Genesis 11:6-16

6 God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next - they'll stop at nothing!

7 Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other."

8 Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city.

9 That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.

10 This is the story of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he had Arphaxad. It was two years after the flood.

11 After he had Arphaxad, he lived 600 more years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad was thirty-five years old, he had Shelah.

13 After Arphaxad had Shelah, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah was thirty years old, he had Eber.

15 After Shelah had Eber, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber was thirty-four years old, he had Peleg.

Genesis 11:6-16 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.