They use bitumen as mortar (Genesis 11:3), the same material used by Moses mother to seal up his basket before she places it in the water (Exodus 2:3). This may be hard for the Wycliffe translator who is seeking to put Scripture into the various languages of the earth, but, nevertheless, it is the kindness of God that confuses the speech of men. In Genesis 11:5, God comes down to see the city and tower. "The gate of God," in man's eyes, becomes confusion in the eyes of God. against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying, What seems grand from the peoples standpoint seems insignificant in scale to God. I. Remember the story in mythology of the boy who hired himself out to a sorcerer to be his servant and to carry his water for him? All this is given to us in one sentence in the Bible, but we know from history that it occupied a period of time. Pauline Epistles As noted above, Babylonian ziggurats were large pyramidal stepped towers. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth. Acts 2 tells of a day in the life of the church when the barriers of language, erected at Babel, were breached by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.(v. 9). People talk of their elevating experiences, but have you reached God? We are all aware of the attempts to overcome this with awkward devices of translation. To see the wider context, we need to look back to the story of Noah and the flood (Genesis 7-9) another story of rebellion (Noahs neighbors) set within the context of a story of faithful obedience (Noah). And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." In our story it was with brick & slime. God himself acknowledges it! It's what God has done. Major Prophets 2. One of the peoples primary objectives in building a city and a tower was to avoid being scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth (v. 4), but now they are scattered anyway forced to comply with the command to replenish the earth (9:1). The Communists are finding this out. The Whole Bible To build a tower.) How we need to quietly listen and remember that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;" that without your mind we will only make a continual mess of things, both individually and as a race. One reason why Genesis 11:1-9 has been interpreted and applied in such various ways with varying ethical implications is that the narrative is sparse, with very little explicit reason given for why God scattered the people and confused their language. So first we have Gods command, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth (9:1). Brown, Francis; Driver, S.R. Religious may elevate a man, but never high enough. God took note of that fact, that man is an inventive creature, and he is a united creature. When this account says, "the earth had one language and few words," it literally is saying it had one language and one set of words. They were impressed by its greatness architecturally, that is, it was a colossal thing for the men of that day to build and they may have thus thought of it as reaching into heaven. Later they discovered the process of burning them -- first in the sun, and then in a furnace -- until they became hard and impermeable brick such as we know it today. Though the text is sparse, certain details stand out, such as the repetition and variation of the language in verse 1, which explains, all the earth had one language and the same words. In Genesis 11:6, God echoes the narrator, saying, the people are one, and all of them have one language. Then, in Genesis 11:9, God confuses the language of all the earth.. This is always characteristic of Hamitic people wherever they have gone. The very forces he thinks he can manipulate to accomplish his aims are forces that are part of his own life which he did not make and upon which he continually depends. B. Christianity is not man's effort to reach man. Think how high they would have to build the tower just to reach the moon. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. They did not find rocks and stones to build with, such as they had in the land where they had previously lived, so they made bricks out of dirt and clay. 3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." whose top reaches the sky (v.4b). 1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. While Israelites build with stone, Babylonians build with brick. Prophets Johannine Writings A resource for the whole church from Luther Seminary. Minor Prophets They stopped building the city. Your partnership makes all we do possible. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. Wisdom Literature While it would be possible for this phrase to reflect only a tall structure, like our word skyscraper, Gods response (vv. The New Testament For example, Eric Barreto explains that such a reading suggests diversity is a punishment from God; that our different languages and cultures are a problem in need of an answer. The first is that this is a story about pride and rebellion against God. Therein, Thereinto, Thereof, Thereon, Thereout, Thereto, Thereunto, Thereupon, Therewith - Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, H3068 - Yhv - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv), Don Stewart :: Why Is the Holy Spirit Called, "the Spirit of Jesus Christ" and, the "Spirit of Jesus? Prophets Abraham looked for "a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God," (Hebrews 11:10 RSV). This almost always happens. Soon the water rose around his neck, and he began to cry out in anguish, realizing that he hadn't learned enough. Atheism is too barren, too pessimistic, and too morally bankrupt to live with very long. And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 6-8) suggests that this reference to the heavens reflects the peoples ambition to breach the gulf between the humanly realm (the earth) and the Godly realm (the heavens). That is a parable of the tower of Babel. The same was in the beginning with God. So gradually there takes form inventive solutions to the technical problems of life. The foreman would yell, but they wouldn't get it. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. ), which the WEB has updated. God says, Come, lets go down, and there confuse their language (v. 7). From that day on, this has been the motto of humanity, "let us make a name for ourselves." General Epistles Their native inventiveness becomes evident in the way they adapted to the environment in which they lived. Johannine Writings The kings of the earth take a stand, 8So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. Because, as Jesus said in the opening words of the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the poor in spirit [the man who has nothing, the man who has lost everything upon which he can depend, outside and inside himself] for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." However, the heart of the matter is made clear in these words, "let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." 