The Tower of Babel and New York's World Trade Center
A verse-by-verse explanation of these chapters.
Man's Choice Versus God's Choice
An overview of the principles and applications from these chapters.
Growing Proud in Our Achievements
Melding these chapters to life with God.
Tying these chapters to life with God.
Historical, geographical, and grammatical enrichment of the commentary.
Suggested step-by-step group study of these chapters.
Zeroing these chapters in on daily life.
“The original language in which Adam in Paradise had
named all the animals was, as it were, a great mirror in which
the whole of nature was accurately reflected. But now God
shattered this mirror, and each people retained only a fragment
of it, the one a larger, the other a smaller piece, and
now each people sees only a piece of the whole, but never the
whole completely.”
Erich Sauer
The corporate rebellion of the human race expressed itself in their trying to make a name for themselves and so God disperses them. God continues to ensure godly offspring in Shem's line.
The Tower of Babel and New York's World Trade Center
Gary Gere, an actor and photographer, claims to have found a page from the Bible in the rubble of the World Trade Center in New York City. This particular page, from the Book of Genesis, describes a tower that reached into the heavens. “After more than 93 days of fire, a skinny little frail page from the Bible survived. I find it quite unbelievable,” he told New York Post reporter Maria Alvarez, who reported this discovery in the February 11 edition of the newspaper.
When Gere found this portion of Scripture, the New York Post reported he said it was “a sign from God that he is still watching over us.”
Michael Bellone, a safety director with the New York City Fire Department, was accompanying Gere when the page was found near the place where the south tower once stood. “It was amazing,” Bellone said. “We can't rebuild fast enough. We can start all over again.”
But is this the message that should be taken from the story of the Tower of Babel found in Genesis 11? Obviously, someone has not done his or her research on the context and meaning of this narrative. The World Trade Centers were not a Tower of Babel built in defiance of God. So any correspondence between the two is based solely on a physical similarity.
The discovery of a piece of Scripture is not necessarily a sign that God “is still watching over us.” Nor should the fact that Scripture spoke of a tower be interpreted that God wants us to build a new tower. The World Trade Centers were destroyed by Islamic terrorists because of their hatred toward the United States of America and all that it stands for. Many human lives were lost in this terrible tragedy. In contrast, the Tower of Babel dispersion occurred because God himself was upset with mankind. So he scattered humans by confusing their language. It's a fascinating story that applies to our generation.
Generations and Language
MAIN IDEA: God prevents humanity from organizing a widespread rebellion against him by confusing their language and scattering the people.
Japheth's Descendants (10:1-5)
SUPPORTING IDEA: The descendants of Japheth, Noah's oldest son, are listed without comment since they are the ones with the least involvement with the rest of the Old Testament narrative.
10:1. Japheth was the oldest son of Noah (Gen. 10:21), Shem was the middle child, and Ham was the youngest (Gen. 9:24). And yet, the toledoth (or account of) is put in the introductory order of Shem, Ham and Japheth. But the author of Genesis will deal with their descendants in reverse order from this initial introduction: first Japheth, then Ham, and finally Shem, although Shem will be dealt with both before and after the Tower of Babel event. The latter order seems to be connected with the importance for the remainder of the Pentateuch. Japheth's descendants will be involved the least. Ham because of the curse on his son Canaan will be of greater significance. Finally, Shem through whom Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will descend is of the most importance and is the line that will be extensively developed.
10:2-4. Fourteen nations are listed as coming from Japheth (his name means “enlargement”), seven from his sons, and another seven from his grandsons. Gomer (the later Cimmerians) and his three sons lived near the Black Sea. Magog was possibly the father of a Scythian people who lived in the Caucasus and adjacent regions southeast of the Black Sea. Madai was the father of the Medes, while Javan inhabited southern Greece and perhaps western Asia Minor. Tubal and Meshech along with Magog are mentioned in later Assyrian inscriptions. Their exact area of habitation is not certain, but Tubal was probably in Pontus and Meshech in the Moschian Mountains. Finally, Tiras was possibly the Thrace of a later era. Ezekiel 38:1-6 uses the names of Magog, Meshech, Tubal, and Gomer to indicate geographical area (cp. Ezek. 27:13; 32:26).
10:5. The descendants of Japheth spread across Eurasia from the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to Spain. This area spreads north and west of the land later promised to Abraham and his descendants. The mention of each with its own language assumes chapter 11 and the Tower of Babel.
