Genesis 11

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:27-29

The Call of Abram ( Genesis 11:27 to Genesis 12:9 ) Genesis 11:27-29 ‘Terah begat Abram, Nahor and Haran, and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves, 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 the father of Iscah.’ Like Noah (Genesis 5:32),Terah has three sons, seen as a sign of... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:30-31

‘And Sarai was barren. She had no child.’ The matter is stated quite starkly to explain why no information is given as to Abram’s seed. Abram and Sarai stood out from the others in that they had no children, which in those days was a matter of great grief and shame. It also caused problems in the matter of inheritance (15:3). It is quite possible that this was seen by his family as being the result of Abram not worshipping the family gods. But the writer clearly has future events in mind. The... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:1-9

Genesis 11:1-1 Samuel : . The City, the Tower, and the Confusion of Speech.— The section plainly belongs to J but not to the same stratum as the story of the Flood, nor is it consistent with the origin assigned to the various nations in Genesis 11:10. It is an æ tiological story (p. 134), naturally not historical, answering the question, Why is it that though the races of mankind have sprung from a common ancestry they speak so many different languages? The Divine jealousy, which fears what a... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:10-26

Genesis 11:10-Ezekiel : . The Descendants of Shem.— This section, like Genesis 11:5, is taken from P. Here the formula is abbreviated, but whether this was so originally or due to an impatient editor is uncertain. There is also great difference between the Heb., Sam., and LXX, but it cannot be discussed here. It is characteristic of P, where no information is available, to bridge over the gap by a genealogy rather than leave an absolute blank. The period from the Flood to the birth of Abraham... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:27-32

Genesis 11:27-Jonah : . The Sons of Terah.— Derived from P and J. Genesis 11:27 and Genesis 11:31 f. are clearly from P, Genesis 11:28-Amos : probably from J (there are phraseological grounds), and Genesis 22:20 (J) refers to Genesis 11:29. Genesis 11:28 . Ur of the Chaldees: Heb. Ur Kasdim, is generally identified with Uru, one of the most ancient cities of Babylonia, where the moon-god was worshipped, now Mugheir. The Chaldees (Ass. Kaldu) lived on the SE. of Babylonia round the... read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11

GENESIS CHAPTER 11. One language in the earth, Genesis 11:1. They journey from the east, settle in a plain in the land of Shinar, Genesis 11:2; make bricks, which they burn and use with slime, Genesis 11:3; build a city and tower that they might not be scattered, Genesis 11:4. God sees it, Genesis 11:5. Disapproves their design, Genesis 11:6; defeats it, and scatters them by confounding their language, Genesis 11:7-8; for which reason the place called Babel, Genesis 11:9. The posterity of Shem... read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:1

Earth is oft put for its inhabitants, as Genesis 6:21; 1 Chronicles 16:23; Psalms 33:8. Of one speech, which even heathen writers acknowledge; and that probably was the Hebrew tongue. read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:2

As they journeyed from the east, i.e. Nimrod and the rest of his confederates of Ham's posterity; not from Armenia, where the ark rested, which was north from Babel, and is called north in Scripture, as Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 26:0, &c.; but from Assyria, into which they had before come from the mountains of Ararat for more convenient habitation. It may be rendered to the east; but that manner of translation is neither usual nor necessary here. The land of Shinar, where Babel was, Genesis... read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:3

Let us make brick, for in that low and fat soil they had no quarries of stones. The heathen writers agree that Babylon’s walls were made of brick. The slime was a kind of clay called bitumen, which, as Pliny testifieth, is liquid and glutinous, and fit to be used in brick buildings, as Strabo, Dion, and others note. And that Babylon was built with this, as is here said, we have the joint and express testimony of Berosus, Ctesias, Dion, Curtius, and many others. read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:4

Whose top may reach unto heaven, i.e. a very high tower; a usual hyperbole, both in Scripture, as Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 9:1, and in other authors. This tower and its vast height is noted by Herodotus, Diodorus, and others. Let us make us a name, i.e. a great name, as the phrase is elsewhere used. Compare also 2 Samuel 7:9, with 1 Chronicles 17:8. See also Isaiah 63:12,Isaiah 63:14; Daniel 9:15. They take no care for God's name, and the defence and propagation of the true religion, as... read more

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:27-29

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:30-31

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:1-9

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:10-26

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:27-32

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:1

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:2

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:3

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:4

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