Genesis 11:2

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 tradition which had no knowledge of the story of the Flood, or of the dispersion of the peoples through the sons of Noah.

journeyed A word denoting the progress of nomads from one place of encampment to another.

east Better, as marg., in the east. The Hebrew word means literally "from the east," as also LXX ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, and Lat. de oriente, and here probably signifies "in the east," i.e. on the east side from the writer's point of view. Some translate "eastward," as in Genesis 13:11, where Lot, on leaving Abram, is described as journeying "eastward." But, as we do not know who are referred to, or where they started from, the uncertainty as to the rendering remains.

a plain in the land of Shinar For Shinar, probably denoting the ancient Babylonia, "Sumer and Akkad," see Genesis 10:10. The word "plain" (biḳ-ah) means the wide open expanse of a river valley. Here it is used of the Euphrates Valley. The expression, "found a plain in the land of Shinar," does not suggest close knowledge of Babylonia; but rather the general terms of popular and defective information respecting a distant country. Babylonia is one vast plain.