SUPPORTING IDEA: The descendants of Ham are listed in greater detail (thirty different nations), since many of them will be in conflict with God's chosen people throughout the Old Testament era.
10:6. After listing Ham's four sons (Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan), each, except Put, receives a more detailed explanation in the following verses, listing various sons and certain characteristics of significant descendants. The general territory that Ham's descendants occupied was southwestern Asia and northeast Africa. This is determined by the following: the later identification of Cush with the upper Nile region, the meaning of Mizraim which is “two Egypts” (i.e., Upper and Lower Egypt), the identification of Put with the land which the ancient Egyptians called Punt (modern Somalia), and the well-known land of Canaan later called Palestine after the Philistines.
10:7. The sons of Cush included Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. Although Cush, as mentioned above, is identified with the upper Nile River region, his seven sons and grandsons mentioned in verse 7 are identified as locating in Arabia.
10:8-12. A man named Cush is given extensive treatment in verses 8-12 because of where his son built his kingdom that eventually included Babylon … in Shinar. Whether this Cush was actually Noah's son or another later descendant of the same name is debated. His son's name was Nimrod. The Scripture describes him as a mighty warrior on the earth. Many secular historians identify him as Sargon I, an early ruler of Akkad, with Nimrod being his Hebrew name. He is further depicted as a mighty hunter before the LORD.
The relevance of this expression is not clear. Nimrod was in the line of Ham, not Shem through whom Abram would descend. Perhaps this statement about the Lord was included to signify that not all of Ham's descendants would be under the curse of Canaan (Gen. 9:25), or it could signify that this was done in God's presence, as Genesis 11:5 points out.
Nimrod was a mighty ruler. This is indicated by the fact that the first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar (that is, the land later known as Babylonia). Erech is the Hebrew name for the ancient city of Uruk (Modern Warka). But this was not all of his rulership. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. The last expression may refer to Calah but most likely to Nineveh as later depicted by Jonah (Jon. 1:2; 3:2; 4:11). Assyria was depicted by the prophet Micah in parallel to “the land of Nimrod” (Mic. 5:6). All of this depicts Nimrod as a mighty, motivated warrior who established his rulership over the region of Mesopotamia.
10:13-14. The descendants of Mizraim are identified with an important comment about the Casluhites. It was from the Casluhites that the Philistines came. This information will be important for future material in the Pentateuch.
10:15-19. The most important information in Ham's genealogy is revealed last. Canaan, of whom much has already been revealed in Genesis 9, is identified as the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. All of these various peoples were Canaanites. Most of them occupied small city-states in and around the land of Canaan (v. 19). The Jebusites founded Jebus, afterwards known as the city of Jerusalem (Josh. 15:63; Judg. 1:21). The nation of Israel would come into conflict with them as these Canaanite peoples resisted what was predicted by Noah about Canaan's descendants (Gen. 9:25-27).
10:20. This verse points out that all of these various peoples were descended from Ham but were divided by clans and languages, in their territories and nations. Again, like Genesis 10:5, this statement anticipates the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.
Shem's Descendants Through Joktan (10:21-32)
SUPPORTING IDEA: The descendants of Shem through Joktan are listed to introduce the ancestor of the Hebrews and to present the timing of the Tower of Babel event.
10:21. As Moses, the author of Genesis, introduces the Shem genealogy, he does something quite different than he did with Japheth and Ham. First, he identifies Shem by the fact that he was not the firstborn (whose older brother was Japheth). This divine choosing of the blessed one (Gen. 9:26-27) from other than the firstborn will be repeated a number of times in Genesis. Second, an individual, distant descendant Eber is identified as being important before that individual is even listed in the genealogy. Previously Nimrod was noted to be significant, but he was not included in the title verse of Ham's genealogy.
Here it is recorded that Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber. Eber is the origin of the Hebrew word for “Hebrew.” It is interesting that the Ebla tablets, Sumerian texts from the mid-third millennium B.C., refer to a king named Ebrium, who ruled Ebla (northern Syria) for twenty-eight years. Some scholars have speculated that Ebrium and Eber was in fact the same person. Abraham is the first person in the Scriptures referred to as a “Hebrew” (Gen. 14:13).
