Merodach

Merodach (Hebrew form of the Babylonian Marduk) was the supreme deity of the Babylonian pantheon. His name appears in the Old Testament primarily in prophetic condemnation: Jeremiah 50:2 announces that Merodach is dismayed as part of the declaration of Babylon's coming fall. Marduk rose to supremacy during the Old Babylonian period and was celebrated in the creation epic Enuma Elish as the god who slew the chaos dragon Tiamat and fashioned the world from her body.

The name Merodach is embedded in several Babylonian royal names familiar from the Bible: Merodach-baladan (Isaiah 39:1), Evil-merodach (2 Kings 25:27), and Bel-shazzar. Jeremiah's taunt against Merodach represents a characteristic prophetic polemic against the gods of the nations — entities whom the prophets regarded as powerless before the sovereign God of Israel.