Genesis 11

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:31:23utc

Obviously, chapter eleven moves back to the beginning of the previous chapter. The first nine verses tell us how the dispersion of nations over the whole earth started out. The rest of the chapter goes back to the genealogy of Shem.

There was some kind of a 'big bang,' which drove people apart forcefully. There are some questions that are not answered in this chapter, into which we will have to look.

The chapter starts out by saying: "Now the whole world had one language and a common speech," or as the RSV puts it: "Now the whole earth had one language and few words." The latter translation seems wrong to me. It would be highly unlikely that people communicated in few words. It could be that people were still able to use telepathy at that stage, and that they did not have to talk much, because they were able to read minds without the use of words. Adam Clarke is quite dogmatic about the fact that the original language must have been Hebrew. In spite of his arguments, I see no reason for the supposition. The Pulpit Commentary affirms that the Rabbins, the Fathers and the older theologians believe the original language to have been Hebrew. But they would not have been able to prove this either, although they were a few centuries closer to the period than we are.

The unity of speech was an indication that the people who started to repopulate the earth after the flood formed one body, which was well coordinated. Evidently, people were able to contribute ideas that were used in the forming and the execution of the project to the point where they would become a real threat to the plan of God with the earth. God was not being sarcastic when He said: "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them," otherwise there would have been no need for such a drastic measure as the confusion of languages.

So the "one language and one common speech" was probably more a matter of coordination than of talking alone. I am sure that people possessed individuality at that time, as we do now. But this did not push them apart. God's original intent in giving people individuality was unity in variety. This is the principle that should govern the body of Christ in our New Testament times, but it does not. The principle of Babel was briefly superseded at Pentecost, but confusion soon took over again, and, presently, it reigns supremely.

So God considers the plan a real threat. The astronomer, Carl Sagan mocks the passage in one of his books, saying that he does not see why a supposedly almighty God should get so upset about such an innocent plan as the construction of a tower. If there would be nothing more in it than an unrealistic plan, topped by a hyperbolic declaration that the tower would reach to the heavens, Sagan certainly would have a point. But God's reaction seems to indicate that more was at stake.

I have no proof for the following. What I am going to say could very well be one of my "Schultz-illusions," like the theory that the Nephilim in ch. 6 were the product of genetic engineering. But could it be that the tower of Babel was really meant to be the starting point for reaching into the heavens? Could it be that people at that time would have possessed enough know-how to build space ships, and to travel in space, and thus export sin into the universe? If we hold on to the evolutionary suggestion that man developed from a primitive being into the sophisticated person he is now, there would be no basis for such a suggestion, but since we reject Darwin on other points, why not here? I firmly believe that man, who was much closer to Paradise than we are, who lived centuries longer than we do, had a sharper mind and a keener ability than we do too. It could very well be that it took modern science forty centuries or more to recover a knowledge that was common property at the pre- and post-flood period. It is certainly a matter to look into when we get to heaven.

Again, the fact that Moses describes the event in such a way that it looks like a very primitive effort to achieve things that are impossible, could prove that Moses himself did not have enough sophisticated knowledge to describe the story.

The event takes place in the plain of Shinar. It happened to the fourth generation after the flood. Shem's great grandson was called Peleg, according to ch. 10:25: "One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided..." So we are still in the first century after the flood. The world population could not have been more than several thousand; probably less than one hundred thousand. Moving east from the Ararat mountains brings us approximately in Mesopotamia. It could be we are again in the neighborhood of the old Paradise site.

The plain was probably very fertile, being filled with deluvian deposits. There are no stones to be found, so people resort to baking bricks from clay, which is a respectable way of building. The story is told, however, from the viewpoint of one who is used to building with stone and cement. Archaeological finds confirm the solidity of brick with bitumen as mortar. But these details, however interesting, have little to do with the core of the story.

