Babel (Tower of), in the land of Shinar, where the descendants of Noah, being of one language, sought to “build a city and a tower, whose top might reach unto heaven,” as a gathering-point and Center of union (Gen. 11:44And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:4)). Thus, very soon after the flood, men sought to form an association in lawless independence of God, and in the pride of life to make to themselves a name. But the Lord defeated their purpose by confounding their language, so that they could not understand each other’s speech, and scattered them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Hence the name of the place was called Babel, which means Confusion.
The temple of Belus, described by Herodotus, now called Birs Nimrud, is supposed to be the same as the Tower of Babel. It is now a mass of rains, forming a great mound, with a solid pile of fire-blasted brickwork, twenty-eight feet broad on the top, rent, broken, and vitrified, as if by lightning from heaven. A desert plain surrounds it on every side.
Babylon (Heb. Babel), the capital of the province and kingdom of Babylon, situated in a vast plain on the river Euphrates, which divided it into two parts, nearly equal. Its site was near Hillah, about forty miles from Bagdad. Its walls, according to Herodotus, were sixty miles in circumference, in the form of a square, fifteen miles along each side, eighty-seven feet thick, of solid brick and bitumen, 350 feet high, and protected by towers and a vast moat lined with the same material. The river ran through the midst of the city, having walls and gates of brass with-steps leading to the water. It was through these gates that Cyrus took the city. They were left open on the night of the festival of Belshazzar (Dan. 5), and Cyrus, having drained the Euphrates into a neighboring lake, marched his army along the river bed, and so took the city, after two years’ siege, B.C. 538 or 539 (Isa. 44:27, 28, 45:1; Jer. 50, &c.). The palace of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:2929At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. (Daniel 4:29)) was of immense size and splendor, its outer wall being six miles in circumference, within which were two other embattled walls and a great tower or keep. Three brazen gates led into the court-yard, and the palace itself was decorated with statues and vessels of the precious metals, and furnished with every luxury that could be got together from Egypt, Palestine, Tyre, and other conquered places. An artificial mountain was raised some 400 feet, with terraces one above the other formed into gardens connected by flights of steps and watered from the Euphrates by machinery. These were “the hanging gardens” of Babylon.
The vast mound, now called by the natives Kasr, is supposed to be the remains of this palace. It contains inexhaustible quarries of the finest brick. Four capitals at least are said to have been built from the ruins of Babylon, besides towns, villages, and caravansaries numerable, for the King of Babylon was “the head of gold,” and all other succeeding kingdoms were inferior to his (Dan. 2).
About 500 B.C. the inhabitants raised an insurrection against their Persian monarch Darius Hystaspis, who punished them by throwing down the walls and gates, and driving them from their homes. From this time the city slowly sank, until in the fourth century after Christ it became a park or hunting-ground, the walls being kept in repair merely for the preservation of game by the Persian kings. It is now a desolate region covered with great mounds of rubbish furrowed by the rains, where the wandering Arab fears to pitch his tent, believing that evil spirits dwell among the ruins, and where the shepherds cannot fold their flocks on account of the wild beasts that prowl there; in short, its condition is that exactly foretold in Isaiah 13:19-2219And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 21But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 22And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. (Isaiah 13:19‑22). At certain seasons between April and June, many parts lie under water from the overflowing of the Euphrates.
Babylo’nia, called also Chaldea, a province of middle Asia, bounded on the north by Mesopotamia, on the south by the Persian Gulf, on the east by the Tigris, and on the west by the Arabian Desert. It was once very fruitful in corn and palms, but is now a vast waste, though there is still some cultivation, and flocks are pastured on its coarse grasses.
To defend this once fruitful region from attack, a wall, called the Median Wall, was built between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris northward from Babylon, where they approach each other. The Babylonians were famous for making perfumes, cloth, and carpets, also for carving in wood and working in precious stones, carrying on a very extensive trade, both by sea and land, with the eastern and western countries.
Nimrod, the son of Cush, seems to have been the founder of the kingdom of Babylon (Gen. 10:88And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. (Genesis 10:8))., Other kings mentioned in Scripture are Amraphel, King of Shinar (Gen. 14:11And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; (Genesis 14:1)); Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan (2 Kings 20:1212At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. (2 Kings 20:12)); Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:1,1In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. (2 Kings 24:1) &c.); Evil-merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:2727And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; (2 Kings 25:27); Jer. 52:3131And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, (Jeremiah 52:31)); and Belshazzar, his grandson (Dan. 5:1,301Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. (Daniel 5:1)
30In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. (Daniel 5:30)), under whom the empire of Babylon ceased, by the conquest of the Medo-Persians (Dan. 5:3131And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old. (Daniel 5:31)), when “Darius the Median took the kingdom.”
Ba’ca (Valley of), mentioned only in Psalms 84:6,6Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. (Psalm 84:6) is supposed to have taken its name from a tree now called Bak by the Arabs, a kind of poplar or aspen.
Badger. — It is doubtful whether the Hebrew word Tachash, translated badger, can mean the animal known in Europe by that name, because the badger has not yet been found in Southern Asia. It is supposed to be the tachaitze, or tha-casse, of the Africans, a kind of stag-goat of considerable size, of a slaty and purple-gray color (Ex. 25:5, 26:14, 35:7, 23, 36:19, 39:34, &c.)
Ba’laam (a devouring of the people), a diviner or soothsayer (Josh. 13:2222Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them. (Joshua 13:22)), of Pethor, in Mesopotamia (Deut. 23:44Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. (Deuteronomy 23:4)), who seems to have had some knowledge of God, but loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:1515Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; (2 Peter 2:15)). Balak, the King of Moab, sent for him to come and curse the people of Israel, but God warned him against going, telling him that the people were blessed (Num. 22). Balak, therefore, sent again “princes more and more honorable” than those he had sent on the first occasion; but Balaam answered them, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more.” This sounded well, but did not express his real sentiments. He may have feared to go in open disobedience, yet secretly wished to earn the wealth that Balak offered him. Therefore he bade the messengers remain, on pretense of knowing the Lord’s mind, which he had already (vs. 12 and 19). God said to him that night, “If the men come to call thee, rise up and go with them,” but Balaam, who only wanted some excuse for going, waited not for the men to come and call him, for he “rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab” (21). Thus the secret desires of his heart were proved out, and his whole after-course was marked by the effort to obtain “the wages of unrighteousness” under the cloak of religion. Finding he could not curse the people, and knowing they were secure so long as they were faithful to the Lord, he “taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel” by tempting them to forsake Jehovah, and worship Baal-Peor (Num. 25:3, 4, 31:16), using what little knowledge he had about God for the destruction of the Lord’s people. He was afterward slain among the enemies of Israel (Num. 31:88And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. (Numbers 31:8); Josh. 13:2222Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them. (Joshua 13:22)), so that, although he had been dismissed in disgrace by Balak, he seems to have returned of his own accord to teach him how to bring about the ruin of Israel (Num. 24:10, 11, 2510And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. 11Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honor; but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back from honor. (Numbers 24:10‑11)
25And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way. (Numbers 24:25)).