Atomic Bible

Ancient Mesopotamian empire; known for astrology and wisdom

Chaldea

Named in 90 verses across 12 books, first in Genesis 11:28.

כַּשְׂדִּיםChaldea

כַּשְׂדִּיםChaldean

כַּשְׂדָּ֑יChaldean

לֵב+H6965A«H6965aLeb/-kamai

כַּשְׂדַּיChaldean

ΧαλδαῖοςChaldean

Also called Chaldean, Leb/-kamai.

The name means “as demons, or as robbers.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869

About Chaldea Written by AI

Chaldea, also known as Babylonia, was an ancient empire located in southern Mesopotamia, in the region of modern-day Iraq. The Chaldeans were known for their expertise in astrology, astronomy, and other forms of wisdom. In the Bible, the term "Chaldean" is sometimes used synonymously with "Babylonian" or to refer specifically to astrologers and wise men from Babylon. The Chaldeans played a significant role in the history of Israel, particularly during the Babylonian exile. In 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, conquered Judah and deported many of its inhabitants to Chaldea (2Ki.24.1-2). The prophet Jeremiah warned the people of Judah about the impending Chaldean invasion and the 70-year exile that would follow (Jeremiah 25:11-12). During the exile, some Jews, such as Daniel and his companions, were chosen to serve in the Chaldean court due to their wisdom and knowledge (Dan.1.3-4). The Chaldeans are also mentioned in connection with the interpretation of dreams and visions (Dan.2.2-10; 4:7; 5:7-11). The Chaldeans were also known for their military might and their role in the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC (2Ki.25.1-10). However, the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah foretold the eventual downfall of Chaldea at the hands of the Medes and Persians (Isaiah 13:19; 47:1-5; Jeremiah 50:1-51:64).

Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.

Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897

The southern portion of Babylonia, Lower Mesopotamia, lying chiefly on the right bank of the Euphrates, but commonly used of the whole of the Mesopotamian plain. The Hebrew name is Kasdim, which is usually rendered “Chaldeans” (Jer. 50:10; 51:24,35).

The country so named is a vast plain formed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris, extending to about 400 miles along the course of these rivers, and about 100 miles in average breadth. “In former days the vast plains of Babylon were nourished by a complicated system of canals and water-courses, which spread over the surface of the country like a network. The wants of a teeming population were supplied by a rich soil, not less bountiful than that on the banks of the Egyptian Nile. Like islands rising from a golden sea of waving corn stood frequent groves of palm-trees and pleasant gardens, affording to the idler or traveller their grateful and highly-valued shade. Crowds of passengers hurried along the dusty roads to and from the busy city. The land was rich in corn and wine.”

Read the rest of the entry

Recent discoveries, more especially in Babylonia, have thrown much light on the history of the Hebrew patriarchs, and have illustrated or confirmed the Biblical narrative in many points. The ancestor of the Hebrew people, Abram, was, we are told, born at “Ur of the Chaldees.” “Chaldees” is a mistranslation of the Hebrew Kasdim, Kasdim being the Old Testament name of the Babylonians, while the Chaldees were a tribe who lived on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and did not become a part of the Babylonian population till the time of Hezekiah. Ur was one of the oldest and most famous of the Babylonian cities. Its site is now called Mugheir, or Mugayyar, on the western bank of the Euphrates, in Southern Babylonia. About a century before the birth of Abram it was ruled by a powerful dynasty of kings. Their conquests extended to Elam on the one side, and to the Lebanon on the other. They were followed by a dynasty of princes whose capital was Babylon, and who seem to have been of South Arabian origin. The founder of the dynasty was Sumu-abi (“Shem is my father”). But soon afterwards Babylonia fell under Elamite dominion. The kings of Babylon were compelled to acknowledge the supremacy of Elam, and a rival kingdom to that of Babylon, and governed by Elamites, sprang up at Larsa, not far from Ur, but on the opposite bank of the river. In the time of Abram the king of Larsa was Eri-Aku, the son of an Elamite prince, and Eri-Aku, as has long been recognized, is the Biblical “Arioch king of Ellasar” (Gen. 14:1). The contemporaneous king of Babylon in the north, in the country termed Shinar in Scripture, was Khammu-rabi. (See BABYLON; ABRAHAM; AMRAPHEL.)

