In the Old Testament, Babylon was a politically very powerful city located on the Euphrates River in present-day Iraq. With the assistance of many canals to water the fertile soils around the city, Babylon was rich in food supplies. The city was also located on the major trade route between lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea to the east and India to the west. The combination of these factors meant that the city of Babylon could use her economic power (assisted by military and political muscle if necessary) to impose her civilizational (religious) values on peoples around her. The Lord took offence at this specifically because she targeted God’s own people Israel (Jeremiah 50:11–12; Jeremiah 51:24.
It should be noted that the Hebrew term “Babylon” is linked to the Hebrew term “Babel.” The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1) was intended to be a display of people’s independence from God, meaning that people should expect all life’s good things not from God (Creator) and hence from elsewhere (creatures). Babylon sought to portray and extend that same spirit.
5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”