Person Old Testament
Baladan
Baladan was the father of Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon. Mentioned in 2 verses across 2 books, first at 2 Kings 20:12.
Why it matters. Father of Babylonian king Merodach-baladan (or 'Berodach-baladan').
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Baladan
Baladan is mentioned in 2Ki.20.12 and Isa.39.1 as the father of Merodach-baladan (also known as Berodach-baladan), who was the king of Babylon. Merodach-baladan sent letters and a present to King Hezekiah of Judah after hearing of his illness and recovery. This diplomatic gesture led to Hezekiah showing the Babylonian envoys all his treasures, which the prophet Isaiah warned would one day be carried off to Babylon. Baladan is not mentioned in any other context, and no further information is provided about his life or role in Babylonian history. He is known only as the father of the king who initiated contact with Hezekiah. Merodach-baladan is likely the Babylonian king known outside the Bible as Marduk-apla-iddina II, who ruled Babylon in the late 8th century BC.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Children
- Merodach-baladan
Appears in Scripture
Named in 2 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.