Genesis 11

Genesis 11:1-9

The Tower of Babel - We know the seventy nations listed in Genesis 10:1-32 spoke many languages (see Genesis 10:31). Thus, the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) gives an explanation to the readers of how the descends of Noah listed in chapter 10 became divided into tongues and nations. Therefore, the events of Gen 10:1-32 do not necessarily precede all of the events in Genesis 11:1-9. For example, the Tower of Babel probably took place during the time of Peleg when the nations of the earth were divided (Genesis 10:25). Genesis 10:25, “And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.” The Confusion of Tongues - In Genesis 11:6 God said that because the people of the earth have one language, nothing could be held back from them which they imagined to do. Therefore, He confused their tongues. How did the confusion of tongues provide a remedy for the halting of man’s accomplishments? If you look at the world today with its several hundred nations and many more cultural groups, you immediately recognize that this division keeps people from working together to accomplish great feats. Because the United States of America is united under one government and one economy, it has been able to achieve the greatest technological advances in the history of mankind. Therefore, when God confused the tongues at the Tower of Babel, it did not limit man’s imaginations, but it did limit man’s ability to come together for the purpose of creating what he had imagined. We also have to note that for this many people with a common tongue to immediately begin to speak a multitude of languages would mean that the “gift of tongues” had been poured out in a similar way to the day of Pentecost. Genesis 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. Genesis 11:2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. Genesis 11:2 — “a plain in the land of Shinar” - Comments - The “plain in the land of Shinar” is believed to located in the southern part of Mesopotamia, which later became known as Babylon.[166] [166] R. F. Youngblood, F. F. Bruce, R. K. Harrison, and Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, rev. ed. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), “Shinar.” Genesis 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. Genesis 11:3 — “they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter” – Word Study on “slime” – Strong says the Hebrew word “slime” (çֵ ?îָ ?ø) (H2564) means, “bitumen (as rising to the surface), slime (-pit).” Comment - Since there were no stones in this region of the fertile plain, they baked the mud in ovens to make brick. Also located in this region is a form of bitumen, a mineral pitch, which, when hardened, forms a strong cement. John Gill says this bitumen, or slime, has been used here for thousands of years.[167] [167] John Gill, Genesis, in John Gill’s Expositor, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on Genesis 11:3.Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. Genesis 11:4 — “whose top may reach unto heaven” – Comments - The phrase “whose top may reach unto heaven” is a figurative expression that describes a tower of great height. Note other passages of Scripture that use this expression and were written by the same author. Deuteronomy 1:28, “Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.” Deuteronomy 9:1, “Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,” Genesis 11:4 — “let us make us a name” - Comments - Man chose to place his name as an eternal memorial in Babel; but God has a different plan. The Lord chose to place His name in Zion. Therefore, man was out of God’s will. Man was walking after the imagination of his own heart. In fact, we see in the life of Abraham that God had already chosen Jerusalem and ordained Melchizedek as priest in this holy place as early as 2000 B.C. (Genesis 14:18) Genesis 14:18, “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” The city of Babel is called Babylon in the book of Revelations. This city will again rise out of the ruins to be a great adversary against the Church. Revelation 14:8, “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Genesis 11:4 — “lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” - Comments - The Lord had commanded man to replenish the earth (Genesis 1:28). Man was out of God’s will by gathering in one location only. Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Genesis 11:4 — Comments - It is interesting to note how man was striving to reach this goal of making himself a great name without the help of God. Yet, Abraham followed the ways of the Lord and received a great name. Genesis 12:2, “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:” Genesis 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Genesis 11:6 — “and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do” – Comments - God has allowed man to eventually build and develop everything which he has at one time only imagined and dreamed about. For example, the French novelist Jules Verne (1828-1905) wrote of submarines (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea [1870]) and spaceships going to the moon (From the Earth to the Moon [1865]) centuries before these events came to pass long before they were invented.[168] [168] Thomas H. Goetz, “Jules Verne,” in The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 20 (Chicago: World Book, Inc., 1994), 362.Genesis 11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. Genesis 11:7 — Comments - In Genesis 11:7 man began to speak many different languages. How did God perform this miraculous event with the tongues of men? One similar miracle to compare is the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-11, where the Lord once again caused the early church to speak in many languages through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Note the fact that Scripture tells us that the events that man experiences are repeated in history: Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.” Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:11-22 that the Father’s divine plan in redemption is to break down the dividing walls among nations in order to build a habitation for God to dwell among His people. Thus, He is trying to bring unity back to the people on the earth. The first time God poured out His Spirit at the Tower of Babel was to divide the peoples into nations. The second time was the day of Pentecost and it was intended to bring all nations back into one group making peace. In Genesis 11:1-9 the gift of tongues was intended to divide the people into nations. In contrast, the gift of tongues that was poured out on the day of Pentecost was intended to unite all people into one new man in Christ Jesus. This is why the Jews of the Diaspora clearly understood them speaking in their own language in order for them to hear the Gospel and become one in Christ Jesus.Genesis 11:7 — Comments - If God can confound a language, then he can adequately provide the means to spread the Gospel to various languages on the earth today. Genesis 11:8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Genesis 11:8 — Comments - If God had not confounded the tongues of men, and they had maintained one language, then they would have been able to give birth to the inventions that we are just discovering today. But, because men have been divided by war and hatred, knowledge has been slow to increase upon the earth. Genesis 11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:9 — “Therefore is the name of it called Babel” – Comments - The ISBE says, “Babylon was the Greek name of the city written in the cuneiform script of the Babylonians, bab-ili, which means in Semitic, ‘the gate of god.’ The Hebrews called the country, as well as the city, Babhel. This name they considered came from the root, balal, ‘to confound’.”[169] [169] A.T. Clay, “Babel,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., c1915, 1939), in The Sword Project, v. 1.5.11 [CD-ROM] (Temple, AZ: CrossWire Bible Society, 1990-2008).Genesis 11:9 — “from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth” - Comments - Note a reference to this event in several passages of Scripture: Deuteronomy 32:8, “When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.” Acts 17:26, “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” This scattering was the result of God judging a people for their sins. This event is similar to how God judged the nation of Israel by sending them into captivity by using the Assyrians and Babylonians. Psalms 55:9, “Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.” Note the fact that Scripture tells us that the events that mankind experiences are repeated in history. Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.” Genesis 11:9 — Scripture References - Note Genesis 10:10 regarding Nimrod, who founded the kingdom of Babel, “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”

