New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Genesis 11
3
They said to each other, "Come. Let's make bricks and bake them well." They used bricks instead of stones. They used tar to hold the bricks together.
Reference
4
Then they said, "Come. Let's build a city for ourselves. Let's build a tower that reaches to the sky. We'll make a name for ourselves. Then we won't be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
Reference
5
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 18:21
John 3:13
Hebrews 4:13
References Lord
Exodus 19:11
Exodus 19:20
Psalm 11:4
6
The Lord said, "They are one people. And all of them speak the same language. That is why they can do this. Now they will be able to do anything they plan to.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 11:1
Ecclesiastes 11:9
Genesis 6:5
Luke 1:51
Genesis 9:19
References Lord
Genesis 3:22
Genesis 8:21
7
Come. Let us go down and mix up their language. Then they will not understand each other."
Reference
8
So the Lord scattered them from there over the whole earth. And they stopped building the city.
Reference
9
The Lord mixed up the language of the whole world there. That's why the city was named Babel. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 10:10
Genesis 10:5
Genesis 10:20
Acts 17:26
1 Corinthians 14:23
Genesis 10:25
10
Here is the story of Shem. It was two years after the flood. When Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.
11
After Arphaxad was born, Shem lived 500 years. And he had other sons and daughters.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 9:7
12
When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.
13
After Shelah was born, Arphaxad lived 403 years. And he had other sons and daughters.
14
When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.
15
After Eber was born, Shelah lived 403 years. And he had other sons and daughters.
16
When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.
17
After Peleg was born, Eber lived 430 years. And he had other sons and daughters.
18
When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.
20
When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.
Reference
People
Parallel theme
Luke 3:35
21
After Serug was born, Reu lived 207 years. And he had other sons and daughters.
23
After Nahor was born, Serug lived 200 years. And he had other sons and daughters.
24
When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.
Reference
People
Parallel theme
Luke 3:34
25
After Terah was born, Nahor lived 119 years. And he had other sons and daughters.
26
Terah lived for 70 years. Then he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
Reference
People
Parallel theme
Joshua 24:2
27
Here is the story of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.
Reference
People
28
Haran died in Ur in Babylonia. That was the land where he had been born. Haran died while his father Terah was still alive.
Reference
📍 Ur
Parallel theme
Genesis 15:7
29
Abram and Nahor both got married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai. The name of Nahor's wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran. Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah.
Reference
People
30
But Sarai wasn't able to have children.
31
Terah started out from Ur in Babylonia. He took his son Abram with him. He also took his grandson Lot. Lot was the son of Haran. And Terah took his daughter-in-law Sarai. She was the wife of his son Abram. All of them left together to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled down.
Reference
📍 Locations
32
Terah lived for 205 years. He died in Haran.
📍 Haran
Chapter Summary
Genesis chapter eleven can be divided into two primary sections: the Tower of Babel episode and a genealogy that leads to one of the most important figures in the Bible. The chapter is short but nevertheless-packed.
The chapter begins with a simple and almost melancholic note: the entire world had one language and a single speech. Following the events described in chapter ten, this is an attempt to return the world to the state before the scattering described there, when humanity spoke in a single language and worked together. However, humanity did not stay where it was; it went east and found a fertile plain called Shinar, which is likely the same region where, according to chapter ten, Nimrod established his empire.
In Shinar, the people decided to build a city with a tower that would be mighty enough to reach the sky so that they might make a name for themselves and keep themselves from being scattered around the world. It is important to note that the building project’s goal was not religious or even spiritual but rather mundane: the Tower’s creators wanted to achieve global recognition and prevent their dispersion.
The people decided to use baked bricks and asphalt as the building materials, and the description serves to highlight that the narrator knows the region and its building traditions well: this is a tower typical of the local Babylonian temples. Perhaps the most interesting observation is that the episode has an almost comically vain flavor to it: while the project requires tremendous effort, the goal is comparatively small and rather mundane. Thus, the creator of this episode has a clear disdain for humanity’s sinful nature.
God himself came to see the work done and realized that the only reason humanity could not achieve its goal was its lack of unity. The episode is comic in its irony at the expense of human vanity and foreshadows the Babylonian captivity, which will also involve destroying national identity and language. From God’s perspective, the situation is entirely understandable: if humanity is to be given free will, it will inevitably lead to humanity’s sinful nature asserting itself. However, it is not explicitly stated what prompted God to take action. It can be assumed that the episode’s author believes that such an act was necessary because chapter six has already highlighted the sinful nature of humanity. Thus, God came down to confuse the language of all people present at the Tower of Babel construction site so that they would not understand each other.
