Genesis 11:7

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 11:7

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 11:7

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 11:7

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 11:7

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

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

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 11:1-9

Rebellion against God at Babel (11:1-9)Babel was one of the cities founded by Nimrod in the land of Shinar, ancient Babylonia (see 10:8-12). The people of this region, proud of the society they had established, displayed the same anti-God spirit as had brought about God’s judgment through the flood. They joined together to build for themselves a new city that would make them famous and give them complete security. They decided to crown their city with what they considered to be a skyscraper, as... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Genesis 11:7

Go to, let Us go down. This is always in judgment (Compare Genesis 18:21 .Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:8 ). Here in contrast with Genesis 11:4 , to man's "Go to, let us go up". Figure of speech Anthropopatheia, App-6 . See Genesis 11:5 . read more

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