Genesis 11:6-7

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:7

Go to . An ironical contrast to the "Go to" of the builders (Lange). Let us (cf. Genesis 1:26 ) go down, and there confound their language ( vide infra, Genesis 11:9 ), that they may not understand (literally, hear ; so Genesis 42:23 ; Isaiah 36:11 ; 1 Corinthians 14:2 ) one another's speech. Not referring to individuals ( singuli homines ), since then society were impossible, but to families or nations ( singulae cognationes ) , which each had its own... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:7

Babel and Zion. 1. Confusion, division, dispersion. 2. Gathering the dispersed, uniting the divided, restoring order to the confused.— W . §6. THE GENERATIONS OF SHEM ( Genesis 11:10-26 ). read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 11:1-9

- The Confusion of Tongues1. נסע nāsa‛ “pluck out, break up, journey.” מקדם mı̂qedem “eastward, or on the east side” as in Genesis 2:14; Genesis 13:11; Isaiah 9:11 (12).6. החלם hachı̂lām “their beginning”, for החלם hăchı̂lām, the regular form of this infinitive with a suffix. יזמוּ yāzmû as if from יזם yāzam = זמם zāmam.7. נבלה nābelâh usually said to be for נבלה nābolâh from בלל bālal; but evidently designed by the punctuator to be the third singular feminine perfect of נבל nābal... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 11:1-9

Rebellion against God at Babel (11:1-9)Babel was one of the cities founded by Nimrod in the land of Shinar, ancient Babylonia (see 10:8-12). The people of this region, proud of the society they had established, displayed the same anti-God spirit as had brought about God’s judgment through the flood. They joined together to build for themselves a new city that would make them famous and give them complete security. They decided to crown their city with what they considered to be a skyscraper, as... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Genesis 11:7

Go to, let Us go down. This is always in judgment (Compare Genesis 18:21 .Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:8 ). Here in contrast with Genesis 11:4 , to man's "Go to, let us go up". Figure of speech Anthropopatheia, App-6 . See Genesis 11:5 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 11:6

"And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do."If we have properly understood the motives and purpose underlying this evil venture, what God foresaw was that if their wickedness had been left unhindered the true knowledge of God might easily have been totally removed from the earth. The establishment of the people of Israel as a witness of God on the earth... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 11:7

"Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.""Come, let us go down ..." The plural form here suggests the Trinitarian Godhead more fully apparent in the N.T., but certainly not any kind of a conference with angels, or some kind of a "community of gods," as imagined by some. Also, it is the height of superlative naivete that prompts men to bother with trying to reduce all these anthropomorphisms to descriptions of where God was when... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:6

Genesis 11:6. The people is one— One in sentiment and design, and one in language also: this seems to confirm the opinion advanced in note on Genesis 11:1. read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:7

Genesis 11:7. Let us go down, &c.— God is said to go down, when he executes any work upon earth, which makes his power and presence signally known. The plural us is another proof of the sacred doctrine of the Trinity. See note on ch. Genesis 1:26. And there confound their language— If this word (language) in the first verse, imports not only speech, but sentiment, the confusion here occasioned by the Lord among them, must have been in both. He not only occasioned a confusion and dissension... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 11:6

6. and now nothing will be restrained from them—an apparent admission that the design was practicable, and would have been executed but for the divine interposition. read more

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