4 And they said, H559 Go to, H3051 let us build H1129 us a city H5892 and a tower, H4026 whose top H7218 may reach unto heaven; H8064 and let us make H6213 us a name, H8034 lest we be scattered abroad H6327 upon the face H6440 of the whole earth. H776
Whither shall we go up? H5927 our brethren H251 have discouraged H4549 our heart, H3824 saying, H559 The people H5971 is greater H1419 and taller H7311 than we; the cities H5892 are great H1419 and walled up H1219 to heaven; H8064 and moreover we have seen H7200 the sons H1121 of the Anakims H6062 there.
Hear, H8085 O Israel: H3478 Thou art to pass over H5674 Jordan H3383 this day, H3117 to go in H935 to possess H3423 nations H1471 greater H1419 and mightier H6099 than thyself, cities H5892 great H1419 and fenced up H1219 to heaven, H8064
There were giants H5303 in the earth H776 in those days; H3117 and also after H310 that, H3651 when H834 the sons H1121 of God H430 came in H935 unto the daughters H1323 of men, H120 and they bare H3205 children to them, the same H1992 became mighty men H1368 which were of old, H5769 men H582 of renown. H8034
So the LORD H3068 scattered them abroad H6327 from thence H8033 upon the face H6440 of all the earth: H776 and they left off H2308 to build H1129 the city. H5892 Therefore is the name of it H8034 called H7121 Babel; H894 because the LORD H3068 did there confound H1101 the language H8193 of all the earth: H776 and from thence did H6327 the LORD H3068 scatter them abroad H6327 upon the face H6440 of all the earth. H776
Their inward H7130 thought is, that their houses H1004 shall continue for ever, H5769 and their dwelling H4908 places to all H1755 generations; H1755 they call H7121 their lands H127 after their own names. H8034 Nevertheless man H120 being in honour H3366 abideth H3885 not: he is like H4911 the beasts H929 that perish. H1820 This their way H1870 is their folly: H3689 yet their posterity H310 approve H7521 their sayings. H6310 Selah. H5542
The tree H363 grew, H7236 and was strong, H8631 and the height H7314 thereof reached H4291 unto heaven, H8065 and the sight H2379 thereof to the end H5491 of all H3606 the earth: H772
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.