M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.

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GenesisMatthewRevelation

Where the Bible names it

  1. Genesis 11:28

    During his father Terah’s lifetime, Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

  2. Genesis 11:31

    And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.

  3. Genesis 15:7

    The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

  4. 2 Kings 24:2

    And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets.

  5. 2 Kings 25:4

    Then the city was breached; and though the Chaldeans had surrounded the city, all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They headed toward the Arabah,

  6. 2 Kings 25:5

    but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him.

  7. 2 Kings 25:10

    And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

  8. 2 Kings 25:13

    Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried the bronze to Babylon.

  9. 2 Kings 25:24

    And Gedaliah took an oath before them and their men, assuring them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

  10. 2 Kings 25:25

    In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

  11. 2 Kings 25:26

    Then all the people small and great, together with the commanders of the army, arose and fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans.

  12. 2 Chronicles 36:17

    So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,

  13. Ezra 5:12

    But since our fathers angered the God of heaven, He delivered them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this temple and carried away the people to Babylon.

  14. Nehemiah 9:7

    You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

  15. Job 1:17

    While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

  16. Isaiah 13:19

    And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

  17. Isaiah 23:13

    Look at the land of the Chaldeans—a people now of no account. The Assyrians destined it for the desert creatures; they set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces. They brought it to ruin.

  18. Isaiah 43:14

    Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake, I will send to Babylon and bring them all as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.

  19. Isaiah 47:1

    “Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of the Chaldeans! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.

  20. Isaiah 47:5

    “Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.

  21. Isaiah 48:14

    Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

  22. Isaiah 48:20

    Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”

  23. Jeremiah 21:4

    this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the wall, and I will assemble their forces in the center of this city.

  24. Jeremiah 21:9

    Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war.

  25. Jeremiah 22:25

    In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Chaldeans.

  26. Jeremiah 24:5

    “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.

  27. Jeremiah 25:12

    But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

  28. Jeremiah 32:4

    Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hands of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye.

  29. Jeremiah 32:5

    He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.’”

  30. Jeremiah 32:24

    See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!

  31. Jeremiah 32:25

    Yet You, O Lord GOD, have said to me, ‘Buy for yourself the field with silver and call in witnesses, even though the city has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans!’”

  32. Jeremiah 32:28

    Therefore this is what the LORD says: Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.

  33. Jeremiah 32:29

    And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

  34. Jeremiah 32:43

    And fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.’

  35. Jeremiah 33:5

    The Chaldeans are coming to fight and to fill those places with the corpses of the men I will strike down in My anger and in My wrath. I have hidden My face from this city because of all its wickedness.

  36. Jeremiah 35:11

    So when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched into the land, we said: ‘Come, let us go into Jerusalem to escape the armies of the Chaldeans and the Arameans.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”

  37. Jeremiah 37:5

    Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

  38. Jeremiah 37:8

    Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.

  39. Jeremiah 37:9

    This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves by saying, ‘The Chaldeans will go away for good,’ for they will not!

  40. Jeremiah 37:10

    Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”

And 50 more

Jeremiah 37:11, 37:13, 37:14, 38:2, 38:18, 38:19, 38:23, 39:5, 39:8, 40:9, 40:10, 41:3, 41:18, 43:3, 50:1, 50:8, 50:10, 50:25, 50:35, 50:45, 51:1, 51:4, 51:24, 51:35, 51:54, 52:7, 52:8, 52:14, 52:17

Ezekiel 1:3, 11:24, 12:13, 16:29, 23:14, 23:15, 23:16, 23:23

Daniel 1:4, 2:2, 2:4, 2:5, 2:10, 3:8, 4:7, 5:7, 5:11, 5:30, 9:1

Habakkuk 1:6

Acts 7:4

From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.