1. 1 Peter 5:13 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is meant by the term “Babylon”?

1 Peter 5:13 (ESV)

13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.

Expositors suggest a number of options when it comes to the meaning of Babylon.

  1. The name itself is well-known from elsewhere in Scripture as the capital city of the ancient empire of Babylon (see Daniel 4:30). This city was located on the banks of the Tigris River in present-day Iraq. At the time of Jerusalem’s fall before the armies of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:1–30), many Jews were exiled to Babylon so that even after the return authorized by Cyrus (Ezra 1:1–11), many Jews continued to live in that city (and its surroundings). In Peter’s day, Babylon was part of the Parthian empire and so outside Roman jurisdiction (the Euphrates was the border). The Lord’s command to his disciples to preach the gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8) directed them not only west to (the Jews of) the Roman empire but also east to (the Jews of) the Parthian empire. So we should not be surprised to learn that there was a church of Jesus Christ in the city of Babylon. If this is indeed Peter’s reference, we would need to conclude that Peter himself lived in the city of Babylon when he wrote this letter.

  2. There is no record anywhere that Peter had travelled east to Babylon. Instead, the church fathers tell us that he died in Rome. That fact, plus the common (though mistaken) thought that the term Babylon in the book of Revelation is a code name for Rome (see Revelation 14:8; Revelation 16:19; Revelation 17:5), has led expositors to assume that Peter is here referring to the church in Rome. But that conclusion has problems, notably that there is no obvious reason Peter would opt to refer to Rome in a roundabout fashion. Rather, he had spoken openly and positively about the need to honor the emperor (1 Peter 2:17). It is also noteworthy that Paul saw no reason to use code words for Rome; on the contrary (see Romans 1:7, Romans 1:15, Romans 1:22).

  3. Read the present reference to Babylon in the light of the Dispersion mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1. Then the thought expressed by the term Babylon is not so much a specific place but would be a reference to the fact of being displaced, in exile.

Of the three options mentioned here, we incline to embrace the first as the more likely. But which option one chooses ultimately makes very little difference for understanding Peter’s letter.