Babylon (New Testament) - Book of Revelation

Book of Revelation

In the Book of Revelation, the destruction of 'Babylon', a city which seems to be a symbol of every kind of evil, is foretold. The connection with the actual historical city of Babylon is usually held to be metaphorical. It may be that "Babylon" is used here as a metaphor, dysphemism, or 'code word' for the power of the Roman Empire, which was oppressing the nascent church much as the Babylonian empire had oppressed the Jewish people in Old Testament times; with the reason given usually being that it was not considered safe or prudent to speak openly against Rome.

Elsewhere in the Book of Revelation, Babylon is the name of a whore who rules over the kings of the earth and rides upon a seven-headed beast. In one of the Bible's most famous cases of numerology, the beast is commonly believed to have the identifying number 666, which has been linked with Nero.

Whom or what Babylon refers to in the Book of Revelation has been the subject of much speculation over the centuries:

• As noted above, the standard scholarly interpretation is that Babylon symbolises Rome and the "Whore of Babylon" therefore either refers to the Roman emperor, or personified the power of the Roman Empire under whom many early Christians and Jews were persecuted, tortured, and martyred for their beliefs because they would not submit to the Roman Emperor as a god. Many scholars believe that the early Christians used "Babylon" as a euphemism for pagan Rome, so that their small community wouldn't be found out and persecuted even more.
• Some Fundamentalist Protestant commentaries on the Book of Revelation treat the references to the city Babylon in Revelation as both the City of Rome and the Roman Catholic Church personified in the institution of the papacy. Some Protestant denominations today do not give credence to such arguments however.
• Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Babylon represents all false religion (i.e.: that thought to be disapproved of or condemned by God).
• A modern interpretation is that the Whore of Babylon refers to the institution of multinational corporations. (whore - one whose loyalty can be bought; rules over the kings of the earth - is more powerful than any individual secular government.)
• In the Rastafari movement, Babylon is a key theological concept referring to any oppressive power structure that adherents believe has been responsible for stealing and oppressing them for generations and still today. However it also refers to the literal Tower of Babel, which Haile Selassie sometimes referred to in his speeches, seen as an act of human rebellion against JAH.
• Some end-time prophets (Dumitru Duduman, Tom Deckard, Steven Crowder and others) assert that Babylon refers to America or to decadent western societies in general.

The considered opinions as to the identity of Babylon in the New Testament need also factor in biblical references to a geographical feature that is close-by to the historical site of Babylon; that is the "great river Euphrates", as mentioned specifically in Revelation 9:14 and Revelation 16:12.