IsiTyhilelo 17:15

Izhibhalo Ezingcwele

15 Sithi kum, Amanzi owawabonayo, apho lihleli khona ihenyukazi, ngabantu, nezihlwele, neentlanga, neelwimi;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

The waters: Revelation 17:1, Psalms 18:4, Psalms 65:7, Psalms 93:3-4, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:8, Jeremiah 51:13, Jeremiah 51:42, Jeremiah 51:55

are: Revelation 10:11, Revelation 11:9, Revelation 13:7, Revelation 13:8

Reciprocal: Numbers 24:7 - many waters 2 Samuel 22:5 - the floods 2 Samuel 22:17 - he drew Psalms 18:16 - many waters Psalms 29:3 - The voice Psalms 46:3 - the waters Psalms 69:1 - the waters Psalms 124:4 - the waters Psalms 144:7 - deliver me Isaiah 17:12 - mighty Isaiah 27:1 - in the sea Isaiah 28:18 - when Isaiah 59:19 - the enemy Jeremiah 47:2 - waters Jeremiah 50:38 - A drought Ezekiel 26:19 - bring Ezekiel 27:26 - great Ezekiel 31:4 - waters Daniel 7:2 - the great Nahum 2:8 - like Revelation 12:15 - cast Revelation 16:12 - and the water Revelation 19:2 - judged

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he saith unto me,.... That is, the angel, who proposed to give John the interpretation of the vision, he went on with it as follows:

the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth,

:-,

are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues; denoting the vast multitude of people, of which the several kingdoms, of divers languages, consist, which belong to the jurisdiction of Rome Papal: it is an eastern way of speaking, and is particularly used to express the various kingdoms, and infinite number of people belonging to the Babylonish monarchy, which was an emblem of the antichristian state, Daniel 3:4 and these are compared to waters, to many waters; which phrase sometimes is used for the sea,

Psalms 107:23 because of the vast numbers of them; the whole world wondered after the beast, and the kings and inhabitants of the earth have been subject to the see of Rome; and because of their overbearing force, carrying all before them; see Isaiah 8:7

Revelation 13:3 and because, like waters, they are continually upon the flux, one generation succeeding another; and because of their instability, fickleness, and inconstancy, as in religion, so in their constitution, they will hate the whore they love; and as they frequently change and alter in their form, at last they will utterly cease: so the Jews w interpret many waters, in Song of Solomon 8:7 of all people, and of the kings of the earth, and of the nations of the world; and they say, that many waters never signify any other than all the nations, and those that are appointed over them x. So, "he drew me out of many waters", Psalms 18:16 is by the Targum on the place explained, he delivered me from many people. And so Psalms 46:4 is paraphrased by the Targumist;

"people, "as rivers", and their streams, shall come, and make glad the city of the Lord;''

see the Targum on Isaiah 8:7 and in Ezekiel 32:2 where it is observed kingdoms are compared to waters y.

w Targum in Cant. viii. 7. Shirhashirim Rabba fol. 26. 1. x Zohar in Gen. fol. 51. 3. & Raya Mehimna in ib. & in Numb. fol. 105. 3. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 2. fol. 179. 4. y Yaikut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 93. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he saith unto me - The angel, Revelation 17:7. This commences the more “literal” statement of what is meant by these symbols. See the Analysis of the chapter.

The waters which thou sawest - See the notes on Revelation 17:1.

Are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues - For an explanation of these terms, see the notes on Revelation 7:9. The meaning here is:

(a) that these waters represent a multitude of people. This is a common and an obvious symbol - for outspread seas or raging floods would naturally represent such a multitude. See Isaiah 8:7-8; Isaiah 17:12-13; Jeremiah 47:2. Compare Iliad, v. 394. The sense here is, that vast numbers of people would be subject to the power here represented by the woman.

(b) They would be composed of different nations, and would be of different languages, It is unnecessary to show that this, in both respects, is applicable to the papacy. Nations have been, and are subject to its control, and nations speaking a large part of the languages of the world. Perhaps under no one government - not even the Babylonian, the Macedonian, or the ancient Roman - was there so great a diversity of people, speaking so many different languages, and having so different an origin.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Revelation 17:15. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. — "So many words," Bishop Newton observes, "in the plural number, fitly denote the great extensiveness of her power and jurisdiction. She herself glories in the title of the Catholic Church, and exults in the number of her votaries as a certain proof of the true religion. Cardinal Bellarmin's first note of the true Church is, the very name of the Catholic Church; and his fourth note is, amplitude, or multitude, and variety of believers; for the truly Catholic Church, says he, ought not only to comprehend all ages, but likewise all places, all nations, all kinds of men."