Revelation 17.1-19.10: A Prophetic Vision of the Destruction of Rome

At the end of the sets of seven visions in the Book of Revelation – the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls – John sees a further vision in which a figure identified as ‘Babylon’ is destroyed. In this article we will show that this figure represents Rome, then discuss why Rome is destroyed and how this happens. In doing this, we will draw a contrast with the conclusions of Erich Gruen’s contribution to this volume (Chapter 10). He argues that the Jewish Sibylline Oracles draw predominantly from non-Jewish Sibylline representations of Rome’s downfall. We will argue that, in contrast, Revelation 17.1–19.10 is primarily a complex interweaving of motifs from scriptural prophetic texts about various wicked cities and their fates. We will begin by outlining Revelation 17.1–19.10 then consider each of the issues.