Misinterpretations of this verse often include taking the waters literally as geographical bodies rather than symbolic of human multitudes, leading to misguided efforts to identify specific rivers or seas; applying it exclusively to a single modern nation or city like Rome or New York without regard for its broader apocalyptic portrayal of end-times Babylon as a multifaceted anti-God system; or using it to promote ethnic superiority by pitting 'nations and tongues' against each other, ignoring the passage's warning against universal seduction by corrupt powers.
Revelation of John 17:15
King James Version (1769)
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
In Revelation 17:15, the angel clarifies the symbolism of the waters upon which the great harlot sits, revealing them to represent peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues, underscoring Babylon's vast global influence and deceptive power that seduces and controls diverse populations worldwide, drawing them into spiritual adultery against God through worldly systems of commerce, politics, and false religion.