As I interpret the text, it is speaking about the great city that was ruling at the time, but I can't prove it from the tenses.Bigdawg247 wrote: ↑October 28th, 2024, 3:31 pm I was under the impression that a present participle indicates that it’s happening in the current time of writing and I seen revelation 17:18 in the present and so I assumed it was speaking about the great city which was ruling at the time John was writing this
Even in English, consider this: "So yesterday, a man walks into the yard and he's wearing an orange hat and he starts talking to me ..." That's got a lot of present tense, but it happened yesterday, and it's perfectly normal spoken English.
Or consider Moby Dick, who recalls past events like this: "Suddenly, a mighty mass of white curls up from the blue, and the great sperm whale lies wallowing, leaving white masses of marine froth in his wake."
"I am going to the store to buy hot dogs tonight." Present tense. It does not prove that I am currently in the process of going to the store. In fact, I'm at my keyboard, typing this up.