Bereshis 11:1-9

1 1 And the kol HaAretz was of one language and of devarim achadim (common words).

2 And it came to pass, as they migrated from the east, that they found a plain in Eretz Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and bake them thoroughly. And they had brick for even (stone), and bitumen had they for mortar.

4 And they said, Come, let us build us an Ir and a Migdal, whose rosh (top) may reach unto Shomayim; and let us make us a shem, otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of kol HaAretz.

5 And Hashem came down to see the Ir and the Migdal, which Bnei HaAdam built.

6 And Hashem said, See, the Am is echad and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be impossible for them, which they have proposed to do.

7 Come, let Us go down, and there confuse their sefat, that they may not understand one another’s language.

8 So Hashem scattered them abroad from there upon the face of kol Ha’Aretz; and they left off building the Ir.

9 Therefore is the shem of it called Babel; because Hashem did there confuse the language of kol Ha’Aretz; and from there did Hashem scatter them abroad upon the face of kol Ha’Aretz.

Bereshis 11:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 11

This chapter gives an account of the inhabitants of the earth before the confusion of tongues at Babel, of their speech and language, which was one and the same, and of the place where they dwelt, Ge 11:1,2 and of their design to build a city and tower, to make them a name and keep them together, which they put in execution, Ge 11:3,4 of the notice the Lord took of this affair, and of the method he took to put a stop to their designs, by confounding their speech, and dispersing them abroad upon the face of the earth, Ge 11:5-9 then follows a genealogy of Shem's posterity down to Abraham, Ge 11:10-26 and a particular relation is given of Terah, the father of Abraham, and his family, and of his going forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, in order to go into the land of Canaan, and of his death at Haran by the way, Ge 11:27-32.