{
  "entry_id": "TSP-ENT-000026",
  "slug": "babylon",
  "url_path": "/types-symbols/babylon/",
  "canonical_name": "Babylon",
  "entry_classifications": [
    "APOCALYPTIC_SYMBOL",
    "MOTIF",
    "ORDINARY_DESCRIPTION"
  ],
  "modules": [
    "PLACES_DIRECTIONS",
    "APOCALYPTIC"
  ],
  "aliases": [],
  "legacy_present": true,
  "legacy_raw_wording_public": false,
  "senses": [
    {
      "sense_id": "TSP-SNS-000051",
      "label": "Revelation Babylon the Great",
      "classification": "APOCALYPTIC_SYMBOL",
      "definition": "Revelation personifies Babylon as the great prostitute/great city and explicitly interprets the woman as the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.",
      "not_always": "The visionary designation does not by itself settle whether the final referent is Rome, rebuilt historical Babylon, an archetypal world-city/system, or a combination of historical and eschatological referents.",
      "scope_note": "Use Revelation's explicit in-vision interpretation first, then distinguish competing conservative referent models.",
      "claims": [
        {
          "claim_id": "TSP-CLM-000051",
          "statement": "Revelation 17:18 explicitly interprets the visionary woman called Babylon the Great as the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth; Babylon therefore has an established apocalyptic city/personification sense within Revelation.",
          "asserted_classifications": [
            "APOCALYPTIC_SYMBOL"
          ],
          "type_kinds": [],
          "evidence_grade": 1,
          "grade_basis": "G1_EXPLICIT_BIBLICAL_INTERPRETATION",
          "status": "ESTABLISHED",
          "public_wording_class": "SCRIPTURE_EXPLICITLY_IDENTIFIES",
          "scope_limitation": "The inspired interpretation establishes the visionary city/personification, not one uncontested modern geographic identification.",
          "strongest_alternative_explanation": null,
          "residual_uncertainty": "Conservative interpreters disagree over Rome, rebuilt Babylon, archetypal world-city/system, and mixed historical-eschatological models.",
          "theological_intersections": [
            "ESCHATOLOGY"
          ],
          "scripture_references": [
            {
              "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000106",
              "osis_start": "Rev.17.18",
              "osis_end": null,
              "display_label": "Revelation 17:18",
              "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD"
            },
            {
              "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000104",
              "osis_start": "Rev.14.8",
              "osis_end": null,
              "display_label": "Revelation 14:8",
              "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD"
            },
            {
              "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000105",
              "osis_start": "Rev.17.5",
              "osis_end": null,
              "display_label": "Revelation 17:5",
              "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD"
            },
            {
              "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000107",
              "osis_start": "Rev.18.2",
              "osis_end": "Rev.18.5",
              "display_label": "Revelation 18:2-5",
              "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD"
            }
          ],
          "source_citations": [
            {
              "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000040",
              "author_editor": null,
              "title": "Canonical Scripture: MT/LXX/NA28 with ESV/NET comparison",
              "publication_data": "Text loci verified for TSP-S0F Batch 6",
              "locator": null,
              "verification_level": "V4_QUOTATION_VERIFIED",
              "source_function": [
                "CANONICAL_AUTHORITY",
                "TEXT_ESTABLISHMENT"
              ],
              "locator_targets": []
            },
            {
              "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000042",
              "author_editor": "Brian J. Tabb",
              "title": "Revelation Commentary",
              "publication_data": "The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary",
              "locator": "https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/revelation/",
              "verification_level": "V3_CLAIM_VERIFIED",
              "source_function": [
                "SCHOLARLY_ARGUMENT",
                "INTERPRETIVE_HISTORY"
              ],
              "locator_targets": [
                {
                  "kind": "EXTERNAL_URL",
                  "target": "https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/revelation/"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "s8_wording_provenance": null
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "sense_id": "TSP-SNS-000052",
      "label": "Historical and canonical Babylon",
      "classification": "MOTIF",
      "definition": "Historical Babylon is a real city/empire associated with Babel traditions, conquest of Jerusalem, exile, idolatry, imperial pride, and prophetic judgment.",
