Genesis 11:1,2

One Language"Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated" (Genesis 9:18-19). A brief description of the various nations which came out of each son is found in chapter 10.

Chapter 11 opens with a statement the modern reader may find startling. "Now the whole earth had one language and one speech." Anyone who has ever been in a foreign country has longed for a common language. Even the simplest request becomes difficult when we cannot understand one another. Immediately after the flood, men understood each other.

The word for "journeyed" literally means, "to pluck up (tent pegs)" according to John T. Willis. Apparently, the people were nomadic. Their journeys eventually brought them to the land of Shinar. Bible students will recognize its later, more familiar name, Babylon, or modern day Iraq (Genesis 10:10).