Genesis 11:10-26

The Genealogy of Shem – Shem’s Divine Destiny - The fifth genealogy in the book of Genesis is entitled “The Genealogy of Shem” (Genesis 11:10-26), which reveals the role of Shem in producing Abraham has a descendant, through which God would produce a righteous seed. Shem’s destiny was not marked by a personal, divine intervention. He simply was called to be fruitful and multiply a righteous seed. Thus, his genealogy culminates with the birth of the sons of Terah, one of which was Abraham. Mankind’s Shortened Lifespan - Note how the length of man’s life begins to decreases during this time period from the longevity before the Flood to the limit of one hundred twenty years instituted by God in Genesis 6:3. This shortened lifespan was certainly affected as well by the new and more harsh characteristics of the post-flood environment on earth. We all aspire to live as long as our fathers, so men must have despaired of their decreasing life spans reflected in this genealogy. Genesis 6:3, “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 11:10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: Genesis 11:11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. Genesis 11:12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: Genesis 11:13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. Genesis 11:14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: Genesis 11:15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. Genesis 11:16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: Genesis 11:16 — Comments - According to Genesis 11:10-16, Peleg was born one hundred and one (101) years after the flood. Genesis 11:17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. Genesis 11:18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: Genesis 11:18 — Word Study on “Reu” – Strong says the Hebrew name “Reu” “ruw” (ψְ ?ςεּ) (H7466) means, “friend,” and is derived from the primitive root (ψָ ?ςָ ?δ) (H7462), which means, “to pasture, tend, graze, feed,” and “to associate with, (Hithpael) to be companions, (Piel) to be a special friend.” PTW says it means, “friendship.” Comments - Perhaps the name Reu indicates that the children of men were not scattering over the earth to inhabit it; rather, they were gathering together in the land of Shinar in order to be one people, which was against God’s command to inhabit the whole earth. Genesis 11:19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. Genesis 11:20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: Genesis 11:20 — Word Study on “Serug” – Gesenius says the Hebrew name “Serug” (ωְׂ ?ψεּ ?β) (H8286) means, “shoot.” Hitchcock says it means, “branch, layer, twining.” PTW says that the name means, “strength, firmness.” Strong says it means, “branch,” and is derived from the primitive root (ωָׂ ?ψַ ?β) (H8276), which means, “to be intertwined.” Comments - The Book of Jubilees (11.6-7) tells us that Reu changed the name of his son from Seroh to Serug during his day because everyone turned to do all manner of sin and evil.Genesis 11:21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. Genesis 11:22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: Genesis 11:23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. Genesis 11:24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: Genesis 11:24 — Word Study on “Terah” – Gesenius says the Hebrew name “Terah” (ϊֶּ ?ψַ ?η) (H8646) is from an unused root that means, “to delay.” Strong says the name means, “station.” PTW says that the name means, “turning, duration.” Comments - The Book of Jubilees tells us that Nahor named his son Terah because reduced them to destitution by eating the seeds that they had planted. “And she bare him Terah in the seventh year of this week. [1806 A.M.] And the prince Mastema sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which was sown in the land, in order to destroy the land, and rob the children of men of their labours. Before they could plough in the seed, the ravens picked (it) from the surface of the ground. And for this reason he called his name Terah because the ravens and the birds reduced them to destitution and devoured their seed. And the years began to be barren, owing to the birds, and they devoured all the fruit of the trees from the trees: it was only with great effort that they could save a little of all the fruit of the earth in their days.” (The Book of Jubilees 11.10-14) Genesis 11:25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. Genesis 11:26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Genesis 11:26 — Word Study on “Abram” – Strong says the Hebrew name “Abram” (ΰַ ?