Genesis 11:1-9

The City, the Tower, and the Confusion of Speech. The section plainly belongs to J but not to the same stratum as the story of the Flood, nor is it consistent with the origin assigned to the various nations in Genesis 11:10. It is an æ tiological story (p. 134), naturally not historical, answering the question, Why is it that though the races of mankind have sprung from a common ancestry they speak so many different languages? The Divine jealousy, which fears what a united humanity may achieve, whose first enterprise is planned on a scale so colossal, is like that shown in the prohibition of the tree of knowledge, the guarding of the tree of life, and the displeasure excited in Yahweh's mind by the angel marriages. The narrative presumably originated in Babylon, though no cuneiform parallel has been discovered, and it may have expressed the attitude of the nomads towards the buildings of Babylon rather than that of the Babylonians themselves. It has been adapted by the Heb. narrator; the explanation that brick and bitumen (mg.) were used in the building would be unnecessary in Babylonia, and the name Babel is derived from the Heb. verb. bâ lal, to confound. The story hangs fairly well together. Observe, however, that whereas in Genesis 11:5 Yahweh comes down to earth, in Genesis 11:7 He is still in heaven. Gunkel has suggested that two stories have been combined, one relating the building of a city, the other that of a tower. He has succeeded by skilful analysis in constructing two stories, the former of which narrates the project to build a city and make a name, which was defeated by the confusion of their speech, hence the name Babel; while the latter narrates that to avoid dispersion they began to build a lofty tower, but were scattered over the earth, hence he infers that the name of the tower was Phî ts (i.e. Dispersion). This may quite well be correct, and the difficulty of harmonising Genesis 11:5 with Genesis 11:7 disappears. Otherwise, Genesis 11:5 perhaps originally recorded the descent of a heavenly messenger on whose report Yahweh comments in Genesis 11:6 f.

The district from which the start was made is uncertain, but perhaps E. of Babylonia is intended, in which case they wandered westwards and reached Shinar, i.e. Babylonia. There they made bricks and set to work on the city and tower. The latter is what the Babylonians called a zikkurat, i.e. an immense tower shaped like a pyramid, rising in terraces, and crowned with a temple, which was regarded as an entrance to heaven (cf. Genesis 11:4). Possibly some unfinished or dilapidated structure may have given rise to the story. The intention of the buildings was to provide a rallying point and prevent their separation.

Genesis 11:3. Go to: an archaism; we should say Come. Yahweh echoes it ironically in Genesis 11:7.

Genesis 11:7. let us: Yahweh addresses the Divine beings (cf. Genesis 1:26 *).

Genesis 11:9. Babel really means Gate of God; the etymology here is popular.