Genesis 11

CHAPTER 11

The Tower of Babel (11:1–9)

1–2 The building of the tower of Babel took place some time after the Flood and before the descendants of Noah had spread out to all the places mentioned in the previous chapter. It seems that Noah’s extended family at first settled on a plain in Shinar.⁴⁵ Shinar was a pleasant place along the Euphrates River (in present-day Iraq), and Noah’s descendants seemed content to remain there.

3–4 Noah’s descendants (probably under Nimrod’s leadership) decided to build a city (Babylon) with a tower reaching to the heavens⁴⁶ (verse 4). If the people had built the tower in order to better worship God, God would not have been displeased. But they built it for two wrong reasons. First, they built it not to worship God but to make a name for themselves. They were trying to become great—perhaps even as great as God.⁴⁷

Second, they built their city and tower so that they would not be scattered over . . . the whole earth. They wanted to stay right where they were. But God had commanded Noah and his family to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1).

Thus Noah’s descendants were guilty of two sins: pride—trying to become great; and disobedience—refusing to fill the earth. As in the days before the Flood, mankind was again becoming more and more displeasing to God. The sinful nature that Noah had inherited from Adam had now been passed on to his descendants. So God decided on a new plan.

5–9 God’s plan had two parts, the first of which is described in these verses: He confused their language. Up to that time the people had spoken only one language; now suddenly they were speaking hundreds of languages and, as a result, they could no longer understand each other.⁴⁸ Imagine the confusion! They could no longer continue building the tower; they couldn’t even finish building their city. So they scattered in small family units over the face of the whole earth (verse 9)—which is exactly the fate they had been trying to avoid! (verse 4). So their city was called Babel,⁴⁹ which sounds like the Hebrew word for “confused.” To this day Babel(Babylon) stands as a symbol of arrogant humanity, which puts its trust in cities, towers, armies, and technology. God will bring all such self-centered works to nothing.

The second part of God’s plan to deal with sinful mankind following the Flood appears in the next section, verses 10–26. This genealogy of Shem leads to Abram⁵⁰ (verse 26), whom God would choose to start a new nation—a nation of people who would have faith in Him and obey His commands. Thus begins the history of the Hebrew (Jewish) people, which eventually would lead to the founding of the nation of Israel. But, as we shall see throughout our study of the Old Testament, even this grand plan did not achieve the result God sought, which was the transformation of the human heart. That result would have to wait until the offspring promised in Genesis 3:15 appeared—the offspring of Abram, Jesus Christ, through whom all the peoples on earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3).

From Shem to Abram (11:10–32)

10–26 The genealogy outlined here is similar to the genealogy of Adam (Genesis 5:3–31). The genealogy is not comprehensive but selective; it includes only the direct ancestors of Abram. The men listed here, though otherwise unknown, are important because their line leads not only to Abram but also to Christ (Luke 3:34–36). Here again, through this simple list of names, we see how God’s ultimate purposes cannot be thwarted by things like confusion of language, scattering of people—or even a flood.

27–32 Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans⁵¹ (verse 28). Abram’s father moved from Ur to Haran in present-day Syria, taking with him Abram and his wife Sarai, and also Abram’s nephew Lot (verse 31). Since Lot’s father had died, his uncle Abram seems to have adopted him.

Abram’s wife Sarai was barren (verse 30). This small piece of information is highly significant, because it indicates that the new Hebrew nation God was going to establish through Abram would not come about by purely natural means. God was going to bring into existence a “new humanity,” and to do so He would use super-natural means to bring forth a child from Sarai’s barren body (Genesis 18:10–11; 21:1–2).