1 (Waco: Word Books, 1987), 235. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_7662_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_7662_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], }); Gen. 1-11 essentially introduces us to every major concept that we will study in Scripture and prepares us for Gods history of redemption. He was saved at the last moment by the return of the master who, in a few words, cleared up the whole situation. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it. (9:7). It records the prideful commands of the people of Shinar and the Divine response among the Godhead. of Scripture. Unquestionably there was a plaque somewhere attached to it that carried the pious words, "Erected in the year xxxx, to the greater glory of God." I will bless you and make your name great. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point Let us assume they were super men "able to leap tall buildings with a single bound" that each story of their building. All rights reserved. It is language designed to set in contrast the ridiculousness of the suppositions of men, and the greatness of the Being of God. In the next chapter, God will promise Abraham to make his name great (12:2), but these people take the matter into their own hands. That is the way man wants to read this. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. I know that in certain circles the idea of a God who comes down to visit earth is regarded as an expression of a primitive concept of God -- that God lives up in heaven somewhere but is cut off from direct communication from earth and is dependent upon certain messenger boys who travel back and forth to keep him informed. Historical Books Talking with young person the other day, decided to "take from each what appealed to them.". The determination of these people to burn their bricks thoroughly and to use the very best mortar reflects their interest in an enduring architecture in the kind of security that can be achieved by their own ingenuity and hard work rather than the kind of security that can be found through faith in God. Minor Prophets But up in the real heavens this tower is so little that God can't see it. Though the imperfect forms of let us build and let us make a name for ourselves in vs. 4 both carry a cohortative meaning. The peoples first action is to make bricks, something that the Israelites will be commanded to do when they are enslaved in Egypt. Historical Books It reveals one of the basic philosophies of humanism: "Glory to man in the highest, for man is the master of things." We must understand this, otherwise we will never understand the power of religion as it has pervaded the earth and permeated our culture ever since. For permission to use this content, please review A number of years ago, digging in the plains of Shinar, archaeologists discovered the remains of certain great towers that these early Babylonians had built. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry. More likely, this is simply mankinds effort to build skyscrapers to make a name for themselves instead of following Gods command to fill the earth. The Prologue to the Gospel of John also comes to mind here. Hamilton, Victor P., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990), Louth, Andrew, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament I, Genesis 1-11, (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2001), Mathews, Kenneth A., The New American Commentary: Volume 1a Genesis 1-11:26 (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), Plaut, W. Gunther, The Torah: A Modern Commentary (Revised Edition) (New York: Union for Reform Judaism, 2005), Roop, Eugene F., Believers Church Bible Commentaries: Genesis (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1987), Towner, W. Sibley, Westminster Bible Companion: Genesis (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), Von Rad, Gerhard, The Old Testament Library: Genesis, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1972), Wenham, Gordon J., Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 (Dallas: Word Books, 1987), Copyright 2006, 2010, Richard Niell Donovan, All Rights Reserved | 1997-2020 Richard Niell Donovan. This text is offered as an alternative First Reading for the Day of Pentecost, with the instructions that if it is chosen, then Acts 2:1-21 gets used as the Second Reading. "Come unto Me all ye that labor & are heavy laden" the heavy burdens religions put on men. Merely to know the words of a man's language by no means guarantees that you can communicate with the man. They said one to another, Come, lets make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.(v. 3). But after a bit he detected a little moisture on the floor. The final answer is, to glorify himself, to be the center of things, to be the master of the universe, to be God, in other words. Had they been able to build to 30,000 feet, they could have gone no higher because of lack of oxygen. God yet continues the confusion of tongues. This ziggurat is thought to have been more than twice that high originally the height of a modern sixteen story building (Encyclopedia Britannica). All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.. That, perhaps, is what is meant here by the statement that they intended to build a tower with its top in the heavens. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point (Genesis 11:1-4 RSV). Chrysostom wrote of this story: Notice how the human race, instead of managing to keep to its own boundaries, always longs for more and reaches out for greater things. Then Abram obeys Gods command, Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your fathers house, to the land that I will show you (12:1). The irony is that the tower, which the people intended to reach to heaven, is so short that the Lord must come down to inspect it. Individual instructors or editors may still require the use of URLs. To his amazement he found that he could command the broom to carry water in buckets. "Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, The Whole Bible Note the four-fold repetition of the English phrase, Let us. conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy 1. Instead, they pause for a while but immediately lose all recollection of it and take the same road as the others and fall over the same precipice.. It is this that is the noteworthy feature of the humanity of that day: They were still one undivided people. He loudly announces continually, "There's nothing we can't solve, nothing we can't do." Rather than depending on God to make their name great, they determine to make a name for themselves. