Babylon , meaning of the word ?

Question

In the Past , it was believed that the word "Babylon " ( as in the city ) meant " Gateway of the Gods" , but it states that modern scholars don't agree with this term , so what is the actual meaning of the word Babylon ? and does anybody know why the old term was rejected ?

Answer 1

No one knows for sure, because we don't know WHEN it was first called by that name.

The people WE know as "the Babylonians", residents of the city by the 3rd millennium BC, spoke a Semitic language.

(Scholars have dubbed this language"Akkadian" after the first major powerful city of this language group--"Akkade" or "Agade", ruled by Sharkenu [a name that has come into English, thorugh Greek historians, as "Sargon"]. It might also be called "Assyro-Babylonian" since the two major branches of it were spoken by the Assyrians in the North and the Babylonians in the South.) In Akkadian the name of the city was "Bab-ili" which is naturally interpreted as "gate(way) of the gods" [bab- = gate, ili and ilani = 'gods', a word related to the Hebrew "El" an "Elohim", Arabic "Allah"]

BUT what we don't know is this. Did these Semitic people name the city themselves OR did earlier residents name it in a language we don't even know. In the latter case, the Babylonians we know ADAPTED the name and re-interpreted it in a way very flattering to themselves.

Here are two brief arguments in favor of this latter view (argued for by I.J. Gelb, who I believe adds other reasons)

a) this would have been a very unusual way for the ancient Semitic Babylonians to name a place. It does not match the way they named OTHER places

b) the borrowing and adapting of an earlier name (in the language of the earlier inhabitants) is not at all unusual

c) "re-interpreting" a name, giving it a "folk etymology" (that may be flattering, insulting, entertaining or used to illustrate a point) is also quite common. We have many Near Eastern examples of this.

(Some of the best known are those used in biblical stories in Genesis. IN FACT, the Hebrew story of the "Tower of Babylon" mocks the powerful city by suggesting a DIFFERENT meaning, based on a HEBREW word, "balal" - "confusion" [Hebrew version of the place name is always "Babel". English versions properly translate this as "Babylon" everywhere else; the choice of "Babel" here may simply be that it creates a very fitting ENGLISH wordplay for this story, suggesting our word "babble".)

Answer 2

Babel was the large conglomeration of people that got together to build a tower (tower of babel) to god in the bible. God cursed them for their efforts to each speak a different language and thus ended the project. Hence the term babeling for gibberish.

Now babylon (summerian irc) is also an ancient city where the above story was presumed to take place.

Some cultures have historically taken babylon to refer to any big city or civilization. The bible implies that all big cities are inherently evil, or governed by the devil.

When cane killed abel he was cast out by god and founded the first city witht he help of devil. It is not clear who inhabited this city. The theme continues with stories like Lot's wife, Soddom and Gomorrah etc.

I believe the modern term is less about a historical city and more about the evils of urbanization.

Answer 3

An Israelite is anyone from any of the 12 Tribes of Isra'el. Yaacov/Jacob had a name change when he prevailed with a messenger of YHWH God his name became ISRA'EL= Prince=sar with EL=God like sar shalom Prince of Peace referring to Y'shua Messiah. Jews are from Judah, but are still Israelites. The 10 lost Tribes of Israel are still in the world today, not actually lost, just hidden from view. At this time most Israelites do not live in Israel, for one reason or another & most Israelites do not Know who they are.

Answer 4

CONFUSION