God scattered people all over the world, thwarting the Tower’s construction. The tower was given the name Babel, which means “the Lord confounded the language of the whole world,” confusing all the people who spoke different languages. It is noteworthy that the mention of Babylon is not accidental: later, in Jeremiah’s writings, Babylon is mentioned as the antagonist kingdom that has opposed Israel. Thus, the author of Genesis seems to have had Babylon in mind as the antagonist city, confusing humanity and hindering its development.
After the Tower’s construction, the narration moves to another genealogy, this time focusing on Shem’s descendants and leading to Abraham. The author attempts to tie Abraham to the events at the Tower of Babel, most likely to explain his importance to the reader: Abraham is, in fact, one of the most important figures in the Bible. The genealogy is comparatively straightforward: the narrator only mentions each person’s age at the birth of his son and the age he died at, noting crucial events.
Terah is noted to have fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees, the region where his father Terah lived. He also had a son named Lot, who would later become Abram’s nephew. Abram married a woman named Sarai, who proved to be barren. The narration only mentions it in passing, but this episode will be crucial for the events to come and is wholly responsible for Abram’s subsequent life.
Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai, and his grandson Lot and moved from Ur of the Chaldees. However, they did not reach Canaan, as Terah apparently died in the city of Haran.
At the end of chapter eleven, the reader is left with a lasting impression of the vanity of human desires, which is almost comically intertwined with the narration of a seemingly insignificant family of nomads who wandered from one region to another. The entire chapter creates the sense of impending change: the events described in it will remain in the Bible as a cautionary tale about humanity’s sinful nature, but from now on, the focus will shift from humanity as a whole to one man and his family.
The chapter begins with a simple and almost melancholic note: the entire world had one language and a single speech. Following the events described in chapter ten, this is an attempt to return the world to the state before the scattering described there, when humanity spoke in a single language and worked together. However, humanity did not stay where it was; it went east and found a fertile plain called Shinar, which is likely the same region where, according to chapter ten, Nimrod established his empire.
In Shinar, the people decided to build a city with a tower that would be mighty enough to reach the sky so that they might make a name for themselves and keep themselves from being scattered around the world. It is important to note that the building project’s goal was not religious or even spiritual but rather mundane: the Tower’s creators wanted to achieve global recognition and prevent their dispersion.
The people decided to use baked bricks and asphalt as the building materials, and the description serves to highlight that the narrator knows the region and its building traditions well: this is a tower typical of the local Babylonian temples. Perhaps the most interesting observation is that the episode has an almost comically vain flavor to it: while the project requires tremendous effort, the goal is comparatively small and rather mundane. Thus, the creator of this episode has a clear disdain for humanity’s sinful nature.
God himself came to see the work done and realized that the only reason humanity could not achieve its goal was its lack of unity. The episode is comic in its irony at the expense of human vanity and foreshadows the Babylonian captivity, which will also involve destroying national identity and language. From God’s perspective, the situation is entirely understandable: if humanity is to be given free will, it will inevitably lead to humanity’s sinful nature asserting itself. However, it is not explicitly stated what prompted God to take action. It can be assumed that the episode’s author believes that such an act was necessary because chapter six has already highlighted the sinful nature of humanity. Thus, God came down to confuse the language of all people present at the Tower of Babel construction site so that they would not understand each other.
God scattered people all over the world, thwarting the Tower’s construction. The tower was given the name Babel, which means “the Lord confounded the language of the whole world,” confusing all the people who spoke different languages. It is noteworthy that the mention of Babylon is not accidental: later, in Jeremiah’s writings, Babylon is mentioned as the antagonist kingdom that has opposed Israel. Thus, the author of Genesis seems to have had Babylon in mind as the antagonist city, confusing humanity and hindering its development.
After the Tower’s construction, the narration moves to another genealogy, this time focusing on Shem’s descendants and leading to Abraham. The author attempts to tie Abraham to the events at the Tower of Babel, most likely to explain his importance to the reader: Abraham is, in fact, one of the most important figures in the Bible. The genealogy is comparatively straightforward: the narrator only mentions each person’s age at the birth of his son and the age he died at, noting crucial events.
Terah is noted to have fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees, the region where his father Terah lived. He also had a son named Lot, who would later become Abram’s nephew. Abram married a woman named Sarai, who proved to be barren. The narration only mentions it in passing, but this episode will be crucial for the events to come and is wholly responsible for Abram’s subsequent life.
Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai, and his grandson Lot and moved from Ur of the Chaldees. However, they did not reach Canaan, as Terah apparently died in the city of Haran.
At the end of chapter eleven, the reader is left with a lasting impression of the vanity of human desires, which is almost comically intertwined with the narration of a seemingly insignificant family of nomads who wandered from one region to another. The entire chapter creates the sense of impending change: the events described in it will remain in the Bible as a cautionary tale about humanity’s sinful nature, but from now on, the focus will shift from humanity as a whole to one man and his family.