In the previous post, we took a look at all of Genesis 10 and discussed various issues related to the table of nations that is presented there. Now we turn to the final passage in our study for this year. 

Hebrew text:

1 וַֽיְהִ֥י כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ שָׂפָ֣ה אֶחָ֑ת וּדְבָרִ֖ים אֲחָדִֽים׃

2 וַֽיְהִ֖י בְּנָסְעָ֣ם מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַֽיִּמְצְא֥וּ בִקְעָ֛ה בְּאֶ֥רֶץ שִׁנְעָ֖ר וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ שָֽׁם׃

3 וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֗הוּ הָ֚בָה נִלְבְּנָ֣ה לְבֵנִ֔ים וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה וַתְּהִ֨י לָהֶ֤ם הַלְּבֵנָה֙ לְאָ֔בֶן וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ר הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לַחֹֽמֶר׃

4 וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ הָ֣בָה׀ נִבְנֶה־לָּ֣נוּ עִ֗יר וּמִגְדָּל֙ וְרֹאשׁ֣וֹ בַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנַֽעֲשֶׂה־לָּ֖נוּ שֵׁ֑ם פֶּן־נָפ֖וּץ עַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

5 וַיֵּ֣רֶד יְהוָ֔ה לִרְאֹ֥ת אֶת־הָעִ֖יר וְאֶת־הַמִּגְדָּ֑ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּנ֖וּ בְּנֵ֥י הָאָדָֽם׃

6 וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה הֵ֣ן עַ֤ם אֶחָד֙ וְשָׂפָ֤ה אַחַת֙ לְכֻלָּ֔ם וְזֶ֖ה הַחִלָּ֣ם לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת וְעַתָּה֙ לֹֽא־יִבָּצֵ֣ר מֵהֶ֔ם כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָזְמ֖וּ לַֽעֲשֽׂוֹת׃

7 הָ֚בָה נֵֽרְדָ֔ה וְנָבְלָ֥ה שָׁ֖ם שְׂפָתָ֑ם אֲשֶׁר֙ לֹ֣א יִשְׁמְע֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ שְׂפַ֥ת רֵעֵֽהוּ׃

8 וַיָּ֨פֶץ יְהוָ֥ה אֹתָ֛ם מִשָּׁ֖ם עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כָל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַֽיַּחְדְּל֖וּ לִבְנֹ֥ת הָעִֽיר׃

9 עַל־כֵּ֞ן קָרָ֤א שְׁמָהּ֙ בָּבֶ֔ל כִּי־שָׁ֛ם בָּלַ֥ל יְהוָ֖ה שְׂפַ֣ת כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וּמִשָּׁם֙ הֱפִיצָ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה עַל־פְּנֵ֖י כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ פ

Transliteration:

1 way·hî  ḵāl hā·’ā·reṣ  śā·p̄āh ’e·ḥāṯ;  ū·ḏə·ḇā·rîm ’ă·ḥā·ḏîm. 

2 way·hî  bə·nā·sə·‘ām  miq·qe·ḏem; way·yim·ṣə·’ū  ḇiq·‘āh bə·’e·reṣ šin·‘ār way·yê·šə·ḇū  šām.  

3 way·yō·mə·rū  ’îš ’el- rê·‘ê·hū,  hā·ḇāh nil·bə·nāh lə·ḇê·nîm,  wə·niś·rə·p̄āh liś·rê·p̄āh; wat·tə·hî  lā·hem hal·lə·ḇê·nāh lə·’ā·ḇen, wə·ha·ḥê·mār,  hā·yāh lā·hem la·ḥō·mer.  

4 way·yō·mə·rū  hā·ḇāh niḇ·neh-  lā·nū ‘îr, ū·miḡ·dāl  wə·rō·šōw ḇaš·šā·ma·yim,  wə·na·‘ă·śeh- lā·nū šêm; pen-  nā·p̄ūṣ ‘al- pə·nê ḵāl hā·’ā·reṣ. 

5 way·yê·reḏ  Yah·weh, lir·’ōṯ  ’eṯ- hā·‘îr wə·’eṯ-  ham·miḡ·dāl; ’ă·šer bā·nū  bə·nê hā·’ā·ḏām.  

6 way·yō·mer  Yah·weh hên ‘am  ’e·ḥāḏ wə·śā·p̄āh ’a·ḥaṯ  lə·ḵul·lām, wə·zeh ha·ḥil·lām  la·‘ă·śō·wṯ; wə·‘at·tāh lō- yib·bā·ṣêr  mê·hem, kōl ’ă·šer yā·zə·mū la·‘ă·śō·wṯ.  

7 hā·ḇāh  nê·rə·ḏāh,  wə·nā·ḇə·lāh  šām śə·p̄ā·ṯām;  ’ă·šer lō yiš·mə·‘ū,  ’îš śə·p̄aṯ rê·‘ê·hū.  

