30 | Genesis 11:5
we will be scat tered over the face of the whole earth .”
5
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tow er the peo ple were build ing . 6 The Lord said , “ If as one peo ple speak ing the same lan guage they have be gun to do this , then noth ing they plan to do will be im pos si ble for them . 7 Come , let us go down and con fuse their lan guage so they will not un der stand each oth er .”
8
So the Lord scat tered them from there over all the earth , and they stopped build ing the city . 9 That is why it was called Ba bel a — be cause there the Lord con fused the lan guage of the whole world . From there the Lord scat tered them over the face of the whole earth .
From Shem to Abram
11:10-27pp — Ge 10:21-31 ; 1Ch 1:17-27
10
This is the ac count of Shem ’ s fam i ly line .
Two years af ter the flood , when Shem was 100 years old , he be came the fa ther b of Ar phax ad .
11
And af ter he be came the fa ther of Ar phax ad , Shem lived 500 years and had oth er sons and daugh ters .
12
When Ar phax ad had lived 35 years , he be came the fa ther of She lah . 13 And af ter he be came the fa ther of She lah , Ar phax ad lived 403 years and had oth er sons and daugh ters . c
14
When She lah had lived 30 years , he be came the fa ther of Eber . 15 And af ter he be came the father of Eber , She lah lived 403 years and had oth er sons and daugh ters .
16
When Eber had lived 34 years , he be came the fa ther of Pe leg . 17 And af ter he be came the fa ther of Pe leg , Eber lived 430 years and had oth er sons and daugh ters .
18
When Pe leg had lived 30 years , he be came the fa ther of Reu . 19 And af ter he be came the fa ther of Reu , Pe leg lived 209 years and had oth er sons and daugh ters .
20
When Reu had lived 32 years , he be came the fa ther of Se rug . 21 And af ter he be came the fa ther of Se rug , Reu lived 207 years and had oth er sons and daugh ters .
22
When Se rug had lived 30 years , he be came the fa ther of Na hor . 23 And af ter he be came the fa ther of Na hor , Se rug lived 200 years and had oth er sons and daugh ters .
24
When Na hor had lived 29 years , he be came the fa ther of Te rah . 25 And af ter he be came the fa ther of Te rah , Na hor lived 119 years and had oth er sons and daugh ters .
a
9 That is , Babylon ; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused . b
10 Father may mean ancestor ; also in verses 11-25 . c
12,13 Hebrew ; Septuagint ( see also Luke 3:35 , 36 and note at Gen . 10:24 ) 35 years , he became the father of Cainan . 13 And after he became the father of Cainan , Arphaxad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters , and then he died . When Cainan had lived 130 years , he became the father of Shelah . And after he became the father of Shelah , Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters
11:5 Lord came down to see This description follows the pattern seen throughout Genesis of portraying Yahweh as involved in the affairs of humanity . This line is also ironic : While the humans sought to build a tower into the heavens ( v . 4 ), Yahweh must come down to it . 11:7 let us go down As with 1:26 , this exhortation is plural . The plural indicates that Yahweh is speaking to the heavenly host or divine council ( see 1:26 and note ). 11:8 Lord scattered them This dispersal will eventually result in the fulfillment of Yahweh ’ s command after the flood ( 9:7 ), but at a terrible price . This event is central to understanding how nations came to worship other gods besides Yahweh who had created them ( see chs . 1 – 2 ). This is where Yahweh shifts from focusing on all the peoples of the earth to electing Israel ( see 12:1 – 3 ). In a sense , the Babel event marks Yahweh disowning the nations of the world as his human family in favor of electing Israel , whom he will also use to reclaim the nations as his people ( Dt 32:8 – 9 ; 4:19 – 20 ; compare Isa 2:1 – 5 ; Hos 1:8 – 11 ). 11:9 it was called Babel Here , Hebrew wordplay connects God ’ s confusion of language with the name for the place . The Hebrew word balal (“ to confuse ”) and the Hebrew name Babel ( bavel ) sound similar .
11:10 – 26 This genealogy of Shem differs from that of Ge 10:21 – 31 . It focuses only on firstborn sons and is more detailed than the one in ch . 10 . As result , a number of names in this genealogy do not appear in 10:21 – 31 . The genealogy highlights Shem in anticipation of Abram ( Abraham ) who is Shem ’ s descendant and the patriarch with whom the genealogy culminates . In the genealogy ,
Abram is the tenth generation from Shem , just as Noah was the tenth generation from Adam . This indicates that the genealogy is highlighting a specific point : As with the birth of Adam and Noah , the birth of Abram represents a turning point in human history .
11:10 account The Hebrew term used here , toledoth , marks family histories in Genesis . See note on 5:1 . