Genesis
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.
The Descendants of Shem
These are the descendants of Shem:
When Shem was a hundred years old, two years after the flood, he became the father of Arpachshad. After the birth of Arpachshad,
Shem lived for five hundred years and had more sons and daughters.
When Arpachshad was thirty-five years old, he became the father of Shelah.
After the birth of Shelah, Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years, and he had more sons and daughters.
When Shelah was thirty years old, he became the father of Eber. After the birth of Eber,
Shelah lived for four hundred and three years more, and he had more sons and daughters.
When Eber was thirty-four years old, he became the father of Peleg. After Peleg’s birth,
Eber lived four hundred and thirty years and had more sons and daughters.
When Peleg turned thirty, he became the father of Reu.
Peleg lived for two hundred and nine years and had many sons and daughters.
When Reu was thirty-two years old, he became the father of Serug.
Reu lived for two hundred and seven years, having many sons and daughters.
When Serug was thirty years old, he became the father of Nahor.
After Nahor’s birth, Serug lived for two hundred more years and had additional sons and daughters. Serug lived for two hundred more years and had additional sons and daughters.
When Nahor was twenty-nine years old, he became the father of Terah. After Terah’s birth,
Nahor lived for a hundred and nineteen more years, during which he had many sons and daughters.
When Terah was seventy, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
These are the descendants of Terah: Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.Haran became the father of Lot.
Haran died before his father, Terah, in his native land, Ur of the Chaldeans.
Abram and Nahor married: Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was the father of Milcah and Iscah.
Sarai was barren and had no children.
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law (the wife of Abram) and made them leave Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. However, upon arriving in Haran, they settled there.
Terah lived for two hundred and five years and died in Haran.
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?
The Descendants of Shem.
This new genealogy, characteristic of the priestly school (P), seeks to present the distant origins of Abraham, the patriarch of the Semites.