Genesis 11:6-7

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 11:5-9

We have here the quashing of the project of the Babel-builders, and the turning of the counsel of those froward men headlong, that God's counsel might stand in spite of them. Here is, I. The cognizance God took of the design that was on foot: The Lord came down to see the city, Gen. 11:5. It is an expression after the manner of men; he knew it as clearly and fully as men know that which they come to the place to view. Observe, 1. Before he gave judgment upon their cause, he enquired into it;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 11:6

And the Lord said ,.... Not to the angels, as Aben Ezra, but rather to the Son and Spirit, or within himself: behold, the people is one, and they have all one language ; which some think is spoken ironically; but I see no reason why it may not be understood seriously, that the people who were concerned in this building were unanimous, not only in their religious principles, such as they were, as Aben Ezra, but in their counsel, purpose, and design in building; they went on with great... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 11:7

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language ,.... These words are not spoken to the angels, as the Targum and Aben Ezra; for, as Philo the Jew observes F8 De Confus. Ling. p. 344. , they are said to some as co-workers with God, which angels could not be in this work of confounding the language of men; it being above the power of creatures so to work upon the mind, and on the faculty of speech, as to make such an alteration as was at the confusion of tongues, when men... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:6

The people is one, etc. - From this, as before observed, we may infer, that as the people had the same language, so they had a unity of design and sentiment. It is very likely that the original language was composed of monosyllables, that each had a distinct ideal meaning, and only one meaning; as different acceptations of the same word would undoubtedly arise, either from compounding terms, or, when there were but few words in a language, using them by a different mode of pronunciation to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:7

Go to - A form of speech which, whatever it might have signified formerly, now means nothing. The Hebrew העה habah signifies come, make preparation, as it were for a journey, the execution of a purpose, etc. Almost all the versions understand the word in this way; the Septuagint have δευτε , the Vulgate venite , both signifying come, or come ye. This makes a very good sense, Come, let its go down, etc. For the meaning of these latter words see Genesis 1:26 , and Genesis 18:21 . read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:6

Verse 6 6.Behold, the people is one. Some thus expound the words, that God complains of a wickedness in men so refractory, that he excites himself by righteous grief to execute vengeance; not that he is swayed by any passions, (329) but to teach us that he is not negligent of human affairs, and that, as he watches for the salvation of the faithful, so he is intent on observing the wickedness of the ungodly; as it is said in Psalms 34:16, “The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:7

Verse 7 7.Go to, let us go down. We have said that Moses has represented the case to us by the figure hypotyposis, (330) that the judgments of God may be the more clearly illustrated. For which reason, he now introduces God as the speaker, who declares that the work which they supposed could not be retarded, shall, without any difficulty, be destroyed. The meaning of the words is of this kind, ‘I will not use many instruments, I will only blow upon them, and they, through the confusion of... 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 11:6

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

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