American

A poetical name for Babylon, signifying, as some judge, house or court of the prince, Jer 25:26; 51:41.

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Easton

(Jer 25:26), supposed to be equivalent to Babel (Babylon), according to a secret (cabalistic) mode of writing among the Jews of unknown antiquity, which consisted in substituting the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet for the first, the last but one for the second, and so on. Thus the letters sh, sh, ch become b, b, l, i.e., Babel. This is supposed to be confirmed by a reference to Jer 51:41, where Sheshach and Babylon are in parallel clauses. There seems to be no reason to doubt that Babylon is here intended by this name. (See Streane's Jeremiah, l.c.)

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Fausets

Jer 25:26; 51:41; i.e. Babylon, from their goddess Shach reduplicated, as they named Misael Meshach. SHACE was the designation of a Babylonian feast to Shach, of five days' duration, during which unbridled license prevailed as at the Roman saturnalia. Slaves ruled their master, and one called zogan in each house in royal garments ruled the rest (Jer 51:39,57; Isa 21:5). Cyrus during it took Babylon; thus Jeremiah prophesies the concomitants of the capture. The Kabalistic system (Athbash, "the first Hebrew letter being expressed by the last, the second by the last but one," etc.) would make Sheshach answer to Babel. But in Jer 51:41 concealment cannot have been Jeremiah's object, for he mentions "Babylon" (Jer 51:42). It is not likely the Kabala was as yet invented.

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Hastings

A cryptic name of Babel, found in the received text of Jer 25:26; 51:41. It is formed by the method called Atbash, that is a substitution of lau for aleph, shin for beth, and so on. The word is, however, no part of the original text of Jeremiah, being a conceit of later editors. In both passages it is lacking in Septuagint Cf. Leb-kamai.

J. F. McCurdy.

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Morish

She'shach

Mystical name applied to Babylon. Jer 25:26; 51:41; cf. Jer 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 judgements coming upon Babylon without giving offence to those who had carried them away captive.