The real issue comes to light in vs. 4: "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.' " There are three points to be distinguished in the plan: the building of the tower, the making of a name and prevention from being scattered. The three go together. The making of a name was probably the most blasphemous part of the plan. It reeks of the rebellion of Lucifer, about which we read in Isaiah: "You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' "[ 1 ]

So it was not just a plan of evacuation in case of another flood. That may have been the first reason. And this would be an indication that the promise of God that a flood would never again destroy the earth was either completely forgotten or ignored. It usually does not take more than one or two generations for the Word of God to start gathering dust. So it could be that people did not take the Word of God into account at all, and made plans for themselves in case a similar disaster would occur. The tower might get them high enough to stay out of the water or, if we are correct about the space program, there would be the option to move to another planet. That was how it started. But the disregard for the promise of God brought about a sense of pride in human ingenuity that was completely blown out of proportion.

It is interesting to reflect how much Nimrod had to do in this. As we saw in connection with ch. 10:25, the division took place during the life of Peleg, the great grand son of Shem. If we take ch. 10:6-8 to mean literally that Nimrod was the grandson of Ham, we are two generations behind. But since Nimrod is not mentioned among Cush's sons in vs. 7 the words "Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth," may simply indicate that Cush was the ancestor of Nimrod. It seems more logical to assume that Nimrod played a role during the building of the tower and afterward during the dispersion. The way he moved around, founding cities, would not be typical of a spirit of wanting to cling together. The individualism of Nimrod is more indicative of people who want to go their own way, than of the functioning as a body of the people who had one language, one speech and one purpose.

If the above it true, at least one person took full advantage of the curse. He put up monuments for himself and built cities, making himself a name that rang loudly and clearly throughout the post-diluvian centuries.

One of the reasons for the building of the city and the tower was the desire to cling together. The flood must have changed the face and features of the earth drastically. Climatologically and topographically the generations of those who survived the flood found a world that had little in common any more with the planet they had left behind. The mountains must have grown higher and more uninhabitable. The global temperature must have dropped at some places and risen at others to uncomfortable levels. The curse of the ground must have let itself be felt more severely. People had the fear that they would not survive if they would move out of the fertile valley of Shinear. And yet, staying together indefinitely in the valley would have wiped out the whole world population with starvation after a few population explosions.

The implication of the above is that people feared that God would no longer take care of them. They did not trust His promise that never again He would destroy their planet by water. They did not want to honor His Name, but wanted to replace it with their own, and they had no thought of trusting Him to keep them alive. They wanted security in their own hands, not in the hands of a God they had offended. They had no idea who God was. The thought that He would really love them and care for them never entered their minds. They believed that they were completely on their own. If they would not take care of themselves, nobody else would; certainly not God, who had destroyed millions of people.

So they worried and acted upon their worries. New Testament phrases come to mind, such as the words of Jesus: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' Or 'What shall we drink?' Or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."[ 2 ]

And the writer to the Hebrews says: "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' "[ 3 ]

It has been pointed out that the plan of the people was to go up and reach into heaven; not in order to find God, but to be saved from whatever could happen on earth. It was an effort to have a religion without God. On the other hand we read that God comes down to see. There is a faint shadow of the plan of salvation in this. The Gospel is that God came down, so there is no need for man to go up. Quoting Moses, Paul says: "But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (That is, to bring Christ down) or 'Who will descend into the deep?' (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead)."

If God had been the issue for them, which it was, but they did not know, then their problems would have been solved. They wanted heaven without God; so when heaven came down, they missed the glory.

How God confused human speech we are not told. Since we have no example of unity in diversity, as the condition of mankind must have been at that time, we cannot really understand what happened. There must have been some safeguard in man, such as pain in the body, that was triggered by the touch of God. As the body starts to deteriorate and eventually to decompose, so a mental decomposition must have begun. God saw that unity of mind and purpose as a danger, not for Himself, but for mankind, and so He prevented the worse by breaking up man's unity. Obviously, the devil was ready to exploit the condition for the destruction of man, not for his improvement or salvation. In the same way as death delivers us out of a 'no-hope' situation, so this confusion must have thwarted the plan of the Evil One, and prevented total disintegration.

My brother, Eduard, has written a booklet (which was never published) entitled That's Moin, in which he proposes that English, such as it is spoken in one of the mid-Western states of the United States of America, be promoted to become the global language. The book completely overlooks the cause of the present situation. It would be nice if it were that easy!

