And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show you the judgment of the great whore πόρνης that sits upon many waters. Revelation 17:1
The most interesting area of study of Revelation 17 and 18 are translating the English interpretations back into the original Greek and breaking down the meaning behind those Greek words. Some of the English translations (in my opinion) were poorly chosen.
John chose his words very carefully when drafting his account detailing specifics that are not found in the English translations. Studying the Greek which John used gives us a clearer picture of what John was witnessing while in the spirit.
For example the Greek word translated into the English as great (megas) whore is πόρνης which means commercially corrupt one, to export or sell a product or commodity immorally for profit or gain. This is generally defined or translated into English by its root πόρνη which is simply pornēs, prostitute or prostitution. This is where the term whore or harlot originated from, from the root of πόρνης.