Genesis 11 Study Notes

11:1-9 The account of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden of Eden (chap. 3) and the tower of Babylon narrative share many similarities in plot, vocabulary, and theme. Both show people acting with sinful pride to try to make themselves godlike, and both show God expelling sinners from their homes as punishment for their sin.

11:1 The tower of Babylon incident occurred earlier than at least some of the events of chap. 10 since the whole earth still had the same language and vocabulary (10:5,20,31).

11:2 The land of Shinar corresponds to ancient Babylonia and includes the region of the cities of Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh (10:10). Migrated from the east can be translated “migrated eastward.”

11:3 Unlike the original readers’ homeland of Israel, with its extensive quantity of limestone building material, the people of Babylonia used oven-fired bricks. Archaeological excavations have confirmed that ancient inhabitants of the land used asphalt for mortar.

11:4 The people’s pride and ambition is expressed in three different ways: (1) the fivefold use of the first-person pronouns—us (three times), ourselves (twice), and we; (2) their desire to build . . . a tower into the sky, thus giving them access to “the heavens,” the domain of God; and (3) their attempt at self-glorification—let us make a name for ourselves. Because they did it to avoid being scattered throughout the earth, all their efforts amounted to a rebellion against God and his command to fill the earth (9:1).

11:5 In spite of their best efforts to elevate themselves to God’s domain, the Lord still had to come down to look over the city and the tower. Human attempts to achieve glory, which belongs to God alone, always fall pitifully short.

11:6 God’s concern that nothing the people might plan to do would be impossible for them does not express a divine fear that humans might someday become as powerful as God. Rather, it conveys dismay that people, unchecked, would undertake extraordinary deeds of evil and defiance.

11:7 On God’s reference to himself in the plural, see note at 1:26. Perhaps the most dramatic Hebrew wordplay in the tower of Babylon episode involves the deliberate reversal of sounds between vv. 3 and 7. Humans created brick—a word that contains the sound sequence l-b-n in Hebrew—to rebel against God. In response God created confusion—a Hebrew word containing n-b-l—to reverse the evil human plot.

11:8 What the people did not want, to be “scattered” (v. 4), was what happened after all.

11:9 Most English versions refer to “Babel” here, but this is the same Hebrew word translated “Babylon” throughout the OT. The connection between the words Babylon and confused (Hb babel and balal ) constitute another of the many wordplays in this chapter. The Lord’s action had two positive outcomes: first, because it confused the language of the whole earth, it ended the possibility of large-scale evil ventures; second, it caused humanity to scatter throughout the earth, thus bringing people into compliance with God’s command to fill the earth (9:1).

11:10-26 The family records of Shem constitute the fifth of eleven (Hb) toledoth sections in Genesis (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:27; 25:12,19; 36:1,9; 37:2). Whereas the previous toledoth section (“the family records of Noah’s sons,” 10:1-11:9) presented Noah’s “unchosen” descendants, this one traces the “chosen” offspring.

This genealogical table, which partially repeats information provided in 10:21-25, connects Noah’s son Shem to Abram/Abraham. Though this list contains fewer names (12 vs. 26) than the genealogy in chap. 10, it traces out more generations (10 vs. 6) and includes chronological data as well. Its style links it with the genealogy in chap. 5, which also traces the “chosen” line and contains ten generations. Whereas chap. 5 stretches from Adam to Noah (the pre-flood world), this table connects Seth to Abram/Abraham (the post-flood world).

11:12 Departing from the Hebrew text, both Lk 3:35-36 and the septuagintal version of this verse indicate that Arpachshad’s actual son was Cainan. Because the inspired NT author confirms the Septuagint’s reading, Cainan should be accepted as Arpachshad’s son. Thus it is best to accept Arpachshad as Shelah’s father in an indirect sense, and to view the Hebrew version here as a stylized genealogy shaped for thematic purposes. A similar technique appears to have been used by Matthew in his presentation of Jesus’s genealogy in Mt 1.

11:17 Eber lived a total of 464 years. This distinguishes him as the longest living person in the Bible who was born after the flood.

11:27-30 The family records of Terah is the sixth of eleven (Hb) toledoth sections in Genesis (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 25:12,19; 36:1,9; 37:2). Far more than a simple genealogical table, this section stretches across parts of fifteen chapters and includes a rich supply of information about the life of Terah’s most famous son, Abram (later called Abraham). In the Hebrew, the spelling of the personal name Haran differs from the place name Haran (charan; v. 31).

Nahor’s wife . . . Milcah eventually produced eight sons (22:20-23); her most famous son, Bethuel, became the father-in-law of Abraham’s son Isaac (25:20).

In contrast to Milcah, Sarai (later called Sarah) was unable to conceive. This painful fact is emphasized by the biblical writer restating the fact: she did not have a child. God’s provision of an heir for Abraham in spite of Sarah’s barrenness is a major theme in the narratives that follow (15:2-4; 17:15-21; 21:10).

11:31-32 Until Terah’s death Abram was under the authority of his father. No clue is given as to why Terah chose to leave Ur or why he decided to settle in Haran.