*17:5 In Hebrew usage a ‘son’ of something was characterized by that something. So a ‘father’ of that something would be even more so. So when James calls God “the Father of lights” (1:17) that means that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5)—He is totally light. In John 8:44 the Lord Jesus says that Satan is the father of the lie, and that “there is no truth in him”—he is totally falsehood (I conclude that it is impossible for Satan to tell the undistorted truth). Here we have “the mother of prostitutes and abominations”—she is totally perverted, evil (it is impossible for her to do anything pure, clean or really good). So whom or what does the whore represent? If the kings are fornicating with her they are not trying to please God, so perhaps she is organized religion (including dead Christianity, of whatever kind). In that event organized religion is incapable of doing anything pure, clean or really good.
†17:8 Well, the origin matches 11:7 but the description matches 13:1, so maybe the three passages refer to a single personage. If “sea” refers to human origin and “Abyss” to demonic, could it be that Satan will imitate God in producing the Antichrist?
‡17:8 Here is a strong statement of election or predestination—how else could God know what names to put in the Book? At the same time the seven letters (chaps. 2 & 3) are strong on human responsibility (including the possibility of a name being erased). Divine sovereignty and human responsibility walk side by side throughout the Bible.
§17:17 Compare verse 13—God is in ultimate control; His Word and purpose will be fulfilled.
*17:18 In chapter 21 the Bride of Christ is represented by a city, the New Jerusalem, but the Bride is presumably people from around the earth. Likewise the whore, represented by a city, may well involve people from around the earth. “Is the great city”—when John wrote, Rome was the ruling city.