Acts 2 tells of a day in the life of the church when the barriers of language, erected at Babel, were breached by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Also, cities are centers of pleasure and culture, where all the hungers of the soul can be satisfied: hunger for beauty, art, and music and all the ingredients of culture.
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So first we have Gods command, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth (9:1). We are all aware of the attempts to overcome this with awkward devices of translation.
The final answer is, to glorify himself, to be the center of things, to be the master of the universe, to be God, in other words. Wisdom Literature Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness. The problem was the arrogant defiance of Gods clear command. For permission to use this content, please review This text is offered as an alternative First Reading for the Day of Pentecost, with the instructions that if it is chosen, then Acts 2:1-21 gets used as the Second Reading. 4They said, Come, lets build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and lets make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.. The Psalmist continues: He who sits in the heavens will laugh. and forced the Jews into a half-century exile in Babylonia (2 Kings 24-25). Again, the three main threads of explanations, above, attempt to solve the mystery. A. The Bible plays upon the name for Babel, and links it with the Hebrew word for confusion, balal. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point They would try to explain but he couldn't understand them. But it was not really for the glory of God; it was a way of controlling God, a way of channeling God by using him for man's glory. Man did not discover all this at one time but learned how to make bricks and later how to burn them. But up in the real heavens this tower is so little that God can't see it. But in the Hamitic languages all is utter confusion. Both culture and translation stand between this significant passage and twenty-first century English-speaking interpreters. There is a dramatic contrast, then, between the people of Babel, who try to stay in one place rather than filling the earth, as God has called them to do, and Abram, who willingly goes where God calls him to go. But this language is not a primitive concept of God. There are two ways to reconcile the different languages of chapter 10 and the one language of chapter 11: The first possibility is that chapters 10 and 11 dont stand in chronological order that literary considerations (the pairing of positive and negative stories) have taken precedence over chronology here (Fretheim). What is behind God's actions here? Luke-Acts Is God threatened after all by this tower of mud and slime that these men have built? The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. (v. 1). Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a 2. Soon the water rose around his neck, and he began to cry out in anguish, realizing that he hadn't learned enough. It is this that is the noteworthy feature of the humanity of that day: They were still one undivided people. 1. He found certain books with magic words, incantations, in them. We think we have solved this confusion by translating one language into another, but any linguist knows that language is much deeper than words; it is a basic, fundamental element, reflecting the thought of life and cultural pattern of a people. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brothers son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan (12:4-5a). GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, The Whole Bible All things were made through him. Therefore, he is constitutionally incapable of being the God he attempts to be. No, we need "dear old God," but let's keep him under control. Prophets God does not destroy the city or the tower, which suggests that the issue is not with the building projects, but more about the reasons for building. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.". From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth. It is a way of making God available to us. Though the imperfect forms of let us build and let us make a name for ourselves in vs. 4 both carry a cohortative meaning. When they discovered that they could use other than natural materials for building, but could invent their own, they were fired with desire to put these to work. If the goal of our plans is our name, however, good our project might seem, its end violates Gods purpose.
He is there, represented by this tower. WHAT WAS THE RESULT? Already God has been presented as the maker of heaven and earth, the One concerned about the minutest details of creation, the Omnipotent, Omniscient God who knows everything, sees everything and is all-powerful. Minor Prophets The repeated Come, lets reflects their willful autonomy. It is language designed to set in contrast the ridiculousness of the suppositions of men, and the greatness of the Being of God. 3. "Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." There is no place of rest in religions. God himself acknowledges it! lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth (v. 4d). They began to talk excitedly about building a city and a tower. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Even in the verse immediately preceding this lectionary text, Genesis 10:32, the survivors of the flood spread out over the earth. Those who want to settle and build a city are scattered by God because God wants them to continue to move and even diversify. People talk of their elevating experiences, but have you reached God? a. I may be a very self-sufficient, self-sustaining, resourceful person. At the end of the story, language is confused and people are scattered, reflecting their disunity (v. 9) (Roop, 82). The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, What seems grand from the peoples standpoint seems insignificant in scale to God. The problem was not a building project or a common language. Somehow a message reaches God about man's tower and he decides to come down and investigate. The tower, on the other hand, is designed to satisfy the spirit of man. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled (Matt. This ziggurat is thought to have been more than twice that high originally the height of a modern sixteen story building (Encyclopedia Britannica). Then we have the rebellion of the people of Babel, who determine not to be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth. (11:4).
Pentateuch We can still talk to one about Coca Cola, but not about freedom, not about God, not about what a neighbor is. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. WHY DOES MAN SEEK TO BUILD TOWERS TO HEAVEN? We ask in Jesus' name, Amen. The whole vast scheme of things eludes him; he is not able to put them all together. Chrysostom wrote of this story: Notice how the human race, instead of managing to keep to its own boundaries, always longs for more and reaches out for greater things. Atheism is too barren, too pessimistic, and too morally bankrupt to live with very long. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. Johannine Writings Instead, they pause for a while but immediately lose all recollection of it and take the same road as the others and fall over the same precipice.. Therein, Thereinto, Thereof, Thereon, Thereout, Thereto, Thereunto, Thereupon, Therewith - Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, H3068 - Yhv - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv), Don Stewart :: Why Is the Holy Spirit Called, "the Spirit of Jesus Christ" and, the "Spirit of Jesus? General Epistles (Matthew 5:3 RSV). B. Christianity is not man's effort to reach man. One reason why Genesis 11:1-9 has been interpreted and applied in such various ways with varying ethical implications is that the narrative is sparse, with very little explicit reason given for why God scattered the people and confused their language. A the language of the whole world (v. 9)[1]See Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary vol. In the beginning was the Word, All are to be satisfied in these two elementary needs, the city and the tower. One day when the master was away he prowled around among the sorcerer's magical paraphernalia. Subscribe | RSS | Privacy Disclaimer. When we think of Pentecost we immediately think of the book of Acts, when the Spirit came on the primitive community gathered in one place in the form of a strong wind that filled the house, and divided tongues of fire that rested on each of them (Acts 2:1-3). The passage is narrative. The ruins of the largest remaining ziggurat are 335 feet (102 meters) square and 80 feet (24 meters) high. The Whole Bible The determination of these people to burn their bricks thoroughly and to use the very best mortar reflects their interest in an enduring architecture in the kind of security that can be achieved by their own ingenuity and hard work rather than the kind of security that can be found through faith in God. It says this was a veritable Babel of confusion. That is the central thought of humanism, glory to mankind.
Poetical Books The Communists are finding this out. Then Abram obeys Gods command, Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your fathers house, to the land that I will show you (12:1). Note the four-fold repetition of the English phrase, Let us. ", David Guzik :: 1 Juan 2 Impedimentos para una comunin con Dios, David Guzik :: Hechos 2 El Espritu Santo Es Derramado Sobre la Iglesia, The 66 Books of the Bible - Study Resources, Revelation 1 (1982-85 Audio) (Chuck Smith), Daniel 9: 70th Week [1990s] (Chuck Missler), Intro. 1. This is always characteristic of Hamitic people wherever they have gone. The Old Testament Their native inventiveness becomes evident in the way they adapted to the environment in which they lived. against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying, To his consternation he realized that the tubs and basins were all full and the broom was still carrying in the water. The Gospels Here is this tower that men erect, thinking that it will take God's breath away, it will threaten him. range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed Man, in his inventiveness, thinks he can master the earth. The kings of the earth take a stand, I know that in certain circles the idea of a God who comes down to visit earth is regarded as an expression of a primitive concept of God -- that God lives up in heaven somewhere but is cut off from direct communication from earth and is dependent upon certain messenger boys who travel back and forth to keep him informed. He feels that if we can only get together, then, with our technological abilities, if we can just cooperate, we can do anything. In disobedience to Gods direct command to fill the earth, the people settled together in the land of Shinar. A number of years ago, digging in the plains of Shinar, archaeologists discovered the remains of certain great towers that these early Babylonians had built.
Lets break their bonds apart, Wisdom Literature Now their success in doing these things fired their ambition. There have been at least three main emphases in the interpretations, though they are not mutually exclusive. More likely, this is simply mankinds effort to build skyscrapers to make a name for themselves instead of following Gods command to fill the earth. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point "Let us make a name for ourselves," is a fundamental urge of a fallen race. Cookie Notice: The people at Babel try to prevent themselves from being scattered abroad (11:4), disobeying Gods command to replenish the earth (9:1) and to Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it (9:7), The wider context also includes the story of Abram in chapter 12. If we can merge -- this is the day of the merger, corporations are merging, nations are merging, companies are merging, churches are merging -- if we can just become one great community again, then, with our technological excellence we can master the earth. And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do now will he impossible for them." While it would be possible for this phrase to reflect only a tall structure, like our word skyscraper, Gods response (vv.
Minor Prophets Talking with young person the other day, decided to "take from each what appealed to them.". He cried out every magic word he knew, but nothing worked, and the broom kept on carrying in the buckets and dumping them on the floor. If we hope to understand life and handle it properly, we must understand what is going on in human society by understanding these issues that are presented here. From that day on, this has been the motto of humanity, "let us make a name for ourselves." Men think, "Here we are, we wild Promethean creatures; we've dared to invade the heavens! Prophets Bad exegesis has confused the interpretation of this passage.
The people are journeying in Genesis 11:2, but in the same verse they find and dwell in a plain in Shinar. and lets make ourselves a name (v. 4c). General Epistles
He loudly announces continually, "There's nothing we can't solve, nothing we can't do." They did not find rocks and stones to build with, such as they had in the land where they had previously lived, so they made bricks out of dirt and clay. In our story it was with brick & slime. They stopped building the city. Baked brick is much more durable than mud brick, and bitumen (asphalt or tar) is a durable mortar. Hamilton, Victor P., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990), Louth, Andrew, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament I, Genesis 1-11, (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2001), Mathews, Kenneth A., The New American Commentary: Volume 1a Genesis 1-11:26 (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), Plaut, W. Gunther, The Torah: A Modern Commentary (Revised Edition) (New York: Union for Reform Judaism, 2005), Roop, Eugene F., Believers Church Bible Commentaries: Genesis (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1987), Towner, W. Sibley, Westminster Bible Companion: Genesis (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), Von Rad, Gerhard, The Old Testament Library: Genesis, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1972), Wenham, Gordon J., Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 (Dallas: Word Books, 1987), Copyright 2006, 2010, Richard Niell Donovan, All Rights Reserved | 1997-2020 Richard Niell Donovan. Our theology frames and directs our understanding of texts. And Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. The New Testament
They made bricks and used asphalt for mortar and thus demonstrated how adaptable they were to the situation they found. The foreman would yell, but they wouldn't get it. Fretheim, Terence E., The Book of Genesis, The New Interpreters Bible, Volume 1: General Old Testament Articles, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994. The Old Testament GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point Genesis 10:10 located Babylon in Shinar, so the connection has been made even before the name Babel is given in 11:8. He says it is true; if man puts his genius to any given, specific task, then his native creativeness and his persistent spirit will solve the problem eventually. It is impossible to read it that way if you read it in the light of what has already been said about God in the book of Genesis. The fear of this caused them to build a tower and a city. 8So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. The phrase recalls the description of the men of renown in Gen. 6:4, which is literally translated men of name. Ironically, the people of the land of Shinar were trying to duplicate the sin that led to the flood.
1 (Waco: Word Books, 1987), 235. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_7662_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_7662_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], }); Gen. 1-11 essentially introduces us to every major concept that we will study in Scripture and prepares us for Gods history of redemption. Among other things, empires impose a single dominant language as Alexander the Great did in the Macedonian empire and thereby enforce a level of unity and conformity. Nothing will be prevented him. However, God does not think their motive to be insignificant. What the people fear in Genesis 11:4 comes to pass in Genesis 11:8, being scattered on the face of all the earth. But in Deuteronomy 30:3 just a few biblical books after Genesis is the first of many times when God promises to gather from all the places where God has scattered (see also Ezekiel 11:16-17; 20:34, 41; 28:25). Johannine Writings GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point Prophets It's what God has done. Today it is religion. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Use semicolons to separate groups: 'Gen;Jdg;Psa-Mal' or 'Rom 3-12;Mat 1:15;Mat 5:12-22', There are options set in 'Advanced Options', The Whole Bible Despite Gods direct statements in Genesis 11:6-7, there is a level of mystery about exactly why the response to the peoples unity, especially their unity of language, is to confound that language and scatter them. 1The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
Every religion is an effort by man to build a tower to heaven. This is why God continues to humble men everywhere, to scatter, to humiliate, to bring low the proud. So God says, "I'll come down and investigate." 1. They had then a substitute for stones and cement. and a tower whose top reaches to the sky (v. 4b). The nature of it is suggested here. That is what man named the tower. The ultimate motive is expressed in these words, "let us make a name for ourselves.". GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. However, some New Testament scholars place a caveat on reading the Day of Pentecost as a solution to the problem of the Tower of Babel.
So first we have Gods command, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth (9:1). We are all aware of the attempts to overcome this with awkward devices of translation.
The final answer is, to glorify himself, to be the center of things, to be the master of the universe, to be God, in other words. Wisdom Literature Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness. The problem was the arrogant defiance of Gods clear command. For permission to use this content, please review This text is offered as an alternative First Reading for the Day of Pentecost, with the instructions that if it is chosen, then Acts 2:1-21 gets used as the Second Reading. 4They said, Come, lets build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and lets make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.. The Psalmist continues: He who sits in the heavens will laugh. and forced the Jews into a half-century exile in Babylonia (2 Kings 24-25). Again, the three main threads of explanations, above, attempt to solve the mystery. A. The Bible plays upon the name for Babel, and links it with the Hebrew word for confusion, balal. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point They would try to explain but he couldn't understand them. But it was not really for the glory of God; it was a way of controlling God, a way of channeling God by using him for man's glory. Man did not discover all this at one time but learned how to make bricks and later how to burn them. But up in the real heavens this tower is so little that God can't see it. But in the Hamitic languages all is utter confusion. Both culture and translation stand between this significant passage and twenty-first century English-speaking interpreters. There is a dramatic contrast, then, between the people of Babel, who try to stay in one place rather than filling the earth, as God has called them to do, and Abram, who willingly goes where God calls him to go. But this language is not a primitive concept of God. There are two ways to reconcile the different languages of chapter 10 and the one language of chapter 11: The first possibility is that chapters 10 and 11 dont stand in chronological order that literary considerations (the pairing of positive and negative stories) have taken precedence over chronology here (Fretheim). What is behind God's actions here? Luke-Acts Is God threatened after all by this tower of mud and slime that these men have built? The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. (v. 1). Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a 2. Soon the water rose around his neck, and he began to cry out in anguish, realizing that he hadn't learned enough. It is this that is the noteworthy feature of the humanity of that day: They were still one undivided people. 1. He found certain books with magic words, incantations, in them. We think we have solved this confusion by translating one language into another, but any linguist knows that language is much deeper than words; it is a basic, fundamental element, reflecting the thought of life and cultural pattern of a people. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brothers son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan (12:4-5a). GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, The Whole Bible All things were made through him. Therefore, he is constitutionally incapable of being the God he attempts to be. No, we need "dear old God," but let's keep him under control. Prophets God does not destroy the city or the tower, which suggests that the issue is not with the building projects, but more about the reasons for building. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.". From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth. It is a way of making God available to us. Though the imperfect forms of let us build and let us make a name for ourselves in vs. 4 both carry a cohortative meaning. When they discovered that they could use other than natural materials for building, but could invent their own, they were fired with desire to put these to work. If the goal of our plans is our name, however, good our project might seem, its end violates Gods purpose.
He is there, represented by this tower. WHAT WAS THE RESULT? Already God has been presented as the maker of heaven and earth, the One concerned about the minutest details of creation, the Omnipotent, Omniscient God who knows everything, sees everything and is all-powerful. Minor Prophets The repeated Come, lets reflects their willful autonomy. It is language designed to set in contrast the ridiculousness of the suppositions of men, and the greatness of the Being of God. 3. "Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." There is no place of rest in religions. God himself acknowledges it! lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth (v. 4d). They began to talk excitedly about building a city and a tower. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Even in the verse immediately preceding this lectionary text, Genesis 10:32, the survivors of the flood spread out over the earth. Those who want to settle and build a city are scattered by God because God wants them to continue to move and even diversify. People talk of their elevating experiences, but have you reached God? a. I may be a very self-sufficient, self-sustaining, resourceful person. At the end of the story, language is confused and people are scattered, reflecting their disunity (v. 9) (Roop, 82). The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, What seems grand from the peoples standpoint seems insignificant in scale to God. The problem was not a building project or a common language. Somehow a message reaches God about man's tower and he decides to come down and investigate. The tower, on the other hand, is designed to satisfy the spirit of man. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled (Matt. This ziggurat is thought to have been more than twice that high originally the height of a modern sixteen story building (Encyclopedia Britannica). Then we have the rebellion of the people of Babel, who determine not to be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth. (11:4).
Pentateuch We can still talk to one about Coca Cola, but not about freedom, not about God, not about what a neighbor is. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. WHY DOES MAN SEEK TO BUILD TOWERS TO HEAVEN? We ask in Jesus' name, Amen. The whole vast scheme of things eludes him; he is not able to put them all together. Chrysostom wrote of this story: Notice how the human race, instead of managing to keep to its own boundaries, always longs for more and reaches out for greater things. Atheism is too barren, too pessimistic, and too morally bankrupt to live with very long. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. Johannine Writings Instead, they pause for a while but immediately lose all recollection of it and take the same road as the others and fall over the same precipice.. Therein, Thereinto, Thereof, Thereon, Thereout, Thereto, Thereunto, Thereupon, Therewith - Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, H3068 - Yhv - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv), Don Stewart :: Why Is the Holy Spirit Called, "the Spirit of Jesus Christ" and, the "Spirit of Jesus? General Epistles (Matthew 5:3 RSV). B. Christianity is not man's effort to reach man. One reason why Genesis 11:1-9 has been interpreted and applied in such various ways with varying ethical implications is that the narrative is sparse, with very little explicit reason given for why God scattered the people and confused their language. A the language of the whole world (v. 9)[1]See Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary vol. In the beginning was the Word, All are to be satisfied in these two elementary needs, the city and the tower. One day when the master was away he prowled around among the sorcerer's magical paraphernalia. Subscribe | RSS | Privacy Disclaimer. When we think of Pentecost we immediately think of the book of Acts, when the Spirit came on the primitive community gathered in one place in the form of a strong wind that filled the house, and divided tongues of fire that rested on each of them (Acts 2:1-3). The passage is narrative. The ruins of the largest remaining ziggurat are 335 feet (102 meters) square and 80 feet (24 meters) high. The Whole Bible The determination of these people to burn their bricks thoroughly and to use the very best mortar reflects their interest in an enduring architecture in the kind of security that can be achieved by their own ingenuity and hard work rather than the kind of security that can be found through faith in God. It says this was a veritable Babel of confusion. That is the central thought of humanism, glory to mankind.
Poetical Books The Communists are finding this out. Then Abram obeys Gods command, Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your fathers house, to the land that I will show you (12:1). Note the four-fold repetition of the English phrase, Let us. ", David Guzik :: 1 Juan 2 Impedimentos para una comunin con Dios, David Guzik :: Hechos 2 El Espritu Santo Es Derramado Sobre la Iglesia, The 66 Books of the Bible - Study Resources, Revelation 1 (1982-85 Audio) (Chuck Smith), Daniel 9: 70th Week [1990s] (Chuck Missler), Intro. 1. This is always characteristic of Hamitic people wherever they have gone. The Old Testament Their native inventiveness becomes evident in the way they adapted to the environment in which they lived. against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying, To his consternation he realized that the tubs and basins were all full and the broom was still carrying in the water. The Gospels Here is this tower that men erect, thinking that it will take God's breath away, it will threaten him. range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed Man, in his inventiveness, thinks he can master the earth. The kings of the earth take a stand, I know that in certain circles the idea of a God who comes down to visit earth is regarded as an expression of a primitive concept of God -- that God lives up in heaven somewhere but is cut off from direct communication from earth and is dependent upon certain messenger boys who travel back and forth to keep him informed. He feels that if we can only get together, then, with our technological abilities, if we can just cooperate, we can do anything. In disobedience to Gods direct command to fill the earth, the people settled together in the land of Shinar. A number of years ago, digging in the plains of Shinar, archaeologists discovered the remains of certain great towers that these early Babylonians had built.
Lets break their bonds apart, Wisdom Literature Now their success in doing these things fired their ambition. There have been at least three main emphases in the interpretations, though they are not mutually exclusive. More likely, this is simply mankinds effort to build skyscrapers to make a name for themselves instead of following Gods command to fill the earth. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point "Let us make a name for ourselves," is a fundamental urge of a fallen race. Cookie Notice: The people at Babel try to prevent themselves from being scattered abroad (11:4), disobeying Gods command to replenish the earth (9:1) and to Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it (9:7), The wider context also includes the story of Abram in chapter 12. If we can merge -- this is the day of the merger, corporations are merging, nations are merging, companies are merging, churches are merging -- if we can just become one great community again, then, with our technological excellence we can master the earth. And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do now will he impossible for them." While it would be possible for this phrase to reflect only a tall structure, like our word skyscraper, Gods response (vv.
Minor Prophets Talking with young person the other day, decided to "take from each what appealed to them.". He cried out every magic word he knew, but nothing worked, and the broom kept on carrying in the buckets and dumping them on the floor. If we hope to understand life and handle it properly, we must understand what is going on in human society by understanding these issues that are presented here. From that day on, this has been the motto of humanity, "let us make a name for ourselves." Men think, "Here we are, we wild Promethean creatures; we've dared to invade the heavens! Prophets Bad exegesis has confused the interpretation of this passage.
The people are journeying in Genesis 11:2, but in the same verse they find and dwell in a plain in Shinar. and lets make ourselves a name (v. 4c). General Epistles
He loudly announces continually, "There's nothing we can't solve, nothing we can't do." They did not find rocks and stones to build with, such as they had in the land where they had previously lived, so they made bricks out of dirt and clay. In our story it was with brick & slime. They stopped building the city. Baked brick is much more durable than mud brick, and bitumen (asphalt or tar) is a durable mortar. Hamilton, Victor P., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990), Louth, Andrew, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament I, Genesis 1-11, (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2001), Mathews, Kenneth A., The New American Commentary: Volume 1a Genesis 1-11:26 (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), Plaut, W. Gunther, The Torah: A Modern Commentary (Revised Edition) (New York: Union for Reform Judaism, 2005), Roop, Eugene F., Believers Church Bible Commentaries: Genesis (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1987), Towner, W. Sibley, Westminster Bible Companion: Genesis (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), Von Rad, Gerhard, The Old Testament Library: Genesis, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1972), Wenham, Gordon J., Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1-15 (Dallas: Word Books, 1987), Copyright 2006, 2010, Richard Niell Donovan, All Rights Reserved | 1997-2020 Richard Niell Donovan. Our theology frames and directs our understanding of texts. And Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. The New Testament
They made bricks and used asphalt for mortar and thus demonstrated how adaptable they were to the situation they found. The foreman would yell, but they wouldn't get it. Fretheim, Terence E., The Book of Genesis, The New Interpreters Bible, Volume 1: General Old Testament Articles, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994. The Old Testament GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point Genesis 10:10 located Babylon in Shinar, so the connection has been made even before the name Babel is given in 11:8. He says it is true; if man puts his genius to any given, specific task, then his native creativeness and his persistent spirit will solve the problem eventually. It is impossible to read it that way if you read it in the light of what has already been said about God in the book of Genesis. The fear of this caused them to build a tower and a city. 8So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. The phrase recalls the description of the men of renown in Gen. 6:4, which is literally translated men of name. Ironically, the people of the land of Shinar were trying to duplicate the sin that led to the flood.
1 (Waco: Word Books, 1987), 235. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_7662_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_7662_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], }); Gen. 1-11 essentially introduces us to every major concept that we will study in Scripture and prepares us for Gods history of redemption. Among other things, empires impose a single dominant language as Alexander the Great did in the Macedonian empire and thereby enforce a level of unity and conformity. Nothing will be prevented him. However, God does not think their motive to be insignificant. What the people fear in Genesis 11:4 comes to pass in Genesis 11:8, being scattered on the face of all the earth. But in Deuteronomy 30:3 just a few biblical books after Genesis is the first of many times when God promises to gather from all the places where God has scattered (see also Ezekiel 11:16-17; 20:34, 41; 28:25). Johannine Writings GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point Prophets It's what God has done. Today it is religion. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Use semicolons to separate groups: 'Gen;Jdg;Psa-Mal' or 'Rom 3-12;Mat 1:15;Mat 5:12-22', There are options set in 'Advanced Options', The Whole Bible Despite Gods direct statements in Genesis 11:6-7, there is a level of mystery about exactly why the response to the peoples unity, especially their unity of language, is to confound that language and scatter them. 1The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
Every religion is an effort by man to build a tower to heaven. This is why God continues to humble men everywhere, to scatter, to humiliate, to bring low the proud. So God says, "I'll come down and investigate." 1. They had then a substitute for stones and cement. and a tower whose top reaches to the sky (v. 4b). The nature of it is suggested here. That is what man named the tower. The ultimate motive is expressed in these words, "let us make a name for ourselves.". GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. However, some New Testament scholars place a caveat on reading the Day of Pentecost as a solution to the problem of the Tower of Babel.