Babylon

The empire that destroyed Jerusalem and exiled Judah — and a symbol of worldly rebellion against God

Definition

Babylon conquered Judah in 586 BC, destroying Solomon's Temple and dragging the people into exile. It became the defining trauma of Jewish identity. King Nebuchadnezzar is the main figure. Daniel and his friends served in the Babylonian court. In Revelation, 'Babylon' becomes a symbol for any world system that opposes God — the ultimate city of human pride. The fall of Babylon represents God's final victory over every power that sets itself against Him.

Used In127 mentions across 18 books

1 chronicles

The Line That Didn't End

1 Chronicles 3:17-24

Babylon is referenced here as the crucible where the Davidic family survived — the empire that seemed to end God's promise instead became the place where the bloodline quietly continued branching.

2 chronicles

The Test Nobody Saw Coming

2 Chronicles 32:31-33

Babylon is introduced here as a future threat foreshadowed in the present — Hezekiah shows their envoys all his treasuries, and Isaiah warns that Babylon will one day return to take it all.

2 kings

The Rebellion That Sealed It

2 Kings 24:1-7

Babylon functions here not merely as a military power but as the instrument God explicitly directs against Judah — the raiding bands it sends are described as the Lord's own doing.

The Walls Close In

2 Kings 25:1-7

Babylon is referenced here as the power Jeremiah had warned Zedekiah not to resist — the nation whose dominance God had declared, and whose judgment Zedekiah's defiance brought crashing down.

daniel

When Everything Falls Apart

Daniel 1:1-2

Babylon is named here as the imperial power being credited with victory — but the text immediately reframes it: God, not Babylon, handed Judah over, preserving divine sovereignty.

A Figure Beyond Description

Daniel 10:4-9

Babylon is invoked here as part of Daniel's résumé — he had served through its entire rise and fall, reading its king's death sentence on the wall, making his collapse before this heavenly figure all the more striking.

esther

A Jewish Orphan in the Capital

Esther 2:5-7

Babylon is invoked here as the empire that originally deported Mordecai's ancestors from Jerusalem — the chain of conquest that eventually landed his family in Persia.