Bible Verse Lookup
Gen 11:1-9
Chapter 11
The Tower of Babel
The entire world spoke one language and had a common speech.
As the people traveled from the east, they discovered a plain in the land of Shinar where they settled.
They said to one another:
“Come, let us make bricks and bake them in the fire.”
They used brick for stone and bitumen for mortar.
They also said:
“Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top reaching heaven; so that we may become a great people and not be scattered over the face of the earth!”
The LORD came down to observe the city and the tower that the sons of men were constructing.
And the LORD said:
“They are one people and they have one language. Nothing they decide to do from now on will be impossible if they carry this through.
Come! Let us go down and confuse their language so that they will no longer understand each other.”
So the LORD scattered them across the earth, and they ceased building the city.
That is why it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from there the LORD dispersed them over the entire surface of the earth.
Commentaries
The Tower of Babel.
An ancient interpretation teaches us that this story explains the origin of the diversity of peoples, cultures, and languages as a punishment from God against those who supposedly “spoke one language.” In reality, its message is more profound. The Hebrew text states that “the whole earth had one mouth,” an expression that seems somewhat strange to us and has led translators to use modern equivalents to clarify it. Yet, they fail to grasp the extraordinary denunciation that the literal text conveys.
In various texts from the Ancient East, archaeologists have discovered this same expression, which conveys the domination of a single lord. See the prism of Tiglath-Pileser (1115-1077 B.C.): “From the beginning of my reign, until my fifth year of rule, my hand conquered all over 42 territories and their princes… I turned them into ‘one mouth’, I took hostages and imposed tribute on them.” Note that the expression “one mouth” has little to do with linguistic aspects but much to do with political elements. Every defeated people were subjected to the will of the victorious king, the “one mouth.” From this perspective, our text does not so much reveal God’s punishment as his opposition to tyrannical domination.
In ancient times, the top floor of the towers was reserved for the divinity. It resembled a bridal chamber, where the divinity would descend to bless the one in power, the emperor, and thereby bless his policies. This account challenges and corrects that belief. The Lord descends from heaven, not to join the power that has constructed the tower, but to destroy it and, incidentally, to liberate the people from subjugation and servitude. It is not, therefore, a punishment, but an act of liberation by God.
In light of the story’s meaning, believers have a valuable tool to critically reexamine the political and religious realities in which they live. In recent years, the world has become increasingly globalized. But is this project beneficial for everyone? Who does it serve, especially the most vulnerable? Does it respect people’s cultural, political, economic, and religious identities?