ten Horns "have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast"; these being the ten Imperial provinces of Rome: Italy, Achaia, Asia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Germany. "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."
"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom: but shall receive power as kings, one hour after the beast. These have one design: and their strength and power they shall deliver to the beast. ... And the ten horns which thou sawest in the beast: These shall hate the harlot and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and shall burn her with fire." (Revelation 17.12-13, 16)
The German tribes were of one mind, as shown by their collective invasion in AD 407. There were never ten imperial Roman provinces (there were many more), nor ten kings of these provinces, nor were they of one mind, nor did they hate either Rome or Jerusalem, nor did the provinces ever sack Rome or Jerusalem. I'd say the German tribes fit that far better. Example: "We...Lombards, Saxons, Franks, Lotharingians, Bajoarians, Sueni, Burgundians, have so much contempt [for Romans and their emperors] that when we become enraged with our enemies, we pronounce no other insult except Roman (nisi Romane), this alone, i.e., the name of the Romans (hoc solo, id est Romanorum nomine) meaning: whatever is ignoble, avaricious, licentious, deceitful, and, indeed whatever is evil." (Relatio de Legatione Constantinopolitana 12. Migne, PL 136. 815) - Keep in mind that when that was written, the Roman Empire had destroyed the Vandals and Ostrogoths, and the Arabs had destroyed the Visigoths, which then totals ten kings and kingdoms of one mind who hate the harlot.
http://www.romanity.org/htm/frame_friesian_en.htm
Scroll down on that site and you can see the provincial divisions circa AD 116.
Two serves you won't answer:
"And the woman which thou sawest is the great city which hath kingdom over the kings of the earth." (Revelation 17.18)
Jerusalem never ruled the earth, Rome did. You can't address or refute this point. - ACE!
"And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven vials and spoke with me, saying: Come, I will shew thee the condemnation of the great harlot, who sitteth upon many waters: ... And he said to me: The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples and nations and tongues." (Revelation 17.1, 15)
Jerusalem did not sit upon many peoples, Rome did, not only being the confluence of all peoples, but also their dominator and even betimes their opressor (as the worthy Hermann the Cherusker would know). - ACE!
Game, set, match OP.