Golden City
Golden City (מִדהֵבָה madhebah'; Sept. (ἐπισπουδαστής,Vulg. tributum), a term applied as an epithet of Babylon (Isa 14:4), and occurring nowhere else. Some derive it from the Aramoean דּהִב, gold, as a verb-form (in the Hip. part. fem.) = gold-making, i.e., exactress of gold, a not inapt emblem of the impe rial mart (parallel hemistich נֹגֵשׁ, grinding); or else a heap or treasury of gold (מ pref. formative of place). So Gesenius prefers with hesitation (Thes. Heb. page 322 b), after Kimchi, Aben-Ezra, etc. Others (so Fürst, Heb. Lex. s.v.), following the Targums, Sept., Aquilla, Syriac, asnd Arab. of Sadias, prefer to read מִרהֵבָה, in the sense of oppression, from רָהִב rahab', to scare (compare Isa 3:5, where רהב occurs in parallelism with נגשׁ SEE BABYLON.
