Genesis 11:1

_AND THE WHOLE EARTH WAS OF ONE LANGUAGE, AND OF ONE SPEECH._ The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech - literally, of one lip, and of the same words. Vitringa ('De Confus. Linguarum') considers this statement to be a preface or introduction to the following narrative, designed to intimate that the builders of Babel were, at the commencement of their enterprise, a united body, perfectly at one in their sentiments and aims. But this is a mistaken view of the verse, which, interpreted according to the natural meaning of the words, describes not a harmony of councils among a party, but an exact and entire community of speech among all the existing branches of mankind. It is a brief recapitulation-of which several instances have already occurred-a resumption, after the parenthetical chapter that preceded, of the thread of the narrative where it was broken at the end of...

1._And the whole earth was of one language_. Whereas mention had before been made of Babylon in a single word, Moses now more largely explains whence it derived its name. For this is a truly memorable history, in which we may perceive the greatness of men’s obstinacy against God, and the little profit they receive from his judgments. And although at first sight the atrocity of the evil does not appear; yet the punishment which follows it, testifies how highly God was displeased with that which these men attempted. They who conjecture that the tower was built with the intent that is should prove a refuge and protections if, at any time, God should determine to overwhelm the earth with a deluge, have no other guide, that I can see, but the dream of their own brain. For the words of Moses signify no such thing: nothing, indeed, is here noticed, except their mad ambitions and proud contempt...

1-4 How soon men forget the most tremendous judgments, and go back to their former crimes! Though the desolations of the deluge were before their eyes, though they sprang from the stock of righteous Noah, yet even during his life-time, wickedness increases exceedingly. Nothing but the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit can remove the sinful lusts of the human will, and the depravity of the human heart. God's purpose was, that mankind should form many nations, and people all lands. In contempt of the Divine will, and against the counsel of Noah, the bulk of mankind united to build a city and a tower to prevent their separating. Idolatry was begun, and Babel became one of its chief seats. They made one another more daring and resolute. Let us learn to provoke one another to love and to good works, as sinners stir up and encourage one another to wicked works....

CHAPTER XI _All the inhabitants of the earth, speaking one language_ _and dwelling in one place_, 1, 2, _purpose to build a city and a tower to prevent their_ _dispersion_, 3, 4. _God confounds their language, and scatters them over_ _the whole earth_, 5-9. _Account of the lives and families of the postdiluvian patriarchs_. _Shem_, 10, 11. _Arphaxad_, 12, 13. _Salah_, 14, 15. _Eber_, 16, 17. _Peleg_, 18,19....

- The Confusion of Tongues 1. נסע _nāsa‛_ “pluck out, break up, journey.” מקדם _mı̂qedem_ “eastward, or on the east side” as in Genesis 2:14; Genesis 13:11; Isaiah 9:11 (12). 6. החלם _hachı̂lām_ “their beginning”, for החלם _hăchı̂lām_, the regular form of this infinitive with a suffix. יזמוּ _yāzmû_ as if from יזם _yāzam_ =...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 11:1 AND THE WHOLE EARTH. I_.e._ the entire population of the globe, and not simply the inhabitants of the land of Shinar (Ingiis; cf. Genesis 9:29). WAS. Prior to the dispersion spoken of in the preceding chapter, though obviously it may have been subsequent to that event, if, as the above-named author believes, the present paragraph refers to the Shemites alone. OF ONE LANGUAGE. Literally, _of one lip, i.e._ one articulation, or one way of pronouncing their vocables. AND OF ONE SPEECH. Literally, _one_ (kind of) _words_, _i.e._ the matter as well as the form of human speech was the same. The primitive language was bel

AND THE WHOLE EARTH WAS OF ONE LANGUAGE, AND OF ONE SPEECH,.... Or had been w, before the flood, and from that time to this, and still was, until the confusion took place; the account of which, and the occasion of it, are given in this chapter: by the whole earth is meant the inhabitants of it, see Isaiah 37:18 and so the Jerusalem Targum paraphrases the words, "and all the generations of the earth were of one language, and of one speech, and of one counsel, for they spoke in the holy tongue in which the world was created at the beginning;'' and to the same purpose the Targum of Jonathan: all the posterity of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, used the same language, though it does not appear that they were all in one counsel or consultation, or of one mind about building a city or tower, which the Targum seems to suggest; for it is not likely that Shem and his sons were in it

ONE LANGUAGE The history of Babel ("confusion") strikingly parallels that of the professing Church. (1) Unity (Genesis 11:1) -- the Apostolic Church (Acts 4:32); (Acts 4:33). (2) Ambition (Genesis 11:4) using worldly, not spiritual means (Genesis 11:3) ending in a man-made unity -- the papacy; (3) the confusion of tongues (Genesis 11:7) -- Protestantism, with its innumerable sects. ( See Scofield) - ...

CHAPTER 11:1-9 THE TOWER OF BABEL AND THE SCATTERING OF THE NATIONS _ 1. The unity of the nations in Shinar (Genesis 11:1)_ 2. Their attempt: “Let us make” (Genesis 11:3) 3. The divine answer: “Let us go down” (Genesis 11:5) 4. The Result (Genesis 11:8) All the earth had one language. This is also proven by philological research. The whole human family journeyed together. They left the mountainous regions and went down to the plain. This expresses their descent morally; they turned away from God, though they had the knowledge of God ...

THE CITY, THE TOWER, AND THE CONFUSION OF SPEECH. The section plainly belongs to J but not to the same stratum as the story of the Flood, nor is it consistent with the origin assigned to the various nations in Genesis 11:10. It is an æ tiological story (p. 134), naturally not historical, answering the question, Why is it that though the races of mankind have sprung from a common ancestry they speak so many different languages? The Divine jealousy, which fears what a united humanity may achieve, whose first enterprise is planned on a scale so colossal, is like that shown in the prohibition of the tree of knowledge, the guarding of the tree of life, and the displeasure excited in Yahweh's mind by the angel marriages. The narrative presumably originated in Babylon, though no cuneiform parallel has been discovered, and it may have expressed the attitude of the nomads towards the buildings of...