Chaldeans

Biblical Occurrences

The Chaldeans appear in many places in the Old Testament. The term is used in three main senses.

• A name associated with Abraham's homeland: Genesis 11:28, 31 and 15:7 call the place from which Abraham set out "Ur of the Chaldees" (Ur of the Chaldees). Nehemiah 9:7 uses the same name.
• The Babylonians and their army: In 2 Kings 24–25, 2 Chronicles 36:17, and throughout the book of Jeremiah, the Chaldeans are the army and people of Babylon who besieged and destroyed Jerusalem. Ezra 5:12 calls Nebuchadnezzar "the king of Babylon, the Chaldean," and Daniel 5:30 calls Belshazzar "the king of the Chaldeans." In Job 1:17 the Chaldeans form three bands and carry off the camels of Job.
• A class of astrologers and scholars: In the book of Daniel, the term is used not only as an ethnic name but also for a group of learned men who interpreted dreams and observed the stars (Daniel 1:4; 2:2, 10; 5:7). The New Korean Revised Version often renders this usage as "Chaldean diviners."

In the New Testament the name appears once, in Acts 7:4, where Stephen says that Abraham came out of "the land of the Chaldaeans" and dwelt in Haran.

Background

The Hebrew name is Kasdim, and the Greek is Chaldaioi. In Assyrian records they appear under the name Kaldu as tribes that, from roughly the ninth century BC, settled in the marshlands of southern Babylonia near the Persian Gulf. They frequently resisted Assyrian rule.

The Neo-Babylonian Empire, founded by Nabopolassar in the late seventh century BC and reaching its height under Nebuchadnezzar II, is commonly called the "Chaldean dynasty." This is why the Bible uses Babylon and Chaldea almost interchangeably (Isaiah 13:19; 47:1). The empire fell to Cyrus of Persia in 539 BC. Afterward, in the Greco-Roman world, "Chaldeans" became a common term for astrologers and astronomers.

Significance Across Scripture

In the prophetic books the Chaldeans are portrayed as the instrument by which God judges Judah. In Habakkuk 1:6 God declares that He is raising up the Chaldeans, "that bitter and hasty nation." Habakkuk asks how God can look on while the wicked devour those more righteous than themselves (Habakkuk 1:12–17), and in reply he receives the word, "the just shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4). The New Testament quotes this verse in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38 to explain the righteousness that comes by faith.

Jeremiah 29 urges the exiles carried off to the land of the Chaldeans to build houses there and to seek the peace of the city. Jeremiah 50–51 pronounces judgment on Chaldea. Ezekiel likewise saw visions "in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar" (Ezekiel 1:3). In the New Testament, the name "Babylon," rather than Chaldea, carries forward as the symbol of the powers opposed to God (Revelation 17–18).

Interpretation and Debated Issues

• The name "Ur of the Chaldees": The Chaldeans are generally understood to appear in historical records much later than the time of Abraham. For this reason, many hold that the expression identifies the place by a name familiar to later readers. Views also differ on the location of Ur, with some placing it in southern Iraq and others in the north near Haran. The Septuagint renders Genesis 11:28 as "the land of the Chaldeans."
• Usage in Daniel: Interpreters differ over the book of Daniel's use of "Chaldeans" to denote a class of diviners. Scholars who regard Daniel as a later composition cite this usage as one piece of evidence. By contrast, those who hold the traditional view that the book was written by Daniel in the sixth century BC respond that the term could already denote both the ethnic group and the scholarly class at that time.

In the Korean Church

Abraham's departure from Ur of the Chaldees is frequently treated in sermons as an example of faith that leaves a familiar home to follow God's call. Sermons on Habakkuk also often treat Habakkuk 2:4 and 3:17–18 together against the background of the Chaldean invasion.