Genesis 11:1-9 ESV

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:5

The cities of men and the city of God ( Genesis 11:5 ; Hebrews 11:16 ). I. THEIR BUILDERS . Of the first, men—mostly wicked men; of the second, the Architect of the universe. II. THEIR ORIGIN . Of the first (Enoch, Genesis 4:17 ; and Babel, Genesis 11:5 ), hostility to God; of the second, love to man. III. THEIR DESIGN . Of the first, to be a bond of union among sinners; of the second, to be a residence for God's children. IV. THEIR APPEARANCE . Of the first,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:6

And the Lord said —within himself, and to himself ( vide Genesis 11:8 ); expressive of the formation of a Divine resolution (cf. Genesis 6:7 )— Behold, the people — עַס , from root signifying to bind together, expresses the idea of association; גּוֹי , from a root signifying to swell (Lange), to flow together (Gesenius), to gather together (Furst), conveys the notion of a confluxus hominum . T . Lewis connects it with the sense of interiority, or exclusion, which is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:6

Vain imaginings 1. Commonly spring from misused blessings. A united people, with a common language, and enjoying a measure of 'success in their buildings, the Babelites became vain in their imaginings. So do wicked men generally misinterpret the Divine beneficence and leniency which suffers them to proceed a certain length with their wickedness (cf. Romans 1:21 ; 2 Timothy 3:9 ). 2. Are never unobserved by him against whom they are directed ( Deuteronomy 31:21 ; 1 Chronicles... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:8

So (literally, and) the Lord scattered them abroad (as the result of the confusion of their speech) upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. I .e. as a united community, which does not preclude the idea of the Babylonians subsequently finishing the structure. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:9

Therefore is the name of it called Babel . For Balbel, confusion ( συ ì γχυσις , LXX ; Josephus), from Balal, to confound; the derivation given by the sacred writer in the following clause (cf. for the elision of the letter l, totaphah for tophtaphah, Exodus 13:16 , and cochav for covcav, Genesis 37:9 ). Other derivations suggested are Bab-Bel, the gate or court of Bolus (Eichhorn, Lange), an explanation of the term which Furst thinks not impossible, and Kalisch... 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

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 11:1-2

Genesis 11:1-2 . The whole earth was of one language This even heathen writers acknowledge; and that language was, probably, the Hebrew. They journeyed from the east of Shinar, where Noah had settled when he left the ark. They were, therefore, now travelling westward. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 11:3-4

Genesis 11:3-4 . Let us make brick, let us build a city The country, being a plain, yielded neither stone nor mortar; yet this did not discourage them; but they made brick to serve instead of stone, and slime instead of mortar; a kind of clay or pitch called bitumen, which, as Pliny testifies, is liquid and glutinous, and fit to be used in brick buildings, as Strabo, Dion, and others observe. And that Babylon was built with this and with brick, as is here said, we have the joint testimony... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:5

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:6

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:6

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:7

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:7

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:8

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:9

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

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 11:1-2

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 11:3-4

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