DID YOU KNOW?
The answer
Disagree. An angel explains the woman, and the chapter's last line says it outright: "The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth" (Revelation 17:18).
Why it’s interesting
When her name first appears it is called "a mystery" (Revelation 17:5), a sign that it needs explaining. The book does the same in chapter 1, where it explains its own lampstands and stars (Revelation 1:20).
Scholarly consensus
Learn the Bible.
Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.