αְ ?ψָ ?ν) (H87) means, “high father.” Comments - The Book of Jubilees tells us that Abram was named after his grandfather who carried this same name because he died before his daughter has conceived a son. “And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week in the first year, [1870 A.M.] Terah took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Edna, the daughter of ‘Abram, the daughter of his father’s sister. And in the seventh year of this week [1876 A.M.] she bare him a son, and he called his name Abram, by the name of the father of his mother; for he had died before his daughter had conceived a son.” (The Book of Jubilees 11.14-15) Genesis 11:26 — Comments - Noah was 892 years old when Abraham was born. Noah lived to be 950 years old. Thus, Noah could have easily told Abraham personally about the flood and pre-flood history in those 58 years that overlapped their lives. Noah’s son, Shem, was 392 years when Abraham was born. Therefore, Abraham could have learned the stories of the origins of man from Noah himself.

Genesis 11:27-50

The Calling of the Patriarchs of Israel – We can find two major divisions within the book of Genesis that reveal God’s foreknowledge in designing a plan of redemption to establish a righteous people upon earth. Paul reveals this four-fold plan in Romans 8:29-30 : predestination, calling, justification, and glorification. Romans 8:29-30, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” The book of Genesis will reflect the first two phase of redemption, which are predestination and calling. We find in the first division in Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3 emphasizing predestination. The Creation Story gives us God’s predestined plan for mankind, which is to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth with righteous offspring. The second major division is found in Genesis 2:4 to Genesis 50:25, which gives us ten genealogies, in which God calls men of righteousness to play a role in His divine plan of redemption. The foundational theme of Gen 2:4 to Genesis 11:26 is the divine calling for mankind to be fruitful and multiply, which commission was given to Adam prior to the Flood (Genesis 1:28-29), and to Noah after the Flood (Genesis 9:1). The establishment of the seventy nations prepares us for the calling out of Abraham and his sons, which story fills the rest of the book of Genesis. Thus, God’s calling through His divine foreknowledge (Genesis 11:27 to Genesis 50:26) will focus the calling of Abraham and his descendants to establish the nation of Israel. God will call the patriarchs to fulfill the original purpose and intent of creation, which is to multiply into a righteous nation, for which mankind was originally predestined to fulfill. The generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob take up a large portion of the book of Genesis. These genealogies have a common structure in that they all begin with God revealing Himself to a patriarch and giving him a divine commission, and they close with God fulfilling His promise to each of them because of their faith in His promise. God promised Abraham a son through Sarah his wife that would multiply into a nation, and Abraham demonstrated his faith in this promise on Mount Moriah. God promised Isaac two sons, with the younger receiving the first-born blessing, and this was fulfilled when Jacob deceived his father and received the blessing above his brother Esau. Jacob’s son Joseph received two dreams of ruling over his brothers, and Jacob testified to his faith in this promise by following Joseph into the land of Egypt. Thus, these three genealogies emphasize God’s call and commission to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their response of faith in seeing God fulfill His word to each of them.

1. The Generations of Terah (& Abraham) — Genesis 11:27 to Genesis 25:112. The Generations Ishmael — Genesis 25:12-183. The Generations of Isaac — Genesis 25:19 to Genesis 35:294. The Generations of Esau — Genesis 36:1-435. The Generations of Jacob — Genesis 37:1 to Genesis 50:26 The Origin of the Nation of Israel – After Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 9:29 takes us through the origin of the heavens and the earth as we know them today, and Genesis 10:1 to Genesis 11:26 explains the origin of the seventy nations (Genesis 10:1 to Genesis 11:26), we see that the rest of the book of Genesis focuses upon the origin of the nation of Israel (Genesis 11:27 to Genesis 50:26). Thus, each of these major divisions serves as a foundation upon which the next division is built. Paul the apostle reveals the four phases of God the Father’s plan of redemption for mankind through His divine foreknowledge of all things in Romans 8:29-30, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Predestination - Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 11:26 emphasizes the theme of God the Father’s predestined purpose of the earth, which was to serve mankind, and of mankind, which was to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with righteousness. Calling - Genesis 11:27 to Genesis 50:26 will place emphasis upon the second phase of God’s plan of redemption for mankind, which is His divine calling to fulfill His purpose of multiplying and filling the earth with righteousness. (The additional two phases of Justification and Glorification will unfold within the rest of the books of the Pentateuch.) This second section of Genesis can be divided into five genealogies. The three genealogies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob begin with a divine calling to a patriarch. The two shorter genealogies of Ishmael and Esau are given simply because they inherit a measure of divine blessings as descendants of Abraham, but they will not play a central role in God’s redemptive plan for mankind. God will implement phase two of His divine plan of redemption by calling one man named Abraham to depart unto the Promised Land (Genesis 12:1-3), and this calling was fulfilled by the patriarch.

Isaac’s calling can also be found at the beginning of his genealogy, where God commands him to dwell in the Promised Land (Genesis 26:1-6), and this calling was fulfilled by the patriarch Isaac. Jacob’s calling was fulfilled as he bore twelve sons and took them into Egypt where they multiplied into a nation.

The opening passage of Jacob’s genealogy reveals that his destiny would be fulfilled through the dream of his son Joseph (Genesis 37:1-11), which took place in the land of Egypt. Perhaps Jacob did not receive such a clear calling as Abraham and Isaac because his early life was one of deceit, rather than of righteousness obedience to God; so the Lord had to reveal His plan for Jacob through his righteous son Joseph. In a similar way, God spoke to righteous kings of Israel, and was silent to those who did not serve Him. Thus, the three patriarchs of Israel received a divine calling, which they fulfilled in order for the nation of Israel to become established in the land of Egypt. Perhaps the reason the Lord sent the Jacob and the seventy souls into Egypt to multiply rather than leaving them in the Promised Land is that the Israelites would have intermarried the cultic nations around them and failed to produce a nation of righteousness. God’s ways are always perfect.

1. The Generations of Terah (& Abraham) — Genesis 11:27 to Genesis 25:112. The Generations Ishmael — Genesis 25:12-183. The Generations of Isaac — Genesis 25:19 to Genesis 35:294. The Generations of Esau — Genesis 36:1-435. The Generations of Jacob — Genesis 37:1 to Genesis 50:26 Divine Miracles – It is important to note that up until now the Scriptures record no miracles in the lives of men. Thus, we will observe that divine miracles begin with Abraham and the children of Israel. Testimonies reveal today that the Jews are still recipients of God’s miracles as He divinely intervenes in this nation to fulfill His purpose and plan for His people. Yes, God is working miracles through His New Testament Church, but miracles had their beginning with the nation of Israel.