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point The first three expressions are recorded by the peoples of the earth in their arrogance. Cities are centers of commercial and business life where all the needs of the body can best be met. The ruins of the largest remaining ziggurat are 335 feet (102 meters) square and 80 feet (24 meters) high. He "came down" to investigate this tiny tower that men had erected. There is nothing that does this better than for human beings to live together in cities. Notice that God does not suggest that man does everything at once; he builds gradually. 11:1-2 One language, one speech, one location, 11:3-4 Mankinds arrogant attempt at self-promotion, 11:5-7 The Lord confuses mankinds pride, 11:8-9 Divine assistance in mankinds fulling Divine Command. Poetical Books Like all boys, tiring of the work, he looked around to find some easier way of getting the job done. I was struck by a quotation taken from a world traveler recently who said. This verse follows immediately after The Table of Nations (chapter 10) that portrays divisions and separations among Noahs descendants (see especially 10:5, 10-12, 18, 20, 25, 31-32). He found certain books with magic words, incantations, in them. The problem is not that the people might storm the heavens and wrest power from God, but that the people, if allowed to succeed in their great sky-tower adventure, might be encouraged to engage in even more serious rebellions. 9 That is why it was called Babel because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. The Old Testament When we think of Pentecost we immediately think of the book of Acts, when the Spirit came on the primitive community gathered in one place in the form of a strong wind that filled the house, and divided tongues of fire that rested on each of them (Acts 2:1-3). Historical Books And Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. So God says, "I'll come down and investigate." GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, (Hebrew/Greek Search by English Definition), * 'Number Delimiters' only apply to 'Paragraph Order', Search verses, phrases, and topics (e.g. These consequences include how a text is interpreted, applied, and used, as well as the ethical implications of certain readings of the text.2 The history of consequences of Genesis 11:1-9 includes South African theologians use of the text to justify apartheid, by arguing that God desired to keep separate languages and races apart from one another. range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed Yahweh said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. The name, Shinar, indicates to us that these people were Hamites, descendants of Ham, because in Chapter10 we were told it was the Hamites who settled in the land of Shinar of Babylonia (Mesopotamia, as we know it today). This is what the human race has lost in particular, not being prepared to recognize the limitations of its own condition but always lusting after more, entertaining ambitions beyond its capacity. The Old Testament Fort Worth, Texas. It is a rebellious ambition, much like the ambition of the man and woman in the garden (3:6) and the people of Noahs day (6:1-4). GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. Technically only the verb in vs. 3 and the Divine response in vs. 7 are in cohortative form in Hebrew. To his consternation he realized that the tubs and basins were all full and the broom was still carrying in the water. Major Prophets It is impossible to read it that way if you read it in the light of what has already been said about God in the book of Genesis. Babel (Hebrew: bab-li) literally means gate of God (Von Rad, 150, Brown, Driver, and Briggs, 93). Nothing will be prevented him. As a result of these two factors at work in society, God comes to a startling conclusion: "Nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible to them.". It says this was a veritable Babel of confusion. 7Come, lets go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one anothers speech.. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brothers son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan (12:4-5a). The United Nations cannot even meet together without mechanical gadgets of translation by means of which they can understand one another. 2It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. It is only sporadically, and then only for a relatively brief time, that men cry out for the elimination of God. This tower was a grandiose structure, and undoubtedly it was intended to be a means by which man would glorify God. Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness. Historical Books The problem was the arrogant defiance of Gods clear command. It is a way of making God available to us. The story of the Tower of Babel is a story of rebellion (the people of Babel) set within the context of two stories of faithful obedience (Noah and Abram). The Psalmist says: Why do the nations rage, On my trip to Asia, the word Coca Cola was the one word I understood in every language. Religions are man's effort to reach God. General Epistles The people say, Come, lets make bricks (v. 3) and Come, lets build ourselves a city, and a tower (v. 4). They stopped building the city.(v. 8). The fear of this caused them to build a tower and a city. - Universal Beginnings (Chuck Missler), Isaiah 46, 47, 48, and 49 [1990s] (Chuck Missler). But they also unquestionably were thinking of it as a means of communication with God, of maintaining contact with him. and forced the Jews into a half-century exile in Babylonia (2 Kings 24-25). However, some New Testament scholars place a caveat on reading the Day of Pentecost as a solution to the problem of the Tower of Babel. There is no place of rest in religions. They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. This passage recounts the Divine interruption of mankinds selfish plans to make a name for themselves. Now the whole earth had one language and few words. Even in the verse immediately preceding this lectionary text, Genesis 10:32, the survivors of the flood spread out over the earth. Those who want to settle and build a city are scattered by God because God wants them to continue to move and even diversify. After making bricks, the people then decide to build a city and a tower, consequently making a name, lest they be scattered (Genesis 11:4). WHAT WAS THE RESULT? As men moved about they came into the plain of Shinar, an alluvial plain lying between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. They would try to explain but he couldn't understand them. Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah in 586 B.C. It is a humorous expression, if you please, designed to indicate to us, in a very clever way, the ridiculousness of this whole situation. The Gospels While some scholars have interpreted this verse to be a polemic against cities, it seems more likely that the problem here is rebellion a problem hardly limited to cities.

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