NT Text: Revelation 17:16
OT Source(s):
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Analogy + Longitudinal Theme
Significance: Ezekiel 23 portrays Jerusalem as Oholibah, the adulterous sister who is punished by her own lovers: "They shall deal with you in hatred ... and leave you naked and bare" (23:29), and "they shall strip you of your clothes" (23:26), and the assembly shall "burn their houses" (23:47). Revelation 17:16 describes nearly identical treatment: the ten horns and beast "will hate the prostitute ... leave her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and burn her with fire." The verbal and thematic parallels — stripping, burning, hatred from former allies — are extensive. In both texts, the instruments of judgment are the harlot's own former lovers/allies turned hostile. This allusion shows that eschatological Babylon follows the same pattern of divine poetic justice that characterized Jerusalem's punishment in Ezekiel.