Genesis 11:1-9

Genesis 11:1-9

[1] And the whole earth  was of one  language,  and of one  speech.  [2] And it came to pass, as they journeyed  from the east,  that they found  a plain  in the land  of Shinar;  and they dwelt  [3] And they said  one  to another,  Go to,  let us make  brick,  and burn  them throughly.  And they had brick  for stone,  and slime  had  they for morter.  [4] And they said,  Go to,  let us build  us a city  and a tower,  whose top  may reach unto heaven;  and let us make  us a name,  lest we be scattered abroad  upon the face  of the whole earth.  [5] And the LORD  came down  to see  the city  and the tower,  which the children  of men  builded.  [6] And the LORD  said,  Behold, the people  is one,  language;  and this they begin  to do:  and now nothing  will be restrained  from them, which they have imagined  to do.  [7] Go to,  let us go down,  and there confound  their language,  that  they may not understand  another's  speech.  [8] So the LORD  scattered them abroad  from thence  upon the face  of all the earth:  and they left off  to build  the city.  [9] Therefore is the name of it  called  Babel;  because the LORD  did there confound  the language  of all the earth:  the LORD  scatter them abroad  upon the face  of all the earth. 

What does Genesis 11:1-9 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

This pericope is a flashback that explains the division of the earth in Peleg"s time ( Genesis 10:25). The main emphasis in this section is not the building of the tower of Babel but the dispersion of the peoples. We can see this in the literary structure of the passage. [1]
AAll the earth had one language ( Genesis 11:1)Bthere ( Genesis 11:2)Cone to another ( Genesis 11:3)DCome, let"s make bricks ( Genesis 11:3)ELet"s make for ourselves ( Genesis 11:4)Fa city and a towerGAnd the Lord came down to see ( Genesis 11:5; cf. Genesis 8:1)F"the city and the tower ( Genesis 11:5)E"that the humans built ( Genesis 11:5)D"Come, let"s confuse ( Genesis 11:7)C"everyone the language of his neighbor ( Genesis 11:7)B"from there ( Genesis 11:8)A"(confused) the language of the whole earth ( Genesis 11:9)
When people attempted to preserve their unity and make a name for themselves by building a tower, Yahweh frustrated the plan and scattered everyone by confusing the language that bound them together.
"The tower of Babel story is the last great judgment that befell mankind in primeval times. Its place and function in Genesis 1-11may be compared to the fall in Genesis 3and the sons of God episode in Genesis 6:1-4, both of which triggered divine judgments of great and enduring consequence." [2]
This story explains to God"s people how God scattered the nations and why. In judgment for trying to establish a world state in opposition to divine rule (human government run amuck), God struck the thing that bound people together, namely, a common language. Chronologically the Babel incident preceded the dispersal that Moses described with genealogies in chapter10. One writer argued for the identification of the tower of Babel incident with the demise and dispersion of the last great Sumerian dynasty centered at Ur. [3]
"By placing the Tower of Babel incident just prior to the patriarchal stories, the biblical writer is suggesting, in the first place, that post-Flood humanity is as iniquitous as pre-Flood humanity. Rather than sending something as devastating as a flood to annihilate mankind, however, God now places his hope in a covenant with Abraham as a powerful solution to humanity"s sinfulness. Thus problem (ch11) and solution (ch12) are brought into immediate juxtaposition, and the forcefulness of this structural move would have been lost had ch10 intervened between the two." [4]," in The Bible World: Essays in Honor of Cyrus H. Gordon, pp218-19.]
"As it is presently situated in the text, the account of the founding of Babylon falls at the end of the list of fourteen names from the line of Joktan ( Genesis 10:26-29). At the end of the list of the ten names of Peleg"s line, however, is the account of the call of Abraham ( Genesis 11:27 to Genesis 12:10). So two great lines of the descendants of Shem divide in the two sons of Eber ( Genesis 10:25). One ends in Babylon, the other in the Promised Land." [5]