THE OLD TESTAMENT IMAGE OF BABYLON AS A PROTOTYPE OF THE SYMBOL OF BABYLON THE GREAT IN THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN

Abstract

This article focuses on analysing two interrelated, not only nominally but also pictorially, figures of Babylon and Babylon the Great occurring in the text of Scripture. The aim of the analysis is to demonstrate and textually prove that the symbol of Babylon the Great, as presented by the writer of the New Testament book of Revelation, is based on the plot and overall imagery of literal Babylon as an ancient, realistically existing city described in the Old Testament. For this reason, the introduction to the actual analysis briefly introduces the biblical, theological as well as scientific approach to ancient Babylon as an essential element of the Old Testament content. An introduction to the symbol of Babylon the Great is also provided, along with a discussion of its initial characteristics. The method used to compare the two figures was to juxtapose individual passages from the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of the Book of Revelation with analogous passages from the books of the Hebrew Scriptures, and to explain and comment on the semantic or lexical similarities present in them. The two chapters from Revelation are separated into a visual description of the symbol of Babylon the Great contained only in the seventeenth chapter and a description of the judgment on this figure contained in the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation. The vast majority of the overall description of Babylon the Great provides extensive material for analysis, since, to a large extent, the following passages from John's Revelation contain their counterpart in the Old Testament books. The material used for analysis is taken from the contemporary Polish translation of the Bible by the Jehovah's Witnesses' publishing house, the 2018 New World Translation. In summary, the following article contains a number of textual confirmations that the author of the Apocalypse may have taken inspiration from numerous passages in the Hebrew Scriptures describing ancient Babylon or used them as carbon copies to represent the symbol of Babylon the Great in his book.