8 way·yā·p̄eṣ  Yah·weh ’ō·ṯām  miš·šām ‘al- pə·nê  ḵāl hā·’ā·reṣ; way·yaḥ·də·lū  liḇ·nōṯ hā·‘îr.  

9 ‘al-  kên qā·rā  šə·māh bā·ḇel,  kî- šām bā·lal Yah·weh  śə·p̄aṯ kāl- hā·’ā·reṣ; ū·miš·šām  hĕ·p̄î·ṣām Yah·weh, ‘al- pə·nê kāl-  hā·’ā·reṣ. p̄ 

NIV:

1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 

2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 

4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 

6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 

7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 

9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Study:

The passage begins with a declaration that the whole world spoke a single language. We referred to this in the previous post. Whether or not this is to be taken as literal could be debated. However, it is clear that the single language is used as a plot device in the narrative, as we will shortly see.

The text nods its head to the migration of humans, saying that they traveled eastward and settled in the plains of Shinar. Shinar was mentioned in Genesis 10.10 as being the region in which Nimrod founded his kingdom. From that reference, it is clear that the Hebrew text seems to include Babylon and Uruk as parts of Shinar. It is likely that the entire Mesopotamian basin is meant by the word Shinar.¹

The narrative then introduces the reader to the reasons for which the people wanted to settle in Shinar. They intended to build a city, with a tall tower and in so doing make a name for themselves. We will get back to this shortly, for the text first introduces the materials they used in the construction. Instead of stone, the people used bricks and tar. Till now the Hebrew text has not really focused on construction materials. However, when the story continues in Exodus, we will read that an intrinsic part of the slavery of the Hebrews was the task of making bricks. Stones are naturally occurring materials and can be considered to be the handiwork of God. On the other hand, bricks are obviously made by humans and in Genesis 11 clearly serves to underscore the rebellion of the people described in the episode. They wanted to distance themselves from God to such an extent that they even refused to use materials that God had generously provided.

Their goal was to build a city with a tower that stormed the heavens. Following the rebellion of the first humans, all humans had been banished from the garden and from the realm in which God lived. They had eaten the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, attempting to gain knowledge that only belonged to God. Now they were going to attempt to breach the barrier between heaven and earth by building a tall tower, once again planning to overstep the boundaries set for them.

They also failed in the vocation given to them in two ways. First, they chose to gather together at Shinar rather than spread throughout the earth as God had commanded them. Second, they turned inward to themselves, planning to make a name for themselves, turning a blind eye to the rest of creation even though they had been created to tend for the rest of creation.

But the text introduces a remarkable irony. These humans had decided to build a tall tower that would reach the heavens. However, God had to come down to see the city that they were building and the tower in it. The humans thought they were building something grand. But from the perspective of God it was so insignificant that it was not even visible from heaven! He had to come down to the earth to even catch a glimpse of this tower that was supposed to reach the heavens. 

God then declares that humans are capable of great things if they cooperate with each other. This is meant both as a blessing and a curse. Humans, created to bear God’s image, have an innate creativity that knows no bounds. We have a remarkable imagination and an unquenchable curiosity. But these irresistible qualities are not tempered by the knowledge of good and evil. We do not have the wisdom to know how our actions will affect others. And hence, while it may be true that human cooperation would lead to unbelievable new ideas and innovations, these could well be the most destructive and devastating ideas and innovations.

And so to slow down the inevitable decay that would be introduced in the world were humans to be able to cooperate easily, God introduces different languages. Now it is evident that languages did not just develop in an instant for linguistics can trace the slow development of languages. Hence, the introduction of languages, while serving an important plot point, should not be taken literally. The underlying issue, however, is that languages are a massive obstacle to overcome and, if people do not already have some sort of desire to partner with others who speak a different language, cooperation is extremely difficult. 

The confusion caused by the newly introduced languages is given as the reason for which the place was called Babel, using a play on words for the place is a place of confusion (בָּלַ֥ל, bā-lal) and so is called Babel (בָּבֶ֔ל).

Most of our translations refer to this section as ‘The Tower of Babel’. However, while the tower is mentioned twice in the text, in both cases it is subordinate to the city that was being built. And in the second half of the narrative, we only hear that the people stopped building the city. The tower is pretty much forgotten as the narrative, recognizing that it was insignificant to begin with, does not even bother to mention it. Presumably, even though it is not mentioned, when God came down to see the city and the tower, the tower was still so trivial that it did not merit another mention. Our continued reference to the passage as being about the tower probably serves to indicate how we still think our towers are significant despite the scriptures telling us that they are not.

Prayer:

Our gracious, loving Father. We ask for the wisdom to know your will. We ask for the wisdom to recognize the bounty you have placed on this earth for us. We ask for the wisdom to use this bounty for the benefit of this creation that you have placed in our care. We ask for the wisdom to recognize both that we are insignificant and that, despite this insignificance, we are the objects of your unfailing love. We ask for the wisdom to act in accordance with that love and in so doing to be blessings for the rest of creation. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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^{1. Emil G. Hirsch and George A. Barton. Shinar (Accessed on 17 November 2019)↩}