In OT times, the commercial, religious and political capital of Babylonia, which was the dominant power in the Near East in the sixth century B.C. In the NT, “Babylon” signifies the world and its forces in opposition to God. It is often contrasted with “the new Jerusalem”, in which God will finally reign supreme.
The founding of Babylon
Genesis 10:8–10 Shinar was an alternative name for Babylon.
Cush was the father of Nimrod, who began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; so it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.” His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Biblical events prior to the exile in Babylon
Inhabitants of Babylon exiled to Samaria
See also 2 Kings 17:24–33
Envoys from Babylon visit Hezekiah
2 Kings 20:12–19 parallel Isaiah 39:1–8 Hezekiah's reception of the envoys was designed to lead to a coalition against Assyria, but in the end it brought about the very opposite of what he had hoped for.
Manasseh, king of Judah, exiled to Babylon
Jehoiakim, king of Judah, becomes a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon
2 Kings 24:1–2 parallel 2 Chronicles 36:6–7
Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem
2 Kings 24:10–17 parallel 2 Chronicles 36:9–10
Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem and deports the population
2 Kings 25:1–21 parallels 2 Chronicles 36:17–20, Jeremiah 39:1–10, Jeremiah 52:4–27
Exile in Babylon
The people of Judah exiled in Babylon
1 Chronicles 9:1 See also 2 Chronicles 36:20; Psalm 137:1–9; Daniel 1:1–7
So all Israel was recorded in the genealogies written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.
Advice for those exiled in Babylon
Cyrus king of Babylon decrees that the Jerusalem temple should be rebuilt
Ezra 5:13–16 See also 2 Chronicles 36:22–23 parallel Ezra 1:1–4
In the first year of his reign, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. He also removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken and carried there from the temple in Jerusalem. King Cyrus gave these articles to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor and instructed, ‘Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.’ So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been under construction, but it has not yet been completed.”
Exiles return from Babylon
Ezra 2:1–2 parallel Nehemiah 7:6–7
Babylon, an instrument of divine judgment
2 Kings 24:2–4 See also Jeremiah 20:4–6, Jeremiah 21:10
And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets. Surely this happened to Judah at the LORD’s command, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.
The fall of Babylon
Predictions of Babylon's fall
Jeremiah 51:59–64 See also Isaiah 14:3–23, Isaiah 47:1–15; Jeremiah 50:1–10
This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to the quartermaster Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. Jeremiah had written on a single scroll about all the disaster that would come upon Babylon — all these words that had been written concerning Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud, and say, ‘O LORD, You have promised to cut off this place so that no one will remain — neither man nor beast. Indeed, it will be desolate forever.’ When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates. Then you are to say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again, because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will grow weary.’” Here end the words of Jeremiah.
Babylon conquered by Darius
That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.
Babylon used figuratively
By Peter
See also 1 Peter 5:13 Babylon is traditionally interpreted as Rome, but may also mean Mesopotamian Babylon, Egyptian Babylon, or Jerusalem.
Of the world opposed to God
Revelation 14:8 See also Revelation 17:3–6, Revelation 18:1–24
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.