Who were the Chaldeans in the Bible?

What does the Bible say about the Chaldeans?

It appears that the Chaldeans (Kaldai or Kaldi) were in the earliest times merely one out of many Cushite tribes inhabiting the great alluvial plain known afterwards as Chaldea or Babylonia. Their special seat was probably that southern portion of the country which is found to have so late retained the name of Chaldea. In process of time, as the Kaldi grew in power, their name gradually prevailed over those of the other tribes inhabiting the country; and by the era of the Jewish captivity it had begun to be used generally for all the inhabitants of Babylonia. It appears that while, both in Assyria and in later Babylonia, the Shemitic type of speech prevailed for civil purposes, the ancient Cushite dialect was retained, as a learned language for scientific and religious literature. This is no doubt the “learning” and the “tongue” to which reference it made in the book of Daniel, (Daniel 1:4) The Chaldeans were really the learned class; they were priests, magicians or astronomers, and in the last of the three capacities they probably effected discoveries of great importance. In later times they seem to have degenerated into mere fortune-tellers.

What is the Hebrew word for Chaldeans?

Where does Chaldeans appear in the Bible?

Chaldeans is referenced in 53 verses across 9 books. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.

• 2 Chronicles 36:17
• 2 Kings 25:4
• 2 Kings 25:5
• 2 Kings 25:10
• 2 Kings 25:13
• 2 Kings 25:24
• 2 Kings 25:26
• Daniel 1:4
• Daniel 9:1
• Ezekiel 1:3
• Ezekiel 12:13
• Ezekiel 23:14
• Genesis 15:7
• Habakkuk 1:6
• Isaiah 23:13
• Isaiah 43:14
• Isaiah 48:14
• Isaiah 48:20
• Jeremiah 21:4
• Jeremiah 21:9
• Jeremiah 22:25
• Jeremiah 24:5
• Jeremiah 25:12
• Jeremiah 32:4

What else appears in these passages?

These turn up in the same passages as Chaldeans.