10:22-24. The descendants of Shem would occupy the area north of the Persian Gulf. The five sons of Shem are listed as Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. The Elamites (from Elam) settled east of Mesopotamia. Asshur is related to the name Assyria and is probably the ancient name for the region of Assyria (cp. Gen. 2:14). Arphaxad is often thought to be a compound form of the Hebrew word for Chaldea, a region in southern Mesopotamia. Arphaxad is developed in this genealogy as well as the following one in Genesis 11:10-13. Lud is probably the Lydians of Asia Minor, while Aram is identified with the area northeast of the Promised Land, known today as Syria. The sons of Aram are listed in verse 23 (notice Uz which will be referred to again in Job 1:1), while the son and grandson of Arphaxad are identified in verse 24. The descendants of Elam, Asshur, and Lud are not enumerated.
10:25-30. The division of the earth in the days of Peleg has been interpreted in at least a couple of different ways. Some interpreters want to take the word earth as referring to the physical planet. They see this division as pertaining to the dividing of the dry land into continents. In the commentary on Genesis 8-9, it was suggested that such a remaking of the earth probably occurred during the 150 days when the water was receding and the earth's crust was responding to the tremendous pressure of the water. The time of Peleg seems late to have such a significant division and movement of continents take place.
Most interpreters regard the division spoken of in verse 25 as the result of the scattering of nations because of the confusion of language as detailed in Genesis 11:9. The author follows the brother Joktan and will come back to follow the descendants of Peleg after the Tower of Babel incident.
10:31-32. The descendants of Shem were later called the “Semites,” as the term “Shemites” was modified through use. The genealogy appears to be complete as Moses states, these are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood. The significance of the phrase “in his time the earth was divided” (v. 25) will become more prominent in light of the statement of the next verse.
The Tower of Babel (11:1-9)
SUPPORTING IDEA: At Babel, for the first time, humanity introduces corporate idolatry in an attempt to build their own kingdom rather than God's kingdom.
11:1-9. The incident of 11:1-9 occurs chronologically earlier than some of the material in chapter 10. This section on the Tower of Babel provides the reason for the scattering of the people and the necessity for the confusion of human language.
The structure of Genesis 11:1-9 is often referred to as an hourglass or chiaism. The narrative portions are found in verses 1-2 and 8-9, while the discourse material is in verses 3-4 and 6-7. Verse 5 acts as the transition between the first and second parts.
11:1-2. The survivors of the flood (the whole world) had one language and a common speech. This would change as a result of their rebellion and God's judgment. They moved eastward and found a plain in Shinar and settled there. Since there were mountains and then the Caspian Sea to the east of Ararat, humanity's movements must first have been south and then eastward as they settled in the Mesopotamia region. It is clear that humanity settled in a plain called Shinar. The city will be called Babel which sounds very similar to the Hebrew word Babylon. Nimrod (Gen. 10:10) had one of the centers of his kingdom at Babylon. All these facts indicate that the area was somewhere in Mesopotamia, probably very close to the later city of Babylon.
11:3-4. A portion of humanity decided to build a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens. Just how much of the population of the world was involved in this enterprise is not known. But the results would affect the entire world.
The purpose of this building was so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. Genesis 11 does not teach, as many interpreters have suggested, that the builders were trying to build a tower that would reach to outer space or to God's dwelling place of heaven. Nor is the novel idea that the builder's hope was that the top of the tower would provide a place of refuge in the event of another flood. These explanation have no textual basis. Even if this had been their hope, the number who could have enjoyed a place of refuge would have been few. Besides, another ark would have been a more suitable haven.
Tthe Scriptures teach that there were two purposes for their building. First, they were seeking immortality based on achievement. The name they desired probably refers to the reputation or fame they were seeking. Their action was a manifestation of their independence from God. The term name has been used this way in Genesis 6:4. Later God would promise Abram that “I will make your name great” (Gen. 12:2). By embarking on a massive building project, rebellious mankind hoped to create such a reputation that future generations would remain in the region and continue to honor the original builders. Humans want to make a difference in the world in some way so they will be remembered.
Second, they wanted to assure themselves of a strength that would come with unity. As a unified group they could be powerful—even without God's help. The tower was to prevent the goal that they should be scattered over the face of the whole earth. God wanted humanity to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). The Lord repeated this to Noah and his family in Genesis 9:1. Theologically, he had caused Cain to be separated from godly mankind. Cain protested, “Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth” (Gen. 4:14). Now mankind was rebelling against God, but they were anxious to stay together.
