The chief god of the city of Babylon. After the Babylonian king and lawmaker Hammurabi made Babylon the capital of Babylonia, Merodach (or, Marduk) grew in importance, finally displacing a number of the earlier gods and becoming the chief god of the Babylonian pantheon. In later periods, the name Merodach (or, Marduk) was replaced by the title “Belu” (“Owner”), and Merodach was commonly spoken of as Bel.​—Jer 50:2.