Dictionary of Bible Themes  »  4000 Creation  »  4200 Places  »  4215 Babylon

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.

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 pp 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

2 Chronicles 33:10-11

Jehoiakim, king of Judah, becomes a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon

2 Kings 24:1-2 pp 2 Chronicles 36:6-7

Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem

2 Kings 24:10-17 pp 2 Chronicles 36:9-10

Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem and deports the population

2 Kings 25:1-21 pp 2 Chronicles 36:17-20 pp Jeremiah 39:1-10 pp 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

Advice for those exiled in Babylon

Jeremiah 29:4-14

Cyrus king of Babylon decrees that the Jerusalem temple should be rebuilt

Ezra 5:13-16 See also 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 pp Ezra 1:1-4

Exiles return from Babylon

Ezra 2:1-2 pp Nehemiah 7:6-7

Babylon, an instrument of divine judgment

2 Kings 24:2-4 See also Jeremiah 20:4-6; Jeremiah 21:10

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

Babylon conquered by Darius

Daniel 5:30-31

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

See also

1130  God, sovereignty
1429  prophecy, OT fulfilment
1680  types
4027  world, fallen
5305  empires
5529  sieges
5585  towers
5607  warfare, examples
7217  exile in Babylon
7240  Jerusalem, history
7515  anti-semitism
8839  unfaithfulness