Babel

The name of the tower built in Genesis 11.1-9 which the people sought to build so high that it reached heaven. While the tower was being built it was called just 'the tower'; after God scattered the people the city was named Babel from the Hebrew word balal meaning to jumble. Some think the name Babel was a deliberate allusion to the city of Babylon. When used in the New Testament of a current situation (as in 1 Peter and Revelation) it probably refers to Rome.