Revelation 17:10

“And there are seven kings, etc.] The Arabic version renders it, “who are seven kings”; and it should be rendered, as it is by the Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Ethiopic versions, “and they are seven kings”; that is, the seven heads signify seven kings also, for they have in them a double representation, first of seven mountains, and then of seven kings; by which are meant not seven ages of the world, as from Adam to Noah; from Noah to Abraham; from Abraham to David; from David to the Babylonish captivity; from the Babylonish captivity to Christ; from Christ to antichrist; and from antichrist to the end of the world; the five first of which were gone in John's time, the sixth was then in being,…”

“there are--Translate, "they (the seven heads) are seven kings." five . . . one--Greek, "the five . . . the one"; the first five of the seven are fallen (a word applicable not to forms of government passing away, but to the fall of once powerful empires: Egypt, Eze. 29:1-30:26; Assyria and Nineveh, Nah. 3:1-19; Babylon, Rev 18:2; Jer. 50:1-51:64; Medo-Persia, Dan 8:3-7, Dan 8:20-22; Dan 10:13; Dan 11:2; Greece, Dan 11:4). Rome was "the one" existing in John's days. "Kings" is the Scripture phrase for kingdoms, because these kingdoms are generally represented in character by some one prominent head, as Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, Medo-Persia by Cyrus, Greece by Alexander, &c. the other is not…”

“And there are seven kings - That is, seven in all, as they are enumerated in this verse and the next. An eighth is mentioned in Revelation 17:11, but it is, at the same time, said that this one so pertains to the seven, or is so properly in one sense of the number seven, though, in another sense, to be regarded as an eighth, that it may be properly reckoned as the seventh. The word “kings” - βασιλεῖς basileis - may be understood, so far as the meaning of the word is concerned: (a)Literally, as denoting a king, or one who exercises royal authority; (b)In a more general sense, as denoting one of distinguished honor - a viceroy, prince, leader, chief, Matthew 2:1, Matthew 2:3,Matthew 2:9; Luke…”

“And they are seven kings - Anciently there were royal palaces on all the seven Roman bills. These were the Palatine, Capitoline, Coelian, Exquiline, Viminal, Quirinal, Aventine hills. But the prophecy respects the seven hills at the time of the beast, when the Palatine was deserted and the Vatican in use. Not that the seven heads mean hills distinct from kings; but they have a compound meaning, implying both together. Perhaps the first head of the beast is the Coelian hill, and on it the Lateran, with Gregory VII. and his successors; the second, the Vatican with the church of St. Peter, chosen by Boniface VIII. the third, the Quirinal, with the church of St. Mark, and the Quirinal palace…”

“17:10-11 Five kings have already fallen: If these kings represent Roman emperors, and the starting point for numbering them is the switch from a republic to an empire with Augustus (29 BC–AD 14), then the fifth in line would be Nero (AD 54–68), the sixth would be Vespasian, and the seventh would be Titus. The eighth king would then be Domitian. • that was, but is no longer: Early commentators argued that Domitian was an embodiment of Nero’s spirit (see study note on 17:8). • like the other seven: This apparently invincible ruler was also headed for destruction.”