Genesis 11
11
The Tower of Babel
1Now everyone at that time spoke a single language # 11:1 Or “one lip.” with one vocabulary. 2As people migrated eastward, # 11:2 Or “from the east.” The Hebrew is ambiguous. they found a large plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3They said to one another, “Come, let’s unite together and make bricks of clay # 11:3 God’s building never includes bricks, only stones. Man makes bricks; God is the Maker of stones. The New Jerusalem will not be made from bricks but from precious stones (see Rev. 21:18–20). Pharaoh made his treasure cities out of bricks; God raises up his temple using living stones (see 1 Peter 2:5). and burn them until they become hard.” So, they piled up the bricks they made to serve as stones and collected tar for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let’s begin work to build ourselves a city with a lofty tower that rises into the heavens. We’ll make a name for ourselves, a monument to us, # 11:4 An ancient historian, Philo Judaeus, says that each worker engraved their names on the bricks to memorialize themselves. Today their names are forgotten, and the Name of God stands as a High Tower. Seeking to make a name for ourselves is self-worship. We are to lay aside our reputations to make the Name of Jesus famous (see Phil. 2:3–11). Jesus emptied himself of his outward glory. instead of being scattered all over the earth.”
5But when Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower which mortals had started building, 6he said, “If they have begun this as one people sharing a common language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let us # 11:7 In the plural pronoun many theologians see the three members of the Godhead. go down and confuse their language and prevent them from understanding each other.” # 11:7 Some linguists believe there are nearly seven thousand languages in the world. Although God confused the language of earth, he will one day purify (clarify) the language so that people will serve him in unity. See Zeph. 3:9. Acts 2 is the reversal of Babel, for God gave men unlearned languages as they spoke in tongues.
8So Yahweh scattered them over the entire earth, and they stopped building their city. # 11:8 The Bible ends with two figurative cities, Babylon and the New Jerusalem. Babylon-builders will always seek to make a name for themselves. Those who are a part of the New Jerusalem long to see only the name of Jesus exalted. The overcomer’s name will be engraved forever on a stone in the City of our God where he makes his dwelling with man (see Rev. 2:17). 9That is why the city was called Babel—because it was there that Yahweh confused # 11:9 Babel comes from the Hebrew word “to confuse.” However, in the Babylonian language, the city was called Bab-ilu, “the gate of God.” the language of the whole world and from there the people were scattered over the face of the earth.
Genealogy of Shem
10These are the descendants of Shem. # 11:10 See 1 Chron. 1:17–27; Luke 3:23–38.
Two years after the flood, at the age of one hundred, Shem had a son named Arphaxad. # 11:10 See Gen. 10:22. 11And after Arphaxad was born, Shem lived another five hundred years and had other sons and daughters.
12When Arphaxad was thirty-five, he had a son named Shelah. # 11:12 See Gen. 10:24. 13And after Shelah was born Arphaxad lived another four hundred and three years and had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah was thirty, he had a son named Eber. # 11:14 See Gen. 10:24. 15And after Eber was born, Shelah lived another four hundred and three years and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber was thirty-four, he had a son named Peleg. # 11:16 See Gen. 10:25. 17And after Peleg was born, Eber lived another four hundred and thirty years and had other sons and daughters.
18When Peleg was thirty, he had a son named Reu. 19And after Reu was born, Peleg lived another two hundred and nine years and had other sons and daughters.
20When Reu was thirty-two, # 11:20 Or “one hundred and thirty-two” (LXX, Sam. Pent.). It is Jewish tradition that Reu was born when the Tower of Babel had begun to be built. Reu means “friend” or “shepherd.” he had a son named Serug. 21And after Serug was born, Reu lived another two hundred and seven years and had other sons and daughters.
22When Serug was thirty, # 11:22 Or “one hundred and thirty” (LXX, Sam. Pent.). Serug means “interwoven” or “strength.” According to the Book of Jubilees, Serug was the first one of Shem’s descendants to turn from Yahweh to worship idols. It is said he taught sorcery to his son Nahor. he had a son named Nahor. 23And after Nahor was born, Serug lived another two hundred years and had other sons and daughters.
24When Nahor was twenty-nine, he had a son named Terah. # 11:24 Terah means “wild goat” or “wanderer.” 25And after Terah was born, Nahor # 11:25 Jewish tradition states that Nahor lived in Ur, on the Euphrates in lower Mesopotamia, the place where God appeared to Abram. Nahor means “angry,” “passionate.” lived another one hundred and nineteen years and had other sons and daughters.
26When Terah was seventy, he had sons named Abram, # 11:26 This was the Patriarch who would later have his name changed to Abraham. Abram means “exalted father.” Abraham means “father of a multitude.” There were ten generations from Adam to Noah and ten generations from Shem to Abram. Nahor, and Haran. # 11:26 Haran means “living in the high place” or “mountaineer.”