The confusion of speech is reported as being brought about suddenly. It was obviously not a slow growing apart. Philologists say that it takes centuries for languages to develop and deviate from one another. If our theory is true that man had the ability to communicate without words in a telepathic way, it would seem likely that God closed that door, so people could not read each others' minds any longer. The confusion would then come about in that man would be forced to express in words what his thoughts and intentions were, which each one proceeded to do in his own way.

In C. S. Lewis' book That Hideous Strength there is a rather hilarious scene in which speech is being confused in a supernatural way, just when demons come to the climax of their purpose to take over world dominion through the National Institute of Coordinated Experiments (NICE). Lewis gets probably close to the truth of what happened at Babel in this fantasy.

It seems to me that there is much more in this chapter than we can lay our finger on at present. This is the beginning of the world picture, as we know it now. People are spread out over the world, speaking thousands of languages; and it started here. There is an intriguing verse that speaks about the relationship between this event and the rest of the chapter, where Moses picks up the thread of the line of Shem. In Deuteronomy we read: "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel."[ 4 ] This prophetic utterance has probably much more to do with revelation of God's plan of salvation than with arithmetic.

The Apostle Paul contributes to the discussion with his remark to the audience at the Areopagus. In Acts he says: "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."[ 5 ]

Even in the dispersion God did not mean to separate man from Himself. God meant for man to live within the boundaries of certain places, so he could be reached by the message of revelation that would be entrusted to Israel. I believe that is the meaning of the two verses quoted above.

In vs. 10 of this chapter the writer commences the genealogy of Shem, obviously with the purpose of pointing to the birth of Abram and God's call upon his life. So vs. 9 seems to be the right place to draw the line between the post-diluvian period and the life of Abraham, which will be our next chapter.

THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM.

A CENTURY OF FAITH.

Ch.11:10 - 25:10

Although the name Abram, who was later to become Abraham, is not mentioned until Ch. 11: 26 it is obvious that his story starts with the genealogy of Shem, which is given beginning with vs.10.

Moses goes first back to the tree he had started in chapter 10:21. There he traces the descendants of Shem up to the birth of Peleg and his brother Joktan. Here the intent is to show the continuation not so much of generations as of the promise God had given to Eve, which ran via Arphaxad to Abraham.

As in chapter 5, where the genealogy from Adam through Shem is given, there is here, too, a discrepancy between the numbers in the Hebrew text and the Samaritan and Septuagint texts. According to The Pulpit Commentary there are 292 years between the flood and the birth of Abraham, if we follow the Hebrew text. The Septuagint comes to total of 1270 years. The latter also has the name of Kainan between Arphaxad and Salah, which adds another 130 years. Luke follows the Septuagint and inserts Cainan as the son of Shelah in Luke 4:35. Abraham would have received the call of God 367 years after the flood. The commentary admits though that the calculations are rather uncertain.

There are two striking features in the list that is given to us from vs.10 through 26. One is that the pungent little phrase "and he died," which is repeated five times in chapter 5, is lacking here. Of course it is implied in the sentence that mentions that the person lived for so many years. But the sting seems to be taken out of it. On the other hand the life span of the patriarchs becomes shorter and shorter. Shem lives to be 600 years old, Nahor dies when he is "only" 148, Terah dies at the age of 205. This must be attributed to the effects of the flood, which changed the conditions on earth to the point where longevity was finished.

It seems that Moses was also impressed with the life span of the pre-flood people that he felt it necessary to emphasize that although some of them lived close to a millennium, they died also. When human life gets limited to the "four score," death is so close there is no need to mention it any more.

Abraham's immediate history commences with his father Terah. There has been some debate as to how old Terah was when Abraham was born. Ch. 11: 26 says: "After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran." The Pulpit Commentary reasons that since Abraham was 75 years old when Terah died, Terah must have been in his 130th year at the birth of Abraham. (See chapter 12:4). Obviously, Terah's sons are mentioned in the order of their spiritual importance, not in the order of their birth.

Jews, Christians and Muslims claim Abraham as their father: the first and the last group in a physical sense and the Christians in a spiritual sense. As Christians we identify strongly with the Jews in our claim. The Muslim claim leads to Abraham via Ishmael. The Quran goes so far to apply some of the biblical accounts pertaining to Isaac as having actually happened to Ishmael. Muslims believe that Abraham sacrificed Ishmael on mount Moriah. The problem is, of course, that everybody believed otherwise until the Quran was written thirty centuries later.

