26 And Terah H8646 lived H2421 seventy H7657 years, H8141 and begat H3205 Abram, H87 Nahor, H5152 and Haran. H2039
So Abram H87 departed, H3212 as the LORD H3068 had spoken H1696 unto him; and Lot H3876 went H3212 with him: and Abram H87 was seventy H7657 H8141 and five H2568 years H8141 old H1121 when he departed H3318 out of Haran. H2771 And Abram H87 took H3947 Sarai H8297 his wife, H802 and Lot H3876 his brother's H251 son, H1121 and all their substance H7399 that they had gathered, H7408 and the souls H5315 that they had gotten H6213 in Haran; H2771 and they went forth H3318 to go H3212 into the land H776 of Canaan; H3667 and into the land H776 of Canaan H3667 they came. H935
And it came to pass after H310 these things, H1697 that it was told H5046 Abraham, H85 saying, H559 Behold, Milcah, H4435 she hath also born H3205 children H1121 unto thy brother H251 Nahor; H5152 Huz H5780 his firstborn, H1060 and Buz H938 his brother, H251 and Kemuel H7055 the father H1 of Aram, H758 And Chesed, H3777 and Hazo, H2375 and Pildash, H6394 and Jidlaph, H3044 and Bethuel. H1328 And Bethuel H1328 begat H3205 Rebekah: H7259 these eight H8083 Milcah H4435 did bear H3205 to Nahor, H5152 Abraham's H85 brother. H251 And his concubine, H6370 whose name H8034 was Reumah, H7208 she bare H3205 also Tebah, H2875 and Gaham, H1514 and Thahash, H8477 and Maachah. H4601
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 11
Commentary on Genesis 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 11
Ge 11:1-32. Confusion of Tongues.
1. the whole earth was of one language. The descendants of Noah, united by the strong bond of a common language, had not separated, and notwithstanding the divine command to replenish the earth, were unwilling to separate. The more pious and well-disposed would of course obey the divine will; but a numerous body, seemingly the aggressive horde mentioned (Ge 10:10), determined to please themselves by occupying the fairest region they came to.
2. land of Shinar—The fertile valley watered by the Euphrates and Tigris was chosen as the center of their union and the seat of their power.
3. brick—There being no stone in that quarter, brick is, and was, the only material used for building, as appears in the mass of ruins which at the Birs Nimroud may have been the very town formed by those ancient rebels. Some of these are sun-dried—others burnt in the kiln and of different colors.
slime—bitumen, a mineral pitch, which, when hardened, forms a strong cement, commonly used in Assyria to this day, and forming the mortar found on the burnt brick remains of antiquity.
4. a tower whose top may reach unto heaven—a common figurative expression for great height (De 1:28; 9:1-6).
lest we be scattered—To build a city and a town was no crime; but to do this to defeat the counsels of heaven by attempting to prevent emigration was foolish, wicked, and justly offensive to God.
6. and now nothing will be restrained from them—an apparent admission that the design was practicable, and would have been executed but for the divine interposition.
7. confound their language—literally, "their lip"; it was a failure in utterance, occasioning a difference in dialect which was intelligible only to those of the same tribe. Thus easily by God their purpose was defeated, and they were compelled to the dispersion they had combined to prevent. It is only from the Scriptures we learn the true origin of the different nations and languages of the world. By one miracle of tongues men were dispersed and gradually fell from true religion. By another, national barriers were broken down—that all men might be brought back to the family of God.
28. Ur—now Orfa; that is, "light," or "fire." Its name probably derived from its being devoted to the rites of fire-worship. Terah and his family were equally infected with that idolatry as the rest of the inhabitants (Jos 24:15).
31. Sarai his daughter-in-law—the same as Iscah [Ge 11:29], granddaughter of Terah, probably by a second wife, and by early usages considered marriageable to her uncle, Abraham.
they came unto Haran—two days' journey south-southeast from Ur, on the direct road to the ford of the Euphrates at Rakka, the nearest and most convenient route to Palestine.