The Story of Terah
27Here are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran was the father of Lot. 28Haran preceded his father, Terah, in death in the land of his birth, in the Chaldean city of Ur. # 11:28 The word Chaldea means “demonic;” Ur means “flame.” Ur was an ancient city-state in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), which was approximately fifty miles south of Babylon. The ruins of Ur can still be seen at modern Tell el-Muqayyar. In 2000 BC, Ur was perhaps one of the largest cities of the world. It is clear that Abram and his father served foreign gods. Ur was named after the moon goddess and was her center of worship. The Chaldeans were astrologers, occultists, and idol worshipers. Ancient traditions state that Terah was an idol-maker until his death. The Jewish writers have a tradition that Abram and his father were cast into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship idols and were miraculously delivered. See Josh. 24:2. 29The brothers, Abram and Nahor, were both married. Abram’s wife was Sarai. # 11:29 Sarai means “ruler” or “my princess.” God would later change her name to “Sarah.” Nahor married the daughter of his deceased brother Haran; her name was Milcah, # 11:29 Nahor married his orphaned niece. Milcah means “queen.” and her sister was Iscah. # 11:29 Iscah means “discerner” or “one who scans abroad.” Iscah is Jessica in English. 30Now Sarai was barren and childless.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, # 11:31 Lot means “to wrap a covering” or “to envelop.” the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they all departed together from the Chaldean city of Ur to go into the land of Canaan. # 11:31 The land of Canaan takes its name from the son of Ham, Canaan. The land of Canaan is mentioned sixty-six times in the Old Testament but not found in the New Testament. But when they journeyed as far as Haran, # 11:31 Most scholars identify Haran with a city in Turkey, now in ruins, called Harran, which is approximately six hundred miles from Ur. It is the city that Jacob fled to (see Gen. 27:43; 28:10) and, later, that the Assyrians destroyed in the days of Hezekiah (see 2 Kings 19:12; Isa. 37:12). they settled there. 32Terah lived two hundred and five years and died in Haran.
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Genesis 11: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationBerĕshith (Genesis) 11
11
1And all the earth had one language#Hebrew lip. and one speech.
2And it came to be, as they set out from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shin‛ar,#Earlier name for Baḇel. and they dwelt there.
3And they said to each other, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens, and make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over all the face of the earth.”
5Then יהוה came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6And יהוה said, “Look, they are one people and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do! And now, they are not going to be withheld from doing whatever they plan to do.
7“Come, let Us go there and confuse their language, so that they do not understand one another’s speech.”
8And יהוה scattered them from there, over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
9That is why its name was called Baḇel,#Baḇel is derived from a verb which means “to confuse.” because there יהוה confused the language of all the earth, and from there יהוה scattered them over the face of all the earth.
10This is the genealogy of Shĕm: Shĕm was a hundred years old and brought forth Arpaḵshaḏ, two years after the flood.
11And after he brought forth Arpaḵshaḏ, Shĕm lived five hundred years, and brought forth sons and daughters.
12And Arpaḵshaḏ lived thirty-five years, and brought forth Shelaḥ.
13And after he brought forth Shelaḥ, Arpaḵshaḏ lived four hundred and three years, and brought forth sons and daughters.
14And Shelaḥ lived thirty years, and brought forth Ěḇer.
15And after he brought forth Ěḇer, Shelaḥ lived four hundred and three years, and brought forth sons and daughters.
16And Ěḇer lived thirty-four years, and brought forth Peleḡ.
17And after he brought forth Peleḡ, Ěḇer lived four hundred and thirty years, and brought forth sons and daughters.
18And Peleḡ lived thirty years, and brought forth Re‛u.
19And after he brought forth Re‛u, Peleḡ lived two hundred and nine years, and brought forth sons and daughters.
20And Re‛u lived thirty-two years, and brought forth Seruḡ.
21And after he brought forth Seruḡ, Re‛u lived two hundred and seven years, and brought forth sons and daughters.
22And Seruḡ lived thirty years, and brought forth Naḥor.
23And after he brought forth Naḥor, Seruḡ lived two hundred years, and brought forth sons and daughters.
24And Naḥor lived twenty-nine years, and brought forth Teraḥ.
25And after he brought forth Teraḥ, Naḥor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and brought forth sons and daughters.
26And Teraḥ lived seventy years, and brought forth Aḇram, Naḥor, and Haran.
27And this is the genealogy of Teraḥ: Teraḥ brought forth Aḇram, Naḥor, and Haran. And Haran brought forth Lot.
28And Haran died before his father Teraḥ in the land of his birth, in Ur-kasdim.
29And Aḇram and Naḥor took wives: the name of Aḇram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Naḥor’s wife, Milkah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milkah and the father of Yiskah.
30And Sarai was barren, she had no child.
31And Teraḥ took his son Aḇram and his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Aḇram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur-kasdim to go to the land of Kena‛an. And they came to Ḥaran and dwelt there.
32And the days of Teraḥ came to be two hundred and five years, and Teraḥ died in Ḥaran.
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