Babylon. Babylon, whose destruction and utter ruin are here predicted, was situated in the midst of a large plain, having a very deep and fruitful soil, on the Euphrates, about

252 miles south-east of Palmyra, and the same distance north-west of Susa and the Persian gulf, in lat.

32 degrees

30' N. and long.

44 degrees

20 E. According to Herodotus, it formed a perfect square, each side of which was

120 stadia, and consequently its circumference

480 stadia, or sixty miles; inclosed by a wall

200 cubits high and fifty wide, on the top of which were small watch towers of one story high, leaving a space between them, through which a chariot and four might pass and turn. On each side were twenty-five gates of solid brass; from each of which proceeded a street,

150 feet broad, making in all fifty streets; which, crossing each other at right angles, intersected the city into

676 squares, extending four stadia and a half on each side, along which stood the houses, all built three or four stories high, and highly decorated towards the street; the interior of these squares being employed as gardens, pleasure grounds, etc. Its principal ornaments were the temple of Belus, having a tower of eight stories, upon a base of a quarter of a mile square; a most magnificent palace; and the famous hanging gardens, or artificial mountains raised upon arches, and planted with large and beautiful trees. Cyrus took it by diverting the waters of the Euphrates, which ran through the midst, and entering by the channel; and the river being never restored to its proper course, overflowed the whole country, and made it a morass. Darius Hystasnes afterwards depopulated the place, lowered the walls, and demolished the gates; Xerxes destroyed the temples; the building of Seleucia nearly exhausted it of its inhabitants; a king of the Parthians carried a number of them into slavery, and destroyed the most beautiful parts; so that modern travellers describe it as a mass of shapeless ruins, the habitation of wild beasts.

Isaiah 14:4-6,12-15 That you shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!...

Jeremiah 51:41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!

Daniel 2:37,38 You, O king, are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory...

Daniel 4:30 The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power...

when God overthrow. Heb. the overthrowing of

Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

Deuteronomy 29:23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein...

Jeremiah 49:18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, said the LORD, no man shall abide there...

Jeremiah 50:40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, said the LORD; so shall no man abide there...

Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore as I live, said the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah...