The Tower of Babel is a story of the dispersal of humanity along with the confusion of languages. While most scholars picture this tower as a ziggurat, there is no known parallel to this story among the ANE peoples. We are not compelled to visualize this tower as a ziggurat. It might have just been a defense tower like we see in Judges 8:9 and 9:46. The word is used 45 times throughout the OT. God has been clear that He wanted man to multiply and spread across the earth (1:28; 9:1, 7). Man had refused to obey God’s command to “fill the earth” by living in one location.
We do not know much about the ancient history of Babylon, one of the oldest nations in man’s history. The Euphrates River has shifted over time and buried lower levels. There is no significant information about Babylon until it becomes the capital of the empire which bears its name in the 18th century B. C.
Shinar is the land of Mesopotamia which was first called Sumer, then “Sumer and Akkad,” and finally Babylonia. Moses shows a very accurate and detailed knowledge of construction techniques of Mesopotamian culture. Bitumen used for mortar adds strength and cohesion to the bricks. Bitumen was found early in man’s history in Mesopotamia. On the other hand, stones were used for such building projects in Canaan. Babylon will not appear again in Genesis or the Pentateuch as a whole. “Ur of the Chaldeans,” south of Babylon, is the home of Terah and his family (11:28, 31; 15:7; Neh. 9:7).
God had intended the human population to be fruitful, multiply, and spread over the earth. Man wanted to stay in one place and make a reputation (“name”) for himself. Moses begins the account by stating the unity of language and communication which mankind had. That sets up the scene for the people to unite their strengths and skills to build this great building or tower.
The people journeyed east, indicating a further move from the presence of God (cf. 3:24; 4:16). They came to the infamous land of Babylonia, Shinar. There, this people began making kiln-fired bricks and adding mortar to it. The first thing they decide they want to build is a “city.” Then they want to build the “large building,” or better known as a tower: The tower of Babel. There were really two goals to their building project: making a name (reputation) for themselves and rebelling against God’s command to scatter.
Israel understood that God sits above the earth (Isa. 40:22) so that for God to come down to see man illustrates the weakness of man’s ability to reach heaven (cf. Psa. 139:7-12). The whole incident makes a mockery of man’s pride. The OT is also consistent in teaching that God is omniscient (Prov. 15:3; Jer. 23:24; cf. Heb. 4:13) so that He does not have to literally “come down” to see what man is doing.
God saw the power of their unity, the power of their united language. If God were to let them go, they would fall into the same cesspool of violence, sin, and corruption of the pre-flood world. God decided to confuse their language so that they could no longer communicate in building their large building. Once God confused their language, they eventually scattered, fulfilling reluctantly the command of God to fill the earth. It seems that the building of the city, to stay in one place, was the heart of their rebellion against God.
I get e-mailed quite often with people asking cheap viagra pfizer me about causes of impotence. Make sure that you read the order cialis http://new.castillodeprincesas.com/item-6074 packaging provided with every product. This kind of viagra no prescription cheap is called cialis. Impotence is a common issue and all of us should hope to gain in our Bank balances!!! Well, there is some talk of the town. buy viagra on line
Moses then highlights the shame of the people, saying the land was called “Babel” (bbl in Hebrew) since God “confused” (bll) their language. So Jehovah God scattered the people. There are two references to God “scattering” the people; again, their sin was refusing to fill the earth. God forced them to scatter by confusing their languages. They had intended to make a “name” for themselves; instead, God caused them to be known for their shame. God will take the initiative to make Abram a “great name” (12:2).
Contemporaries in the text – The sin of the Babylonians was in refusing to fill the earth as God had commanded (9:7). The large building, unfinished, became testimony to all those who remained in the vicinity that they should obey God’s command. Darkness and confusion will result when one refuses to listen and obey God’s word.
Contemporaries in Moses’ day – Coming out of Egypt, the Israelites needed constant reminders that idolatry would be punished. They needed to be warned that “making a name for yourself,” especially if it meant violating God’s commandments, was a dead-end street. The tower of Babel would teach them that lesson. But, would they listen?
Later Hebrew writers – Isaiah, in words that are reminiscent of the tower of Babel (14:13-15), chastises Babylon (14:4) for her arrogance and sin. The Israelites who lived through the Babylonian invasion and exile should have known that God has the ability to stop their behavior and confuse their plans, if only Israel would stay faithful to God.
NT writers – Some see the events of the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), preaching the Gospel in the languages of the people and drawing them into a single body of Christ, as a reversal of the events here at Babel. While there is no linguistic reason to see Luke referring to Genesis 11, theologically, it is correct that the existence of the church of Christ undoes the division of languages brought about by sin.
Paul Holland
