Bereshis 11
11
1And the kol HaAretz was of one language and of devarim achadim (common words).
2And it came to pass, as they migrated from the east, that they found a plain in Eretz Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and bake them thoroughly. And they had brick for even (stone), and bitumen had they for mortar.
4And they said, Come, let us build us an Ir and a Migdal, whose rosh (top) may reach unto Shomayim; and let us make us a shem, otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of kol HaAretz.
5And Hashem came down to see the Ir and the Migdal, which Bnei HaAdam built.
6And Hashem said, See, the Am is echad and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be impossible for them, which they have proposed to do.
7Come, let Us go down, and there confuse their sefat, that they may not understand one anotherʼs language.
8So Hashem scattered them abroad from there upon the face of kol Ha'Aretz; and they left off building the Ir.
9Therefore is the shem of it called Bavel; because Hashem did there confuse the language of kol Ha'Aretz; and from there did Hashem scatter them abroad upon the face of kol Ha'Aretz.
10These are the toldot of Shem: Shem was a hundred years old, and fathered Arpachshad two years after the mabbul;
11And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad five hundred shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
12And Arpachshad lived five and thirty shanah, and fathered Shelach;
13And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelach four hundred and three shanim, and fathered banim and banot.
14And Shelach lived thirty shanah, and fathered Ever;
15And Shelach lived after he fathered Ever four hundred and three shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
16And Ever lived four and thirty shanah, and fathered Peleg;
17And Ever lived after he fathered Peleg four hundred and thirty shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
18And Peleg lived thirty shanah, and fathered Reu;
19And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu two hundred and nine shanim, and fathered banim and banot.
20And Reu lived two and thirty shanah, and fathered Serug;
21And Reu lived after he fathered Serug two hundred and seven shanim, and fathered banim and banot.
22And Serug lived thirty shanah, and fathered Nachor;
23And Serug lived after he fathered Nachor two hundred shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
24And Nachor lived nine and twenty shanah, and fathered Terach;
25And Nachor lived after he fathered Terach a hundred and nineteen shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
26And Terach lived seventy shanah, and fathered Avram, Nachor, and Haran.
27Now these are the toldot Terach: Terach fathered Avram, Nachor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
28And Haran died before his av Terach in the land of his birth, in Ur Kasdim.
29And Avram and Nachor took them nashim: the shem eshet Avram was Sarai; and the shem eshet Nachor was Milcah, the bat Haran Avi Milcah, and Avi Yiskah.
30But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31And Terach took Avram bno, and ben bno Lot ben Haran, and Sarai his kallah, eshet Avram bno; and they went forth with them from Ur Kasdim, to go into Eretz Kena'an; and they came unto Charan (Haran), and dwelt there.
32And the days of Terach were two hundred and five shanim; and Terach died in Charan (Haran).
THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 11
11
The Tower of Babylon
1The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. 2As people migrated from the east,#11:2 Or migrated eastward they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.#Gn 10:10; 14:1; Dn 1:2 3They said to each other, “Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.” (They used brick for stone and asphalt#Gn 14:10; Ex 2:3 for mortar.) 4And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky.#Dt 1:28; 9:1; Ps 107:26 Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”
5Then the Lord came down#Gn 18:21; Ex 3:8; 19:11,18,20 to look over the city and the tower that the humans#11:5 Or the descendants of Adam were building. 6The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8So from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth,#Gn 11:4; Ps 92:9; Lk 1:51 and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore it is called Babylon,#11:9 Hb Babel#11:9 In Hb, the name for “Babylon,” babel sounds like the word for “confuse,” balal.#Gn 10:10 for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.
From Shem to Abram
10These are the family records#Gn 2:4; 11:27 of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 12Arpachshad lived 35 years#11:12–13 LXX reads years and fathered Cainan. 13 After he fathered Cainan, Arpachshad lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters, and he died. Cainan lived 130 years and fathered Shelah. After he fathered Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and fathered other sons and daughters, and he died; Gn 10:24; Lk 3:35–36 and fathered Shelah. 13After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 14Shelah lived 30 years and fathered Eber. 15After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 16Eber lived 34 years and fathered Peleg. 17After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 18Peleg lived 30 years and fathered Reu. 19After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 20Reu lived 32 years and fathered Serug. 21After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 22Serug lived 30 years and fathered Nahor. 23After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 24Nahor lived 29 years and fathered Terah.#Jos 24:2 25After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 26Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27These are the family records of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, during his father Terah’s lifetime. 29Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife was named Sarai,#Gn 17:15; 20:12 and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah.#Gn 22:20,23; 24:15 She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30Sarai was unable to conceive;#Gn 25:21; 29:31; Ex 23:26; Jdg 13:2–3; 1Sm 2:5; Jb 24:21; Is 54:1; Lk 1:36; 23:29; Gl 4:27; Heb 11:11 she did not have a child.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans#Gn 15:7; Neh 9:7; Ac 7:4 to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers