Sheshach

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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Mystical name applied to Babylon (Jer. 25:2626And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. (Jeremiah 25:26); Jer. 51:4141How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! (Jeremiah 51:41); compare Jer. 51:11Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; (Jeremiah 51:1)). The meaning of the word is not known. According to Jerome the name Babylon, from Babel, was made up of the letters B B L (the 2nd and the 12Th letters of the Hebrew alphabet) these were changed into SH SH CH (the 2nd and the 12Th letters reckoning from the end of the same alphabet), a mode well known to later Jews. It has been supposed that the Jews made this alteration in the name in order that they might speak of the judgments coming upon Babylon without giving offense to those who had carried them away captive.