One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls: these are the angels of chapter 16.

Came: presumably the angel came from heaven down to earth, where John was.

The judgment of the great harlot: see comments on the verb “to judge,” 6.10; the noun occurs also at 18.10, 20; 20.4. The word for judgment may mean “condemnation,” so that a translation can say “I will show you how God is going to condemn (or, punish) the great harlot.” In translating the word for harlot, care should be taken not to use a vulgar or obscene term. The translation of great is a problem, for in English, at least, “great” refers either to size (large) or quality (excellent). Something like “notorious,” or “powerful,” or “infamous” will be better. Other terms for harlot in various languages are “woman who sells her body,” “woman of the night,” “woman of bad reputation,” or just “bad woman.”

John is speaking of “Babylon,” that is, Rome (see comment at verse 18). The prophet Nahum (3.1-4) called Nineveh a whore, and Isaiah said the same of Jerusalem (1.21) and of the city of Tyre (23.15-16).

Who is seated upon many waters: this describes the city as being near rivers, which fits the city of Babylon (see Jer 51.13), not the city of Rome itself. The Greek preposition translated upon by Revised Standard Version may mean “by” or “near” as in John 21.1, “by the Sea of Tiberias,” which suits the meaning of the passage here. There may be some difficulty in maintaining the figure of a prostitute sitting near many rivers, and a translation may want to follow the lead of Good News Translation and say “the infamous prostitute, that is, the great city that stands near many rivers.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .