Genesis 11: The tower of Babel, and the family line from Shem to Abram
A free study, verse by verse. Text: World English Bible. Notes come from the Hebrew. How to read a study
What happens?
Everyone on earth speaks one language, and in the land of Shinar they start to build a city and a tower that reaches to the sky. Yahweh comes down, confuses their language and scatters them, and the city is named Babel. The chapter ends with Shem's family line down to Terah, who sets out from Ur with Abram, Sarai and Lot toward Canaan and settles in Haran.
Who is speaking?
The narrator tells the story. The builders speak to one another (verses 3 and 4). God speaks in 2 of the 32 verses, when he decides to go down and confuse their language. The family list that follows has no speech. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
In plain English: The whole earth had one language and one speech.
Good to know: Chapter 10 already spoke of each nation with its own language (, ). Many readers take chapter 11 as going back to tell how that came about.
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2As they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.
In plain English: As people traveled east (or: from the east), they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
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3They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
In plain English: They said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them hard." They used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.
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4They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
In plain English: They said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city, with a tower whose top reaches to the sky. Let's make a name for ourselves, so that we are not scattered over the face of the whole earth."
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5Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
In plain English: Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that the people were building.
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6Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.God speaks
In plain English: Yahweh said, "Look, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they have begun to do. Now nothing they plan to do will be held back from them.
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7Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”God speaks
In plain English: Come, let's go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech."
Good to know: God again speaks in the plural ("let's go down"), as in and . The builders said "Come, let's" in and ; Yahweh answers with the same Hebrew word for "come".
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8So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.
In plain English: So Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
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9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.
In plain English: That is why it was named Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth. From there Yahweh scattered them over the face of all the earth.
The Hebrew word: "Babel" sounds like balal, "to confuse" or "to mix": the city is called Babel "because there Yahweh confused the language".
How it is translated: Babel is the Hebrew name for Babylon. In its 233 verses this Bible says "Babylon" or "Babylonians" in all but 2: and this verse.
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10This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.
In plain English: This is the family line of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arpachshad.
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11Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
In plain English: After Arpachshad was born, Shem lived 500 more years and had more sons and daughters.
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12Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah.
In plain English: Arpachshad was 35 when he became the father of Shelah.
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13Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
In plain English: After Shelah was born, Arpachshad lived 403 more years and had more sons and daughters.
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14Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber.
In plain English: Shelah was 30 when he became the father of Eber.
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15Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
In plain English: After Eber was born, Shelah lived 403 more years and had more sons and daughters.
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16Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.
In plain English: Eber was 34 when he became the father of Peleg.
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17Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
In plain English: After Peleg was born, Eber lived 430 more years and had more sons and daughters.
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18Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu.
In plain English: Peleg was 30 when he became the father of Reu.
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19Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
In plain English: After Reu was born, Peleg lived 209 more years and had more sons and daughters.
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20Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.
In plain English: Reu was 32 when he became the father of Serug.
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21Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
In plain English: After Serug was born, Reu lived 207 more years and had more sons and daughters.
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22Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.
In plain English: Serug was 30 when he became the father of Nahor.
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23Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
In plain English: After Nahor was born, Serug lived 200 more years and had more sons and daughters.
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24Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah.
In plain English: Nahor was 29 when he became the father of Terah.
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25Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
In plain English: After Terah was born, Nahor lived 119 more years and had more sons and daughters.
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26Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
In plain English: Terah was 70 when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
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27Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot.
In plain English: This is the family line of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran was the father of Lot.
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28Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees, while his father Terah was still alive.
In plain English: Haran died in the land where he was born, in Ur of the Chaldees, while his father Terah was still alive.
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29Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah.
In plain English: Abram and Nahor took wives. Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah.
Good to know: Abram and Sarai are the couple later renamed Abraham () and Sarah ().
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30Sarai was barren. She had no child.
In plain English: Sarai was barren; she had no child.
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31Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.
In plain English: Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife. They set out from Ur of the Chaldees to go to the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
Good to know: The town of Haran and Abram's brother Haran () are spelled differently in Hebrew: the town is Charan, the man Haran.
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32The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.
In plain English: Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.
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