Is it true that the word Babylon never appears in the Hebrew Scriptures?
Out of the 284 times the Hebrew word Babel (בָּבֶל) appears in the Hebrew Scriptures, only twice is it translated as Babel (Genesis 10:10 and 11:9, in connection with the Tower). The remaining 282 times, translators chose instead to use the Greek rendering of the word—Babylon. But does that really matter?
Yes, it does!
In Hebrew, the word ‘babel’ means confusion, derived from the Hebrew verb ‘balal,’ which means to confuse or confound. This explains what happened at the Tower of Babel, when God judged humanity by confusing their language, leading to their dispersion across the earth.
Interestingly, in Akkadian, Babel means “the gate of god,” referring not to the God of the Bible, but to a different deity. This creates a clever play on words that highlights both human pride and spiritual rebellion.
Had translators retained the name Babel in its original form, readers would have been continually reminded of its first context in Genesis 11. When the prophets later spoke of the empire of Babylon, we would not think merely of a geographic location, but of a continuation of that same spiritual defiance begun at Babel.
Even though the Greek text of the New Testament uses the name Babylon, it would have been striking if translators had instead preserved “babel.” The message of Revelation 17–18 would then more clearly reflect its ancient origin, a rebellion that started at the Tower and continues in humanity’s ongoing attempt to build a world apart from God.