Genesis 11:1-9 ESV

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:3

Genesis 11:3. And they said one to another, &c.— United in language and sentiment, they agreed to provide proper materials, and so to build a city, which might be a more certain habitation than moveable tents, which might also unite them under one government and polity, and give them strength and celebrity. The materials they provided, were brick instead of stone, and for mortar or cement they had slime, bitumen, a kind of liquid pitch, which sometimes is gathered under ground in brittle... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:4

Genesis 11:4. Go to, let us build, &c.— They proposed to build a magnificent city with a tower, either for defence or for religion, though for the latter most probably; whose top, says our translation, may reach unto heaven. There is nothing in the Hebrew for may reach; it is only said there, and its head, or top, to heaven: nevertheless, as almost all the versions supply, may reach, the passage may be understood as a vaunt in these builders, expressing the very superlative height to which... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:5

Genesis 11:5. And the Lord came down to see, &c. — All allow, the Lord's coming down to see the city and tower, is to be understood, "after the manner of men," by way of accommodation to our conceptions; and means no more, than that by the effects he made it appear, that he observed their motions, and knew their intentions: and this is a very proper way, in our embodied state, of representing the actions of Deity. Some suppose, that the Messiah, the Word of God, is here meant. 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 11:1

1. the whole earth was of one language. The descendants of Noah, united by the strong bond of a common language, had not separated, and notwithstanding the divine command to replenish the earth, were unwilling to separate. The more pious and well-disposed would of course obey the divine will; but a numerous body, seemingly the aggressive horde mentioned ( :-), determined to please themselves by occupying the fairest region they came to. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 11:2

2. land of Shinar—The fertile valley watered by the Euphrates and Tigris was chosen as the center of their union and the seat of their power. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 11:3

3. brick—There being no stone in that quarter, brick is, and was, the only material used for building, as appears in the mass of ruins which at the Birs Nimroud may have been the very town formed by those ancient rebels. Some of these are sun-dried—others burnt in the kiln and of different colors. slime—bitumen, a mineral pitch, which, when hardened, forms a strong cement, commonly used in Assyria to this day, and forming the mortar found on the burnt brick remains of antiquity. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 11:4

4. a tower whose top may reach unto heaven—a common figurative expression for great height (Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 9:1-6). lest we be scattered—To build a city and a town was no crime; but to do this to defeat the counsels of heaven by attempting to prevent emigration was foolish, wicked, and justly offensive to God. 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

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:3

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:4

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 11:5

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

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

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 11:1

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 11:2

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 11:3

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Genesis 11:4

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

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