Kejadian 11:9

11:9 That is why its name was called ¹  Babel ²  – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

Kejadian 11:2

11:2 When the people ³  moved eastward, ⁴  they found a plain in Shinar ⁵  and settled there.

1 Tawarikh 1:17

Shem’s Descendants

1:17 The sons of Shem:

Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

The sons of Aram: ⁶ 

Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. ⁷ 

Yesaya 13:1

The Lord Will Judge Babylon

13:1 ⁸ This is a message about Babylon that God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz: ⁹ 

Yesaya 47:1

Babylon Will Fall

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,

O virgin ¹⁰  daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground, not on a throne,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, ¹¹  you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.

Yeremia 21:2

21:2 “Please ask the Lord to come and help us, ¹²  because King Nebuchadnezzar ¹³  of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave.” ¹⁴ 

Yeremia 25:12

25:12 “‘But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation ¹⁵  for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon ¹⁶  an everlasting ruin. ¹⁷  I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁸ 

Yeremia 50:1

Judgment Against Babylon

50:1 The Lord spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia ¹⁹  through the prophet Jeremiah. ²⁰ 

[11:9]  ¹ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.

[11:9]  ² sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).

[11:2]  ³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:2]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”

[11:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”

[11:2]  sn Shinar is the region of Babylonia.

[1:17]  ⁶ tc The words “the sons of Aram” do not appear in the Hebrew text. Apparently the phrase וּבְנֵי אֲרָם (uvÿney ’aram) has accidentally dropped out of the text by homoioteleuton (note the presence of אֲרָם just before this). The phrase is included in Gen 10:23.

[1:17]  ⁷ tc The MT of the parallel geneaology in Gen 10:23 reads “Mash,” but the LXX there reads “Meshech” in agreement with 1 Chr 1:17.

[13:1]  ⁸ sn Isa 13-23 contains a series of judgment oracles against various nations. It is likely that Israel, not the nations mentioned, actually heard these oracles. The oracles probably had a twofold purpose. For those leaders who insisted on getting embroiled in international politics, these oracles were a reminder that Judah need not fear foreign nations or seek international alliances for security reasons. For the righteous remnant within the nation, these oracles were a reminder that Israel’s God was indeed the sovereign ruler of the earth, worthy of his people’s trust.

[13:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] [about] Babylon which Isaiah son of Amoz saw.”

[47:1]  ¹⁰ tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).

[47:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

[21:2]  ¹² tn The verb used here is often used of seeking information through a prophet (e.g., 2 Kgs 1:16; 8:8) and hence many translate “inquire of the Lord for us.” However, it is obvious from the following that they were not seeking information but help. The word is also used for that in Pss 34:4 (34:5 HT); 77:2 (77:3 HT).

[21:2]  ¹³ tn The dominant spelling of this name is actually Nebuchadrezzar which is closer to his Babylonian name Nebu kudduri uzzur. An alternate spelling which is found 6 times in the book of Jeremiah and 17 times elsewhere is Nebuchadnezzar which is the form of the name that is usually used in English versions.

[21:2]  sn Nebuchadnezzar was the second and greatest king of Babylon. He is known in the Bible both for his two conquests of Jerusalem in 597 b.c. (2 Kgs 24:10-17) and 587 b.c. (2 Kgs 25:1-7) and for his having built Babylon the Great (Dan 4:28-30).

[21:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Perhaps the Lord will do according to his miracles that he may go up from against us.”

[21:2]  sn The miracles that they may have had in mind would have included the Exodus, the conquest of Jericho, the deliverance of Jehoshaphat (2 Chr 20:1-30), etc., but predominant in their minds was probably the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib in the times of Hezekiah (Isa 37:33-38).

[25:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “that nation.”

[25:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the use of the term “Chaldeans.”

[25:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that nation, oracle of the Lord, their iniquity even upon the land of the Chaldeans and I will make it everlasting ruins.” The sentence has been restructured to avoid ambiguity and to conform the style more to contemporary English.

[25:12]  sn Compare Isa 13:19-22 and Jer 50:39-40.

[25:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[50:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[50:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.”