Babylon was an ancient city built on the Euphrates river in what is now southern Iraq. It once was the capital of a great empire which at one point conquered the land of Judah as mentioned in the second book of Kings and in Daniel. But the river changed its course and the city was abandoned long ago. Both the historic city in Mesopotamia and the parable city with its tower, mentioned in Genesis, represent the same thing, a worship that appears holy in externals, while the internals are profane. This representation expands to mean a church whose leaders use this kind of worship to gain dominion over others for their own gain and for the gain and power of the church. The city itself is the doctrinal structure that supports this kind of worship and dominion.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 1029; Arcana Coelestia 1283, 1302, 1304, 1310, 1311)

6436. 'They will be on the head of Joseph' means those things with respect to the interiors. This is clear from the meaning of 'the head' as the interiors, for it is there that everything in the human being exists first and foremost. A further reason why the interiors are what are meant by 'the head' lies in correspondence. From correspondence 'the neck' means what is intermediate, 'the body' the exteriors, and 'the feet and soles of the feet' the most external parts. This correspondence has its origin in heaven's presentation of itself as the Grand Man. The inmost heaven where the Lord's celestial kingdom is situated presents itself as the head there; the middle or second heaven where His spiritual kingdom is located presents itself as the body; and the lowest or first heaven as the feet, see 4938, 4939, 5318, 6291.