📖 Biblical Definition
Babylon is the Bible's city of man in confrontation with the city of God. It begins at Babel, where humanity tried to build a tower to heaven and was scattered by confused languages (Gen 11). It becomes the empire that destroys Jerusalem, burns the temple, and deports Judah (2 Kgs 24-25, 586 BC). Daniel's vision in Dan 2 makes Babylon the head of gold on the statue of successive empires. Psalm 137 records the exiles' grief: "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept." Prophets thunder against Babylon's pride, and Isaiah's taunt (Isa 14) against the king of Babylon lifts beyond him to the power behind him. And in Revelation, "Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes" (Rev 17:5) is the final incarnation of worldly idolatry — fallen, fallen at last (Rev 18). The two cities — Babylon and Jerusalem — run parallel through all history.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
BAB'Y-LON, n.
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BAB'Y-LON. An ancient city of Chaldea, on the Euphrates, the capital of Nebuchadnezzar's empire, famed for its walls, its hanging gardens, and its tyranny. In Scripture, Babylon is the instrument of divine chastisement upon idolatrous Judah, the place of the seventy-year captivity, and the figure of the proud, idolatrous, worldly city which sets itself against the kingdom of God. In the prophecies and in the Revelation, Babylon is doomed; her fall is the triumph of the Lamb and the vindication of His saints.
📖 Key Scripture
Jeremiah 29:10 — "For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place."
Psalm 137:1 — "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion."
Daniel 4:30 — "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?"
Revelation 18:2 — "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The average Christian treats Babylon as a museum topic; Scripture insists Babylon is every generation's great city of man organized against God.
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Augustine's City of God retrieved what Scripture teaches and what the modern reader often misses: two cities run through all history — Jerusalem and Babylon, city of God and city of man. Every empire in its pride is Babylon; every persecuted faithful community is exiled Zion. Revelation's Babylon is not merely ancient Mesopotamia; it is the final form of the world-system in idolatry, sexual immorality, luxury, and violence. Christians live as exiles in Babylon until the day the angel cries "fallen, fallen." The posture is Jeremiah's: "seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile... for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jer 29:7) — work in Babylon faithfully, pray for it, but do not become Babylon. And sing Psalm 137 in the private moments: remember Zion. Remember Zion.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H894 — Babel (בָּבֶל) — Babylon.
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H894 — Babel (בָּבֶל) — Babylon; city of confusion; founded by Nimrod.
G897 — Babylōn (Βαβυλών) — Babylon; both literal and symbolic, especially in Revelation.
Usage
"Two cities run through history: Jerusalem and Babylon. You are always a citizen of one or the other."
"Seek the welfare of Babylon; do not become Babylon. The exile's posture is prayer without assimilation."