Queries & Comments

Did Peter Die in Babylon?

To the Editor:

I received my first issue of BAR and was so fascinated that I read it cover to cover the first day.

On “The Death and Burial of St. Peter,” BAR 02:04, could you shed some light on 1 Peter 5:13 which indicates that St. Peter is at “Babylon”. From 2 Peter 3:1, it seems that he is writing to the same group as in the letter known as 1 Peter; and 2 Peter 1:14–16 seems to indicate that St. Peter is in prison by this time, awaiting death. All of this appears to say that St. Peter was in “Babylon” at his death. Perhaps “Babylon” is used allegorically for Rome, but Rome is mentioned many times by name in Acts and many scholars, such as Alfred, find no allegoric meaning in the name “Babylon” as used so simply in 1 Peter 5:13. Can you supply some information on Babylon at the time of Christ? Also when did it become an uninhabited city?