Genesis 11:1-9. The Story of the Tower of Babel. (J.) The story of the Tower of Babel, contained in this short passage, preserves the recollection of a strange Israelite piece of folk-lore. No trace of this narrative has with any certainty, up to the present time, been discovered in the cuneiform i... [ Continue Reading ]
_the whole earth_ i.e. the inhabitants of the whole earth, as in Genesis 10:25. _one language … one speech_ An expressive phrase, denoting that the generations of primitive man, being of one stock, continued to speak one common language. The Jewish tradition, which was followed by Christian traditi... [ Continue Reading ]
_as they journeyed_ We are not told who are here spoken of, nor whence they come. This is an indication that this passage (1 9) is derived from an independent tradition distinct from the thread of the foregoing narrative. Like Genesis 4:17-24, and Genesis 6:1-4, it is probably a fragment of traditio... [ Continue Reading ]
_brick for stone_, &c. For a description of building with bricks held together with bitumen in Babylonia, see Herodotus, i. 179. The writer here is evidently more familiar with building in stone and mortar than in brick and bitumen: another indication that the story is Israelite in origin. _slime_... [ Continue Reading ]
_a city, and a tower_ The story seems to suggest that in the abandonment of tent for city life these primitive people were disobeying the Divine command. _whose top_may reach _unto heaven_ Lit. "its top in heaven." Probably the words are intended quite literally to suggest the endeavour to "reach... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the lord came down to see_ Not a figurative, poetical expression, as in Isaiah 64:1, but a strong and naïve anthropomorphism. The early religious traditions of Israel represent the Almighty in terms which to our minds appear almost profane, but which in the infancy of religious thought presente... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Lord said_ The account, in this and the following verse, is evidently condensed. In Genesis 11:5 Jehovah is represented as coming down on earth, in order to see more closely, and on the spot to form a better judgement. This He has done; He has returned to heaven, and now, in Genesis 11:6, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go to, let us go down_ For 1st pers. plur. see notes on Genesis 1:26; Genesis 3:5; Genesis 3:22. Jehovah is represented probably as enthroned above the heaven, and either as addressing the powers of heaven, "the sons of Elohim," who attend Him and minister to Him (cf. Job 1:6), or as announcing His... [ Continue Reading ]
_scattered them abroad_ The general result is stated; the means by which the sentence was carried out are not related. Josephus records a tradition that the Tower was overthrown by a mighty wind.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore was the name of it called Babel_ Babel is the regular Hebrew form of the name Babylon, see Genesis 10:10. The etymology here given is popular; cf. Genesis 16:14; Genesis 19:22 (J). Like most popular etymologies, it rests on a resemblance of sound, and has no claim to scientific accuracy.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Genealogy of the Patriarchs from Shem to Abram. (P.) This genealogical table is taken from P. It resembles the table in chap. 5 (1) in the manner of the enumeration of years, (_a_) at the birth of the firstborn, (_b_) at the patriarch's death: (2) in the general length of the list, nine (or, in... [ Continue Reading ]
_five hundred years_ According to this chronology Shem would have outlived Abram.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shelah_ LXX inserts "Cainan" before "Shelah"; and states that "Cainan lived 130 years, and begat Shelah, and lived after he begat Shelah 330 years." The additional name of Cainan equalizes the list of names with that in chap. 5. But it is also omitted in the parallel list of 1 Chronicles 1:24. And... [ Continue Reading ]
_Eber_ See note on Genesis 10:24. Here, as in that passage, the context suggests that a name meaning "the other side" or "across," is most naturally applicable to a country on the east side of the river Euphrates.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Peleg_ See note on Genesis 10:25. The geographer Kiepert compares a place Φαλιγά at the junction of the tributary Ḥabor with the river Euphrates.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Reu_ Whether this is the name of a place or a tribe seems quite uncertain. Observe the sudden decline in the length of Peleg's life, and in that of his descendants, as compared with his predecessors. In the approach to historic times the figures become more normal.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Serug_ The name of a town and region near Haran in Mesopotamia in the land of the upper Euphrates.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nahor_ The name here of Abram's grandfather, as also, in Genesis 11:26, of Abram's brother (cf. Genesis 22:20; Joshua 24:2). Very similar personal names are found in early Assyrian business documents.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Terah_ The father of Abram. The name has not yet been clearly identified with any locality, or tribe.... [ Continue Reading ]
_seventy years_ The birth of Terah's firstborn is postponed for a period twice as long as in the case of the other patriarchs since Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he begat Arpachshad (Genesis 11:10). This greater duration of time is connected with the features of faith and discipline attaching to... [ Continue Reading ]
The Sons of Terah. (J and P.) 27. _Now these are_, &c. The story of Abram commences here with the heading of a section from P. Cf. Genesis 25:19, "And these are the generations of Isaac." _Haran begat Lot_ Lot the nephew of Abram, and the traditional ancestor of the peoples east of the Dead Sea. I... [ Continue Reading ]
This and the following verse are taken from J, and commence the personal history of the patriarch. _Haran died_ This may indicate a tradition that the hill people, or families who joined the main body of the Terahites, lost their separate existence and became completely merged in the house of Terah... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sarai_ Abram's wife was, according to Genesis 20:12, his half-sister, i.e. a daughter of Terah by another wife. Milcah, Nahor's wife, is Nahor's niece. Whether in these marriages we have to deal with the actual details of relationship permitted in nomadic life, or whether we have presented to us, u... [ Continue Reading ]
The Migration of Terah to Haran, and his Death. (P.) 31. _they went forth with them_ The words, as they stand, are meaningless. The Syriac reads "and he went forth with them." Better as LXX, Sam. and Lat. "and he brought them forth," which only requires the omission of one letter. Another conjectur... [ Continue Reading ]
_two hundred and five years_ For this figure the Samaritan version gives 145, obviously in order to make the year of Abram's departure from Haran (when Abram was 75 years old; see Genesis 12:4) coincide with the year of Terah's death, since Abram was born (Genesis 11:26) in Terah's 70th year. It is... [ Continue Reading ]