GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 11:1 The story of the Tower of Babel is more important than its length suggests. It tells of a unified humanity using all its resources to establish a city that is the antithesis of what God intended when he created the world. The city builders see themselves as establishing... [ Continue Reading ]
GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 11:2 COME,... LET US MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES. Contrary to God’s plan that humanity should fill the earth (e.g., Genesis 1:22, Genesis 1:28; Genesis 9:1, Genesis 9:7), the builders of Babel want to prevent the population from being DISPERSED OVER... THE WHOLE EARTH (Genesis... [ Continue Reading ]
GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 11:9 This verse links the name of the city, BABEL, with the verb that means “to confuse, to mix, to mingle.” This is also the name used in the OT for the city of Babylon. Babylon symbolizes humanity’s ambition to dethrone God and make the earth its own (see Revelation 17:1).... [ Continue Reading ]
GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 11:10 Shem’s Descendants. Resembling the list of Adam’s descendants in Genesis 5:3, this genealogy traces Noah’s line through Shem down to Terah, the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran (see diagram). The length of time these men live is much shorter than for men living before... [ Continue Reading ]
GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 11:27 Patriarchal History. The story now moves from the general survey of humanity to the specific family from which Israel comes. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 11:28 UR OF THE CHALDEANS was a city in southern Babylonia, the remains of which are located in modern Iraq. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 11:29 The name SARAI is later changed to “Sarah” (see Genesis 17:15). The initial inability of the patriarchs’ wives to have children is a recurring theme in Genesis 1:1 (see Genesis 25:21; Genesis 29:31). ⇐ ⇔ [ Continue Reading ]
GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 11:31 HARAN was an important crossroads and commercial center in the ancient Near East. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]