MERATHAIM

(Mer·a·thaʹim) [perhaps, double rebellion; or, on the basis of Vatican Manuscript No. 1209 (LXX) and the Peshitta Version, double bitterness].

A designation applying to Babylon or, possibly, to a particular territory in Babylonia. (Jer. 50:21, 23, 24) It may allude to the region known from inscriptions as mat marrati, considered to be an area near the Persian Gulf between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Possibly Merathaim is a play on the Hebrew verb ma·rahʹ (“to be rebellious”), and, therefore, as a dual form of ma·rahʹ, Merathaim may point to the intensity of Babylon’s rebellion. From the days of its founder Nimrod, Babylon’s course was one of rebellion against Jehovah. (Gen. 10:8-10) For this reason it could appropriately bear the name “land of double rebellion.”