Genesis 11

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:9

Verse 9 9.Therefore is the name of it called Babel. Behold what they gained by their foolish ambition to acquire a name! They hoped that an everlasting memorial of their origin would be engraven on the tower; God not only frustrates their vain expectation, but brands them with eternal disgrace, to render them execrable to all posterity, on account of the great mischief indicted on the human race, through their fault. They gain, indeed, a name, but not each as they would have chosen: thus does... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:10

Verse 10 10.These are the generations of Shem. Concerning the progeny of Shem, Moses had said something in the former chapter Genesis 10:1 : but now he combines with the names of the men, the term of their several lives, that we might not be ignorant of the age of the world. For unless this brief description had been preserved, men at this day would not have known how much time intervened between the deluge and the day in which God made his covenant with Abraham. Moreover, it is to be observed,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:27

Verse 27 27.Terah begat Abram. Here also Abram is placed first among his brethren, not (as I suppose) because he was the firstborn; but because Moses, intent on the scope of his history, was not very careful in the arrangement of the sons of Terah. It is also possible that he had other sons. For, the reason why Moses speaks especially of them is obvious; namely, on account of Lot, and of the wives of Isaac and Jacob. I will now briefly state why I think Abram was not the first born. Moses... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:28

Verse 28 28.And Haran died. Haran is said to have died before the face of his father; because he left his father the survivor. It is also said that he died in his country, that is, in Ur. The Jews turn the proper name into an appellative, and say that he died in the fire. For, as they are bold in forging fables, they pretend that he, with his brother Abram, were thrown by the Chaldeans into the fire, because they shunned idolatry; but that Abram escaped by the constancy of his faith. The... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:30

Verse 30 30.But Sarai was barren. Not only does he say that Abram was without children, but he states the reasons namely, the sterility of his wife; in order to show that it was by nothing short of an extraordinary miracle that she afterwards bare Isaac, as we shall declare more fully in its proper place. Thus was God pleased to humble his servant; and we cannot doubt that Abram would suffer severe pain through this privation. He sees the wicked springing up everywhere, in great numbers, to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:31

Verse 31 31.And Terah took Abram his son. Here the next chapter ought to commence; because Moses begins to treat of one of the principal subjects of his book; namely, the calling of Abram. For he not only relates that Terah changed his country, but he also explains the design and the end of his departure, that he left his native soils and entered on his journey, in order to come to the land of Canaan. Whence the inference is easily drawn, that he was not so much the leader or author of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:1

And the whole earth . I .e. the entire population of the globe, and not simply the inhabitants of the land of Shinar (Ingiis; cf. Genesis 9:29 ). Was . Prior to the dispersion spoken of in the preceding chapter, though obviously it may have been subsequent to that event, if, as the above-named author believes, the present paragraph refers to the Shemites alone. Of one language . Literally, of one lip, i.e. one articulation, or one way of pronouncing their vocables. And of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:1

Unity of language. 1. The original birthright of the human race. 2. The lost inheritance of sinful men. 3. The ultimate goal of the Christian dispensation. 4. The recovered heritage of redeemed humanity.— W . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:1-9

Order brought forth. We are now to trace the rise of the kingdom of God among the nations. Already in the case of Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord, that is, by permission of Divine providence, the antagonism between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world has been symbolized. Now we find the concentration of the world's rebellion and ungodliness in the false city, type of the worldly power throughout the Scriptures. It is on the plain of Shinar to which the early... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:2

And it came to pass, as they journeyed . Literally, in their journeyings . The root ( גָקַע , to pull up, as, e.g; the stakes of a tent when a camp moves, Isaiah 33:20 ) suggests the idea of the migration of nomadic hordes (cf. Genesis 12:9 ; Genesis 33:17 ). From the east . Ab oriente (Ancient Versions, Calvin, et alii ) , meaning either that they started from Armenia, which was in the east respectu terrae Canaan (Luther), or from that portion of the Assyrian empire... read more

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:9

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:10

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:27

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:28

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:30

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:31

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:1-9

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:2

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