Genesis 11:7

_GO TO, LET US GO DOWN, AND THERE CONFOUND THEIR LANGUAGE, THAT THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER'S SPEECH._ Let us ... confound their language - Hebrew, lips; and the Hebrew verb "confound" means to mingle things together, so as to produce a new and composite substance (see the note on the use of the plural in a similar connection, Genesis 1:26). The obvious and natural meaning of these words is, that by an extraordinary act of divine providence the articulate speech by which mankind had hitherto carried on their social intercourse, as a universal medium of communication, underwent changes that rendered it unintelligible. The text does not admit of the explanation which some writers have given, that the effect described was the slow and gradual work of time. They suppose that, since many years were probably occupied in the erection of the city and the tower, jealousy, dis

7._Go to, let us go down_. We have said that Moses has represented the case to us by the figure _hypotyposis_, (330) that the judgments of God may be the more clearly illustrated. For which reason, he now introduces God as the speaker, who declares that the work which they supposed could not be retarded, shall, without any difficulty, be destroyed. The meaning of the words is of this kind, ‘I will not use many instruments, I will only blow upon them, and they, through the confusion of tongues, shall be contemptibly scattered. And as they, having collected a numerous band, were contriving how they might reach the clouds; so on the other hand, God summons his troops, by whose interposition he may ward off their fury. It is, however, asked, what troops he intends? The Jews think that he addresses himself to the angels. But since no mention is made of the angels, and God places those to whom...

5-9 Here is an expression after the manner of men; The Lord came down to see the city. God is just and fair in all he does against sin and sinners, and condemns none unheard. Pious Eber is not found among this ungodly crew; for he and his are called the children of God; their souls joined not themselves to the assembly of these children of men. God suffered them to go on some way, that the works of their hands, from which they promised themselves lasting honour, might turn to their lasting reproach. God has wise and holy ends, in allowing the enemies of his glory to carry on their wicked projects a great way, and to prosper long. Observe the wisdom and mercy of God, in the methods taken for defeating this undertaking. And the mercy of God in not making the penalty equal to the offence; for he deals not with us according to our sins. The wisdom of God, in fixing upon a sure way to stop t...

Verse Genesis 11:7. _GO TO_] A form of speech which, whatever it might have signified formerly, now means nothing. The Hebrew העה _habah_ signifies come, _make preparation_, as it were for a journey, the execution of a purpose, c. Almost all the versions understand the word in this way the Septuagint have δευτε, the Vulgate _venite_, both signifying _come_, or _come ye_. This makes a very good sense, _Come, let its go down, c_. For the meaning of these latter words see Genesis 1:26, and Genesis 18:21....

- 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

GO TO, LET US GO DOWN, [AND] THERE CONFOUND THEIR LANGUAGE,.... These words are not spoken to the angels, as the Targum and Aben Ezra; for, as Philo the Jew observes h, they are said to some as co-workers with God, which angels could not be in this work of confounding the language of men; it being above the power of creatures so to work upon the mind, and on the faculty of speech, as to make such an alteration as was at the confusion of tongues, when men were made to forget their former language, and had another put into their minds, and a faculty of speaking it given; or, however, the first language was so differently inflected and pronounced, that it seemed another, and various; all which could not be done but by him who is almighty, even that Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, said Genesis 11:8 to confound man's language; and the first of these speaks to the other two, with whom he con...

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...

GO TO, LET US GO DOWN. This is always in judgment (Compare Genesis 18:21.Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:8). Here in contrast with Genesis 11:4, to man's "Go to, let us go up". Figure of speech _Anthropopatheia,_ App-6. See Genesis 11:5....