Page 85 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

and earth, with lightning and thunder as his representations. They worshiped Nergal, a much-
feared god, as the god of pestilence and the underworld. By Nebuchadnezzar’s day, Marduk,
who received the title Bel, “Lord,” and Ishtar, often called Belit, “Lady,” stood out above the
others. 117

The worship of these gods was mainly through symbols and images. Astrologers linked the gods with
heavenly bodies. They represented them as follows: Mercury (Nebo), Venus (Ishtar), Mars (Nergal),
Jupiter (Marduk), Saturn (Ninib), the moon (Sin), and the sun (Shamash).

The official religion probably did not significantly affect the general public. To be sure, Babylonians
watched the great public processions of the gods and participated in the religious festivals, but they do
not seem to have had access to the temples. 118 Individuals freely worshipped personal gods or
goddesses through prayers and sacrifices. Diviners also took center stage predominantly in temples and
royal courts with their personal gods. (Dan. 2:10) It appears the Jews were able to maintain their own
forms of worship because of this tolerance of personal religion.

Meanwhile, God raised men such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who openly denounced
the worship of other gods besides Jehovah, to be an example and encouragement to the Hebrew
people. Through His designated faithful leaders, Jehovah preserved the religion of His people. The
synagogue probably originated during the Exile in Babylonia. It may have begun as a gathering for
communal worship and mutual support and perhaps for observance of the Sabbath and Hebrew
religious festivals. We get some idea of what happened behind the scenes from Ezekiel 8:1, when Ezekiel
was with the elders of Judah in his house, or when Ezekiel was “among the captive by the River Chebar”
(Ezekiel 1:1) 119

Social life

The king and his officials obviously stood at the apex of society. Two great social divisions dominated
Babylonian society and, the country, at large during the Neo-Babylonian Empire. One division was
between free persons and slaves, and the other between temple personnel and laypersons. 120 The main
social markers in the Babylonian society were as follows: occupation, housing, diet, and clothing.
Temples occupied nearly half of Babylonia. The day-to-day operations of temples were a big deal.
Temple officers were influential and could sometimes even find themselves among the King’s officials.
Farmers rented Temple farms. Temple slaves worked on temple farms, but there were also private
slaves who worked in industrial or business establishments of their masters. Young slave girls commonly
worked as housemaids or concubines for the master or an adult son. Private slaves who had wealthy
masters and good relations with them enjoyed better lives than temple slaves or even some free
persons. An average free person involved themselves with crafts or other professions within a limited
range of choices.

117 Vos, H. F. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible manners & customs: how the people of the Bible really lived (pp.
309–310). Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers.

118 Ibid

119 Ibid
120 Ibid

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