Genesis 11:8

_SO THE LORD SCATTERED THEM ABROAD FROM THENCE UPON THE FACE OF ALL THE EARTH: AND THEY LEFT OFF TO BUILD THE CITY._ So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence, ... Thus easily was their purpose defeated by God. Their crime was a premature attempt at centralization, rather, perhaps, than any vast scheme of conspiracy; and the 'confusion' producing as its natural consequence a disunion of their councils, they were compelled to the dispersion they had combined to prevent, as in all popular movements the multitude would be actuated by a variety of motives. Some might have joined in the enterprise from the simple motive of enjoying the benefits of a settled society; while the responsibility and the guilt would rest chiefly on the leaders, who from motives of political ambition or Zabian idolatry, planned and conducted the rebellion. To the former the 'confusion' was a mild correction of...

8._So the Lord scattered them abroad_. Men had already been spread abroad; and this ought not to be regarded as a punishment, seeing it rather flowed from the benediction and grace of God. But those whom the Lord had before distributed with honor in various abodes, he now ignominiously scatters, driving them hither and thither like the members of a lacerated body. This, therefore, was not a simple dispersion for the replenishing of the earth, that it might every where have cultivators and inhabitants; but a violent rout, because the principal bond of conjunction between them was, cut asunder....

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...

- 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

SO THE LORD SCATTERED THEM ABROAD FROM THENCE, UPON THE FACE OF ALL THE EARTH,.... Hence that which they feared came upon them, and what they were so careful to guard against befell them, occasioned by those measures they took to secure themselves from it; for not being able to understand one another, they left off their design, and as many as spoke the same language joined together, and so parted in bodies; some went one way, and some another, and settled in different places, until at length, by degrees, the whole world was peopled by them, which was the will of God should be done, and was brought about in this way. The Heathen writers themselves ascribe this dispersion to a divine Being, as well as speaking different tongues. Eupolemus n says, that first the city of Babylon was built by those that were saved from the flood, who were giants; and then they built tower, so much spoken of...

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...

SCATTERED. Septuagint same word as in Acts 8:1 (Isaiah 8:9). This was to preserve the revelation contained in the Zodiac and the constellations....

_scattered them abroad_ The general result is stated; the means by which the sentence was carried out are not related. Josephus records a tradition that the Tower was overthrown by a mighty wind....