Genesis 11 - Printer Friendly

What does Genesis 11 mean?

Chapter Commentary:

Genesis 11 contains three sections: the story of the Tower of Babel, the genealogy from Shem to Abram, and a description of the life of Terah, Abram's father. Abram will later be renamed Abraham and he will become one of the most important figures in Israel's history.

The events surrounding the building of the city and Tower of Babel are breathtaking. God exercises His power, authority, and creativity to confuse the languages of all the peoples of the earth and then to disperse them geographically around the known world.

God's reason for doing so is equally fascinating. As the families of Noah's children Shem, Ham, and Japheth grew, they continued to live together as a community with one language and one culture. Eventually, they moved to the area known as Shinar and began to build a massive city with a huge tower. To avoid separating from each other, they planned to make themselves great and powerful on the earth.

Not only did the people disobey God's command to "fill the earth," they apparently did not acknowledge God or seek His help. They became arrogant in their self-reliance and accomplishments. Some scholars think the building of the tower was an attempt to evade a future flood from God, or possibly as a symbol of man's power.

God acknowledged that nothing would be impossible if they continued to operate as one people with one language. This comment has been interpreted in various ways, but seems to follow the same line of thought God used prior to the flood: left alone, mankind can find a way to commit any act of evil imaginable. To prevent this, God confused and dispersed the people.

The section involving the Tower of Babel is composed as a chiasm, meaning a literary mirror-image. Everything mankind attempts in the first half of the narrative is undone in the second half. The building of the city, Babel, later to be called Babylon, ceases. Later, when the Israelites came into conflict with the powerful Babylonians, the name of this city was a reminder that God's power was far greater than the plans and might of mere human beings.

The second section of the chapter provides a simple genealogy from Noah's son Shem to Abram, showing specifically how God's people descended in a direct line from one to the other. This genealogy also shows that the lifespans of men quickly decreased after the flood, from nearly a thousand years, to several centuries, to roughly a century by the time of Abram.

The final section of the chapter sketches out the life of Abram's father Terah and his family, including Abram's two brothers, his wife, and his nephew. Together, the family moved from Ur, in what is now southern Iraq, some 600 miles closer to Canaan, settling in Haran. From Haran, God will call Abram and Sarai to leave their home and move into the promised land of Canaan. These two will eventually be renamed Abraham and Sarah, two of Israel's most crucial ancestors.

Genesis 11:1–9 recounts one of the most dramatic acts of God recorded in Genesis. Before the tribes and nations described in Genesis 10 were formed, all the people of the earth shared one language and one culture. They also shared the goal of not wanting to be separated. To that end, they decided to make themselves great by building a great city with an enormous tower—and without apparently acknowledging God. To keep humanity from being too powerful, and lapsing into the widespread sin which inspired the flood, God confuses human languages and scattered mankind around the world. The city of Babel, similar to the Hebrew word for ''confused,'' would later become known as Babylon.

Genesis 11:10–26 provides a direct genealogy from Noah to Abram, through Noah's blessed-by-God son, Shem. This record shows a direct genetic line from Noah and the flood, through Peleg and the dispersion of humanity at the Tower of Babel, to Terah, Abram's father.

Genesis 11:27–32 begins a long section in Genesis titled ''the generations of Terah.'' Terah is Abram's father, and in some sense, his section does not end until Abram dies in Genesis 25. Abram's family also includes two brothers, his wife, a nephew, and a niece. Together, the whole family moves from Ur (southern Iraq) much closer to what will become the Promised Land. They settle short of Canaan in Haran, where Terah will live out the rest of his life. It is from Haran that God will call Abram to leave his home.

Chapter Summary:

Genesis 11 contains three sections: God confuses and scatters the people of the world to stop the building of Babel and its tower. A genealogy is provided showing the direct links between Noah and Abram. The ''generations'' of Terah are introduced, providing a description of the family out of which God will call Abram to become the father of His chosen people.

Chapter Context:

Genesis 10 provided a table of the nations, describing the peoples and tribes that descended from Noah's three sons and where they settled. Genesis 11 describes how God scattered the peoples of the world after confusing their languages to stop the building of Babel and its tower. The chapter also provides a direct genealogy from Noah to Abram and then introduces Abram by way of his father Terah. The following chapter will begin the story of Abram and God's chosen people, Israel.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 5/9/2024 2:07:30 AM