The Apostle Paul calls him "the father of all who believe" (Rom.4: 11). The history of Abraham's life of faith spans one whole century. We read in Ch. 12: 4 that he was seventy-five years old when he left Haran and Ch. 25: 7 tells us that he died at the age of one hundred seventy-five. We shall see that this century of faith was not a smooth rising line, but a wavy curve with as many downs as ups. Abraham doubted as much as he believed. But at some moments his faith rose above everything else and looking over the history of the world we can still see those peaks.

In Ch. 11: 31 we read: "Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there." If we put this verse next to Stephen's words in Acts 7:2-4 - "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.' "So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living," we come to the interesting conclusion that God called Abraham, but that his father took the initiative. Evidently, when we read in the beginning of chapter 12 that God called Abraham, Moses takes a step back, like he did in the previous chapters. Stephen did not invent a new interpretation of this portion of Scripture; he gave the generally accepted tradition of the Jewish rabbi's.

The call came to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abraham must have told his father about this and Terah decided to keep the initiative and go also. I do not know what Abraham could have done at this point, but it turned out that when his father started to obey the call that had come to Abraham himself, they got stuck somewhere along the way. God had not called Terah. God never calls 'the old man' to use a New Testament term. But the old man will do everything in his power to keep the initiative. Terah's move was not an act of surrender to the will of God. It was a concession to the will of God, so he could keep the lead himself.

The spiritual lesson in this is abundantly clear. Our human nature will make concessions to the will of God instead of acts of surrender. Our old man has to die, because it never surrenders.

Both the NIV and the KJV say: "(Now) the LORD had said (un) to Abram...," which puts the actual call before the beginning of chapter 12. This is consistent with Stephen's version of the event. The verse also says: "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." But when Abram got up to leave, his father's household left with him.

There seem to be some discrepancies in the story. In Ch. 11: 31 we read: "Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there." It seems that they knew where they were going. But in Heb.11: 8 we get the impression that Abraham left blindly. "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." It is of course true that Abraham did not know where he was going, even though God may have told him that he was to go to Canaan. He had never been there before.

The second problem is the blood relationship between Abraham and Sarah. In Ch. 20: 12 Abraham explains to Abimelech: "... she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife." But in Ch. 11: 29 we read: "Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah." Some commentators believe that Sarai is identical with Iscah, which would make Sarah the daughter of Haran and not of Terah. Sarah would then be Abraham's niece, not his half-sister. In Hebrew culture the terms "father," "sister" and others were used in a much wider sense than in our Western culture. That may be the answer. We will talk about Abraham's deceit regarding Sarah later on.

As we saw, Terah took the initiative when God called his son Abram. His motives may have been more pure than we have given him credit for so far. He may have had the sincere desire to escape the environment of idolatry in which he and his family were living.

In the group that left Ur to set out for Canaan, there is no mention of Lot's wife. He may still have been very young and unmarried. The first time Mrs. Lot is mentioned is at the destruction of Sodom. It is possible that she was from that area and that Lot married her after arriving in Sodom.

Since the location of Ur is uncertain, we do not know how far the group traveled before they reached Haran. It could be as little as twenty-five miles. When Terah started to obey God's call that was directed to Abraham, he did not get very far. This seems a satanic effort to hinder the plan of God to continue His promise through Abraham. But the only thing the enemy could do was slow down the process, not defeat the plan.

We read in Ch. 11: 31 "...together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there." The intent was to reach Canaan, but they got stuck almost before they started out. They not only stopped in Haran, they settled there for a period that may have been as long as sixty years. There is a difference of opinion regarding the age of Terah when Abraham was born. If Terah was 70 at the birth of Abraham, he must have survived the departure for Haran by 60 years, since Abraham's age at his arrival in Canaan is given as 75. But if Terah was 145, as some believe, it is hard to tell. At any rate Abraham left immediately upon the death of his father at Haran.

[ 1 ] Isa. 14:13,14

[ 2 ] Matt. 6:25-34

[ 3 ] Heb. 13:5,6

[ 4 ] Deut. 32:8

[ 5 ] Acts 17:26,27