Genesis 11:5-15

5 But the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.

6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!

7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

8 In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.

9 That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the LORD confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.

10 This is the account of Shem’s family. Two years after the great flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.

11 After the birth of Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.

13 After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.

15 After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 11:5-15 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or Babylon. Babel sounds like a Hebrew term that means “confusion.”
• [b]. Or the ancestor of; also in 11:12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 .
• [c]. Or the birth of this ancestor of; also in 11:13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 .
• [d]. Greek version reads When Arphaxad was 135 years old, he became the father of Cainan. After the birth of Cainan, Arphaxad lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan was 130 years old, he became the father of Shelah. After the birth of Shelah, Cainan lived another 330 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. Compare Luke 3:35-36 .