בָּבֶל H0895
Babylon (Babel); the great Mesopotamian city and empire, center of exile, and symbol of human pride and divine judgment
Bavel (בָּבֶל) names both the historic city of Babylon on the Euphrates and the empire that destroyed Jerusalem and exiled Judah in 586 BC. In the Aramaic portions of Ezra and Daniel, it appears as the seat of power where exiled Jews serve foreign kings yet maintain faith under pressure (Dan 2:12; Ezra 5:12–14). The name carries layered theological resonance: from the tower of Babel narrative (Gen 11) through the exile and into Revelation's 'Babylon the Great,' it symbolizes human arrogance, imperial oppression, and the certainty of divine judgment. The city's very name was folk-etymologized as 'confusion' (from balal), though the Akkadian bāb-ili means 'gate of God.'
Senses
1. Bavel — The proper noun naming the Mesopotamian city and empire on the Euphrates, appearing in the Aramaic sections of Daniel and Ezra as the political center where Jewish exiles lived under Nebuchadnezzar and his successors (Dan 2:12; Ezra 5:12–14). Translations vary between transliteration and adaptation — Spanish 'Babilonia,' French 'Babylone,' German 'Babel' — but the referent is consistent. The name resonates from Genesis 11 through Revelation 18 as a symbol of imperial hubris destined for divine overthrow. 25×
AR["بابِل", "بَابِلَ", "بَابِلُ"]·ben["বাবিল", "বাবিলের"]·DE["Babel"]·EN["Babel", "Bavel"]·FR["Babylone"]·heb["ב-בבל", "בבל"]·HI["बाबेल", "बाबेल-के", "बाबेल-में"]·ID["-Babel", "Babel"]·IT["Babilonia"]·jav["Babel", "Babil", "ing-Babil", "kang-ratu"]·KO["바벨", "바벨-의", "바벨론", "바벨의"]·PT["Bavel", "em-Bavel"]·RU["Бавель", "Бавеля", "Вавилона", "в-Вавилоне"]·ES["Babel", "Babilonia", "Bavel", "de-Babilonia", "en-Babilonia"]·SW["Babeli", "wa-Babeli"]·TR["Babil", "Babil'de", "Babil'in", "Babildedir", "Babilin"]·urd["بابل", "بابل-میں", "بابل-کا", "بابل-کے"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
בָּבֶל n.pr.loc. Babylon (BH id.);—Dn 2:12 + 15 times Dn, 9 times Ezr.