Genesis 11

Genesis 11 concludes the primeval history of Genesis 1–11. The primeval history is the opening section of Genesis, which deals with humanity as a whole, from the creation of the heavens and the earth through the Flood and the division of the nations. Whereas Genesis 10 lists the genealogy of the nations, this chapter narrates how the languages came to be divided. It then narrows the line of Shem to the household of Abram, leading into his call in Genesis 12.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 The whole earth had one language. As people migrated eastward, they settled on a plain in the land of Shinar and, using brick for stone and slime for mortar, built a city and a tower. They intended the tower's top to reach unto heaven, so that they might make a name for themselves and avoid being scattered over the face of the whole earth.
• Verses 5–9 The LORD came down, confounded their language, and scattered them over the face of all the earth. The people left off building the city, and the place was called Babel (Tower of Babel).
• Verses 10–26 The genealogy of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he begat Arphaxad, two years after the Flood. The line continues through Salah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, and Nahor to Terah, who at seventy years of age begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
• Verses 27–30 The account of Terah's household. Haran begat Lot and died before his father in Ur of the Chaldees. Abram married Sarai, and Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of Haran. Sarai was barren.
• Verses 31–32 Terah took Abram, Lot, and Sarai and left Ur of the Chaldees to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, however, they settled there, and Terah died in Haran at the age of 205.

Key Verses

• Genesis 11:4 "Let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth": These words reveal the motive behind the building of the tower in the Babel account.
• Genesis 11:9 "Therefore is the name of it called Babel": This verse explains the origin of the name Babel. It is generally understood as a wordplay on the similar-sounding Hebrew verb meaning "to confound" (balal).
• Genesis 11:30 "But Sarai was barren; she had no child": This verse anticipates the question of the promised offspring in the Abraham narrative that follows.

People and Places

• Shem: A son of Noah (Shem, Ham, and Japheth).
• Eber: A great-grandson of Shem. Some interpreters connect his name with the name "Hebrew."
• Terah: The father of Abram.
• Abram: The son of Terah, who becomes the central figure of the narrative from chapter 12 onward.
• Nahor: A brother of Abram, who shares his name with his grandfather.
• Haran (person): A brother of Abram and the father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah.
• Lot: The son of Haran and thus Abram's nephew.
• Sarai: The wife of Abram.
• Milcah: The daughter of Haran and the wife of Nahor.
• Shinar: Commonly understood as the plain of southern Mesopotamia.
• Babel: The Hebrew name for Babylon.
• Ur of the Chaldees: The homeland of Terah's household.
• Haran: The place where Terah settled and died.
• Canaan: The intended destination of Terah and his family.

Points for Reflection

• The plural in "let us go down" (v. 7): Some Christian interpreters read this verse, together with Genesis 1:26, as an intimation of the Trinity. Others take it as a reference to a heavenly council or as a plural of majesty.
• What the text does not say: The text says nothing about Nimrod leading the construction of the tower or about the tower being built to escape another flood. These stories come from later tradition, including Josephus. Some scholars compare the tower with the ziggurats, the stepped temples of Mesopotamia.
• The numbers in the genealogy: One tradition calculates biblical chronology by adding together the ages given in the genealogy. Others hold that biblical genealogies may omit some generations. The Septuagint differs from the Masoretic Text in its ages and inserts Cainan between Arphaxad and Salah. Cainan also appears in the genealogy of Luke 3.
• Connections with the New Testament: Stephen states that Abraham left Haran after his father died (Acts 7). Interpreters differ on how to reconcile this statement with the ages given in 11:26 and 12:4. In addition, many Christian interpreters contrast the Babel event, in which the languages were divided, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, in which the gospel was heard in many languages.

In the Korean Church

The story of the Tower of Babel is a frequent subject of Sunday school curricula and children's Bible storybooks. Sermons commonly use it to address the themes of human pride and the sovereignty of God. Around Pentecost it is sometimes read together with Acts 2.