Revelation 17:3-4 reads as follows in the Hebrew version, according to the transcript and reading of the author of the site, (I note that the author of this site has now added pointing to the Hebrew text: this was not so at first, or at least when this thread was started, if I remember correctly).
Notice that there is only one color mentioned for the clothing of the harlot woman, adom-red, (no purple, as in the Greek texts). It rather says
red garments with the appearance of lilies, with lilies appearing in the text where we would expect to see the other color
purple written. It appears that shoshani(m) ended up getting parted out in the first Greek translations, which resulted in a reading of shani, (crimson-scarlet), which then became kokkinos, (crimson-scarlet), in our extant Greek texts. This becomes even more likely and more understandable when realizing that the more likely original reading did not have the mem and was simply shoshani, "lily-like" flowers, (the mem was probably added later because people kept dividing the word and reading shani instead of shoshani). See this Sefaria link under the entry for the Klein Dictionary:
Sefaria Search.
Moreover the likelihood of the above mistake becomes even more probable due to the fact that this Hebrew text is attaching the shin prefix for the relative pronoun, (who, which, what, etc.), which is essentially an abbreviation for asher, the relative pronoun. It is not difficult to imagine how this may have become a problem for some (church) scribes not familiar with such a practice, especially with a word like shoshani.
Shoshani is used by the Master himself in the Gospel of Matthew in quite a curious statement. Two older Hebrew texts, (DuTillet and Munster), contain this word shoshani in Matthew 6:28, "lily-like" flowers, as well as modern Hebrew renderings of the same passage.
Matthew 6:28 Hebrew Bible
וללבוש למה תדאגו התבוננו נא אל שושני השדה הצמחות אינן עמלות ואינן טות׃
But then look what he says in Matthew 6:30 following this statement: he switches from shoshani, lily-like flowers of the field, to the grass of the field. So he likens both to be as the same: and what does he say about the lily-like flowers of the field and the grass of the field? He says,
"which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven"...
Uhhh, who goes around collecting grass of the field and lily-like flowers of the field once they have died out just to cast them into an oven or furnace? The only thing I can think of for doing so would be something like a quick-start, very short-lived kindling, as fuel to start a fire, but this seems highly doubtful and probably not worth the effort. The answer to this question should provide a big clue that he is not merely speaking of grass and lily-like flowers of the field. Moreover, in the Matthew passage, he is also speaking about clothing, just as is the Apocalypse passage under discussion herein.
Matthew 6:28-30 KJV
28 And why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
So then, if the Apocalypse was penned first, (for example, by Yohanne the Immerser), then the Master is expounding Rev 17:3-4 in Mat 6:28-30. And if the Gospel of Matthew was penned first, then the author of the Apocalypse in Rev 17:3-4, (by the usage of the word shoshani, once in each verse), is referring the reader back to the Testimony of the Master in Mat 6:28-30. Either way the Spirit of the prophecy is the Testimony of the Master, (Rev 19:10).
What is the Gematria of
שושני?
Moreover, in the modern Hebrew renderings for Rev 17:5, the harlot woman has the number of the name of the beast written upon her forehead, which one would expect to find since she is seated on the beast, and since this is forced upon all the kingdom of the beast in Rev 13:15-18, it would surely be true of the woman in Rev 17.
Revelation 17:5 Hebrew Bible
ועל מצחה כתוב שם סוד בבל הגדולה אם הזנות ותועבות האדמה׃
סוד בבל הגדולה אם הזנות ~ "SOD BABEL THE GREAT MOTHER OF HARLOTS" (Gematria 666).
The two words on the end of the verse may be read as an afterthought or an author's addition because of the waw separation, but they may also be a gloss added to the text by a later scribe, or possibly even a partial
homoeoteleuton scribal error, with
abominations accidentally carried down from verse four, but either way, all one needs to do is see the final two words as though they are in parentheses and not part of the name written in the forehead of the woman, seeing that the words are surely true and probably belong there.
Isaiah 40:3-11 KJV
3
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry?
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
1 Peter 1:24-25 KJV
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.