      "not_always": "These associations do not justify reducing Babylon to a two-word spiritual code such as confusion or apostasy in every passage.",
      "scope_note": "Preserve historical referents and allow later canonical/apocalyptic development only where textually warranted.",
      "claims": [
        {
          "claim_id": "TSP-CLM-000052",
          "statement": "The legacy formula Babylon = sin's confusion, apostasy is too compressed to function as a fixed biblical definition; Babylon has historical, prophetic, and apocalyptic senses that must be distinguished.",
          "asserted_classifications": [
            "MOTIF"
          ],
          "type_kinds": [],
          "evidence_grade": 7,
          "grade_basis": "G7_INSUFFICIENT_BIBLICAL_EVIDENCE",
          "status": "INSUFFICIENT_BIBLICAL_EVIDENCE",
          "public_wording_class": "INSUFFICIENT_BIBLICAL_EVIDENCE",
          "scope_limitation": "Confusion is tied specifically to Genesis 11/Babel wordplay; apostasy may describe features of later Babylon imagery but is not the lexical or universal meaning of the place-name.",
          "strongest_alternative_explanation": "Treat confusion, imperial pride, idolatry, oppression, luxury, persecution, and judgment as passage-specific associations rather than a single code.",
          "residual_uncertainty": "The negative canonical pattern is strong, but the exact legacy formula is narrower than Scripture's range.",
          "theological_intersections": [
            "ESCHATOLOGY"
          ],
          "scripture_references": [
            {
              "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000102",
              "osis_start": "Gen.11.9",
              "osis_end": null,
              "display_label": "Genesis 11:9",
              "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD"
            },
            {
              "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000103",
              "osis_start": "Jer.50.1",
              "osis_end": "Jer.50.7",
              "display_label": "Jeremiah 50:1-7",
              "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD"
            },
            {
              "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000106",
              "osis_start": "Rev.17.18",
              "osis_end": null,
              "display_label": "Revelation 17:18",
              "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD"
            },
            {
              "passage_ref_id": "TSP-PAS-000107",
              "osis_start": "Rev.18.2",
              "osis_end": "Rev.18.5",
              "display_label": "Revelation 18:2-5",
              "versification_system": "ENGLISH_STANDARD"
            }
          ],
          "source_citations": [
            {
              "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000041",
              "author_editor": null,
              "title": "Legacy Symbols & Types list supplied for TSP project",
              "publication_data": "User-supplied legacy corpus",
              "locator": null,
              "verification_level": "V4_QUOTATION_VERIFIED",
              "source_function": [
                "INTERPRETIVE_HISTORY"
              ],
              "locator_targets": []
            },
            {
              "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000040",
              "author_editor": null,
              "title": "Canonical Scripture: MT/LXX/NA28 with ESV/NET comparison",
              "publication_data": "Text loci verified for TSP-S0F Batch 6",
              "locator": null,
              "verification_level": "V4_QUOTATION_VERIFIED",
              "source_function": [
                "CANONICAL_AUTHORITY",
                "TEXT_ESTABLISHMENT"
              ],
              "locator_targets": []
            },
            {
              "source_id": "TSP-SRC-000042",
              "author_editor": "Brian J. Tabb",
              "title": "Revelation Commentary",
              "publication_data": "The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary",
              "locator": "https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/revelation/",
              "verification_level": "V3_CLAIM_VERIFIED",
              "source_function": [
                "SCHOLARLY_ARGUMENT",
                "INTERPRETIVE_HISTORY"
              ],
              "locator_targets": [
                {
                  "kind": "EXTERNAL_URL",
                  "target": "https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/revelation/"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "s8_wording_provenance": null
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "lexeme_mappings": [
    {
      "lexeme_link_id": "TSP-LEX-000045",
      "language": "HEBREW",
      "lemma_unicode": "בָּבֶל",
      "transliteration": "Babel",
      "strongs_id": "H894",
      "owner_tier": "TSP_MAPPING_ONLY",
      "semantic_domain_ids": []
    },
    {
      "lexeme_link_id": "TSP-LEX-000046",
      "language": "GREEK",
      "lemma_unicode": "Βαβυλών",
      "transliteration": "Babylon",
      "strongs_id": "G897",
      "owner_tier": "TSP_MAPPING_ONLY",
      "semantic_domain_ids": []
    }
  ],
  "canonical_relationships": [],
  "negative_guardrails": []
}