They used bricks instead of stone and tar for mortar, because stone was scarce in Mesopotamia. Tar could have been available from the oil resources that have been discovered in this region. Using what was available, they sought to create a monument that would be majestic enough to keep mankind in the surrounding area.
11:5-9. The Lord is described as coming down to see. This is a figure of speech, known as “anthropomorphic,” when God is decribed as having a human form or attributes that belong to humans. The presence of the Lord is said to be on earth in order to obtain information. Certain theologians insinuate that this was required because God is not an all-knowing God but must seek out information. But the God of creation is an eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing God. This figure of speech is better taken as informing the readers that the transcendent God is also the imminent God who responds to man's actions.
God's evaluation was that 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. The Lord recognized the powerful nature of peer pressure and the great appeal immortality has on mankind. Humans would be able to create a society in which they would control the community at large.
God's solution was to agree to go down and confuse … the language of the whole world. Although all of Noah's descendants were probably not gathered in this one area, the effect of God's judgment seems universal. Perhaps each division or clan descended from Noah's family began to speak a specific language among themselves. The effect, in order to accomplish the cessation of building, seems to be immediate rather than a gradual development of separate languages over hundreds or thousands of years. Someone has stated that the Tower of Babel became a din of iniquity.
It is obvious that the present world speaks different languages. Many rooms in the United Nations buildings in New York require earphones and translation booths so modern, civilized mankind can have a measure of communication. SIL International (a service organization that works with people who speak the world's lesser-known languages) reports that their Ethnologue system of language identification has assigned a three-letter code to each of the more than seven thousand known living and recently extinct languages of the world. Their web site (www.ethnologue.com/codes/) has a listing of the 6,800 main languages.
This gives powerful testimony to the incident at Babel. The fact that some modern languages are developments from other main languages is obvious. However, the number of original languages must have been significant to develop the array of languages that have evolved in the modern world.
Shem's Descendants Through Peleg (11:10-26)
SUPPORTING IDEA: The descendants of Shem, this time through Peleg, are listed to introduce Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation.
11:10-17. This genealogy follows the same line up to Peleg as the earlier one in Genesis 10:21-25, except that in addition to names it also gives ages similar to the genealogy of Genesis 5:3-32. Unlike Genesis 5, this genealogy omits the age at a man's death and the phrase “and then he died” and therefore emphasizes life and expansion rather than death. The age of man became progressively shorter in the post-flood era up to the time of Abraham.
11:18-26. These verses list ten generations from Noah, through Shem, through Peleg to Lot, Abraham's nephew. The total time, if no gaps are permitted, is about 352 years from the flood to Abraham. Abraham's birth year is usually considered to be 2166 B.C., based on the coordination of biblical and extra-biblical events that can be backdated from a known time.
The phrase Terah … became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran may not give the three sons in chronological order by age (cp. Noah's sons in Gen 9:24; 10:1,21). Haran died while their father Terah was still alive (Gen. 11:28). Again, the first-listed son, not necessarily the firstborn son, would become the most significant in the following narratives.
Terah and His Son Abram (11:27-32)
SUPPORTING IDEA: This recounting of Abram's family will introduce us to many characters who will play important roles in the coming narrative.
11:27-32. The phrase this is the account of Terah is the sixth toledot of Genesis. It describes what became of Terah, especially through his son Abram. Each individual named becomes important in the succeeding stories, with the exception of Iscah, Abram's nephew through his brother Haran. Abram's name means “exalted father,” but it would later be changed to Abraham, which means “father of a great number” (Gen. 17:5).
Besides the mention of the names of individuals, certain relationships are recorded that are necessary for understanding succeeding stories. Lot was Abram's nephew by means of Abram's now-dead brother Haran. Haran's daughter Milcah became the wife of her uncle, Abram's brother, Nahor. Abram married Sarai, whose name means “my princess.” Later her name was changed to Sarah, which means “princess” (of the nation; Gen. 17:15-16).
In addition to names and relationships, certain historical facts are recorded that prove important later on. Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. Perhaps because of the death of Haran, his son Lot was sheltered first by his grandfather Terah (Gen. 11:31) and after his death by Abram (Gen. 12:5), while the daughter Milcah was married by her uncle Nahor(Gen. 11:29).
