1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
Up until now there had been one human language. Whatever language was spoken by Noah and his sons, was likely the same language used by Adam and Eve. The implications of this statement are outstanding. Language is a huge part of how humans think and interpret the world around them. To say that all the earth spoke the same language is to say that everyone understood thought in a similar manner, and understood the world to be a certain way.
2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
The people started to do something in direct objection to God’s will. One of Gods first commands to mankind was to “fill the earth and subdue it.” However, the people were instead gathering into one place, not willing to travel outside of Shinar.
In addition, the reason stated for building the tower, to “make a name for ourselves,” suggests that rather than continue to worship God, mankind wanted to be respected as lords over the earth. In a sense they founded a form of humanism, wanting to set mankind up as god.
The tower they built was likely a ziggurat, a sort of stepped pyramid, that had several levels that got consistently smaller as they reached higher into the sky. Many such structured existed in ancient Babylon, although the specific Tower of Babel has not been found.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
Even though the tower was supposed to reach into the heavens, God still has to come down to see it.
6 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 will now be impossible for them.
God’s observations here are incredible. Noting that mankind has one language, He states that nothing will be impossible for them. Consider how language works today. In a sense everyone has their own version of language. Even if large groups of people speak the same language, each individual person within that group has a slightly different understanding of that language. Before Babel, everyone had the same understanding of their language. They could communicate without any difficult or confusion, and everyone would understand exactly what each other was saying. This allowed them to develop technologies and new ideas quickly, it allowed them to effortlessly organize large scale projects, with a common goal.
It is easy to read this as God being threatened by this idea. He is not threatened, but He sees that mankind is rebelling against Him.
7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
God confuses the language of mankind, takes away their ability to do everything with perfect communication. While this could be understood as God suddenly causing each person to speak a different language, it is also likely that He merely starts allowing mankind to think differently from each other, so they no longer able to perfectly communicate their thoughts with each other. It was likely a combination of both. Ever since Babel, language has been changing and developing, it is no longer static.
8 So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
After the abandoning of the building of the tower, the place was called Babel, a play on the Hebrew word for confusion. The play on words is one that spans across many languages. Even our English word “babble,” meaning “to talk in an incomprehensible way,” is related to Babel. The land is not altogether abandoned however, and eventually becomes Babylon.
In addition to confusing their language, God scatters mankind across the earth, the very thing they were trying to avoid. This begins the formation of people groups and nations. Whether God specifically moved each group of people to their new homeland, or if mankind simply scatted due to frustration in not being able to communicate, the text is not clear. What is clear is that this is where mankind begins to become diverse in speech, appearance, and custom.
This also was a shift in focus for God. Rather than focusing on mankind as a whole, He is choosing to find a specific people group to work with. By scattering the people in this manner, He had opened the doors for them to start worshiping false gods. He will however reveal Himself to a single people group, through which He will bring salvation to all the earth. Specifically through the descendants of Shem.
10 These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
The narrative now shifts again, instead of focusing on all of the sons of Noah, it is focusing specifically on Shem’s descendants. When read in combination with the genealogy from Genesis 5, this genealogy continues to offer an way to calculate how much time has passed since the fall.
Noah was 500 years old when he was told to build the ark, and 600 when the flood came. Shem was 98 years old when the flood started, and 100 years old when he fathered his firstborn, Arpachshad. Noah was 602. This suggests that Shem, who was likely the firstborn, was born when Noah was about 502, so either Shem was not the firstborn, or the genealogies are estimating, especially when it concerns the birth of multiple children.
12 When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. 13 And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
Arpachshad is 35 when Shelah is born. Shem is 135. Noah is 637.
14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. 15 And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
Shelah is 30 years old when Eber (from whom the word Hebrew comes) is born. Arpachshad is 65. Shem is 165. Noah is 667.
16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. 17 And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
Eber is 34 years when Peleg is born. Peleg is born near the events of the Tower of Babel. Shelah is 64. Arpachshad is 99. Shem is 199. Noah is 701. All of them lived through the events at the Tower of Babel.
18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. 19 And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
Peleg is 30 years old when Reu is born. Eber is 64. Shelah is 94. Arpachshad is 129. Shem is 229. Noah is 731.
20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. 21 And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
Reu is 32 when Serug is born. Peleg is 62. Eber is 96. Shelah is 126. Arpachshad is 161. Shem is 261. Noah is 763.
22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. 23 And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
Serug is 30 when Nahor is born. Reu is 62. Peleg is 92. Eber is 126. Shelah is 156. Arpachshad is 191. Shem is 291. Noah is 793.
24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. 25 And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
Nahor is 29 when Terah is born. Serug is 59. Reu is 91. Peleg is 121. Eber is 155. Shelah is 185. Arpachshad is 220. Shem is 320. Noah is 822.
26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah is listed of having three sons when he is 70. They might not be triplets, the could all have been born prior to that time, or (following the pattern of Noah) the firstborn (likely Abram) was born when Terah was 70, with the other sons to follow. If that is the case:
Terah is 70 when Abram is born. Nahor is 99. Serug is 129. Rue is 181. Peleg is 191. Eber is 225. Shelah is 325. Arpachshad is 290. Shem is 390. and Noah is 892. All of them are still alive when Abram is born.
Abram is 10 generations away from Noah, just as Noah was 10 generations away from Adam.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
Again we see a “generations of” statement, meaning that the narrative is shifting again to look at Terah’s family. It will focus primarially on Abram.
28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
Abram’s brother Haran dies young, shortly after Lot is born. Abram later will adopt Lot.
29 And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Milcah is likely the daughter of a different Haran, although that is not entirely clear. There are several Haran’s in this short passage, one of them is a city.
Sarai does not have any children. This is the first mention of barrenness in the Bible, and it becomes a common theme.
31 Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
Terah starts the journey from Ur (in ancient Babylon) to Canaan (modern day Israel). They stop in Haran, perhaps a place they settled after Haran died, or a place that happened to have the same name as Haran, where Milcah marries Nahor. In any case, Terah does not continue on to Canaan. He spends the rest of his life in Haran.
Before we leave this chapter, I would like to point out one final thing:
Terah dies when he is 205. Abram is 13. Nahor is 234. Serug is dead. Reu had died at age 239. Peleg had died at age 239. Eber is 360 and alive. Shelah is 390 and alive. Arpachshad is 425 and alive. Shem is 525 and Alive. Noah is dead. It is during Abram’s lifetime that the earlier generations start dying, although the earliest ones are still alive. Shem likely outlives Abram who was born 10 generations later. This creates an odd situation where certain people were hundreds upon hundreds of years old, then there was a large generational gap before the next age group of people living to just about 150 or less. This is likely where some religions found the concept of god-kings, or divine human rulers, such as pharaoh. Such ancient living men would have become people of legend.