While it is impossible to be dogmatic about the location of Ur of the Chaldeans, it was likely a site on the Euphrates River in modern southern Iraq (some 220 miles southeast of Baghdad) rather than a location in northern Mesopotamia that is sometimes suggested. Ur was a place of idol worship in which Abram and his family participated (Josh. 24:2,14). Judging from archeological remains, this city's most prosperous and literate time was during Abraham's sojourn there. King Ur-Nammu, who may have lived at the same time as Abram, is famous for a law code.
It is also recorded that Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai … and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. The apparent contradiction between Terah's leadership and Abram's response to the Lord's call (Gen. 12:1) will be dealt with in the next chapter. In English the term Haran is not only the name of Terah's now-dead son but the name of a place. But in Hebrew the initial letter of the two names is different, the first being a common h while the place starts with a letter with a ch sound.
Haran, the place, was located in northwestern Mesopotamia between the main Euphrates River and a tributary to the east known as the Habor River. It was a well-known caravan city in the nineteenth century B.C., but by the next century the Amorites ruled it. Haran, like Ur, was a place of idolatry, especially worship of the pagan moon god.
Also to be noted is the fact that Sarai was barren; she had no children. Because procreation was expected and even demanded in this society, the sterility of Sarai will be the focus of a couple of later narratives, especially in light of the promises Abram will receive about his descendants.
Finally, Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran. The next recorded event will be God's call of Abram and the promises from God to Abram. This chapter begins with man's attempt to unify humankind and ends with God's provision to unify all humans in blessing with Abraham's descendants.
MAIN IDEA REVIEW: God prevents humanity from organizing a widespread rebellion against him by confusing their language and scattering the people.
Man's Choice Versus God's Choice
Making a choice at a restaurant or clothing store is a time-consuming process for some people. It's hard sometimes to choose between a steak and a salad or between a red dress and a blue dress. But some choices should never be hard to make. In the Tower of Babel incident, we have seen human beings contending with God when they decide to make a name for themselves and resist the plan of God to spread out and fill the earth. Mankind makes an evil choice.
But throughout these chapters we have also seen portrayed a choosing of a different kind. Some genealogies have led from Adam to various persons whom we might have chosen to be “our man.” Take Nimrod, for instance. He was a “mighty warrior on the earth.” Or Canaan, who had eleven different nations originate from him. But the last genealogy presents a listing of names that led from Shem, son of Noah, to Abram. This anticipates the next chapter where God chooses a man named Abram to bring blessings to the world. In the midst of seeming endless birthing and listing of names, God demonstrated his sovereignty. He was making wise choices that resulted in blessings for his people.
PRINCIPLES
APPLICATIONS
Growing Proud in Our Achievements
When Napoleon set out to conquer Russia at the head of the Grand Army of Europe, someone reminded him that “man proposes but God disposes.” The conqueror of Europe replied, “I am he that both proposes and disposes.” Napoleon would have fit right in as the leader of the people at Babel. But God has always resisted the proud and given grace to the humble.
C. S. Lewis wrote: “The essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unchastity, greed, and drunkenness are mere flea biters in comparison. It was through Pride that the Devil became the Devil. Pride leads to every other vice. It is the complete anti-God state of mind. … As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people. And, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”
As we find ourselves in the midst of “the Great American dream,” we must not develop the attitude of those whom God found so despicable at Babel. An ungodly, independent attitude, a rejection of God's mandates for humanity, a desire for earthly immortality—all these are signs that we are descendants of Babel. As we hear the languages of the world being spoken around us, we should be motivated to stay humble and true to the Lord.
Father, show us that our security is not in others or in our possessions or in our status. Remind us that the only true security is found in humble dependence and obedience to your word. Amen.
A. Towers in Mesopotamia (11:4)
Towers in ancient Mesopotamia were known as ziggurats. They were often temple-towers with a square base and sloping, stepped sides. The worship shrine was placed at the top. Archaeologists have discovered among the ruins of ancient Babylon a building 153 feet high with a 400-foot base. The construction material was dried brick, and there were seven stages to its structure. Some suggest that these seven stages correspond to the seven known planets at that time and that a lofty tower on top contained the signs of the Zodiac. This would suggest that such a tower was for astrology and perhaps the worship of the sky and stars.
A. INTRODUCTION
B. COMMENTARY
C. CONCLUSION: GROWING PROUD IN OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
Ham's Descendants (10:6-20)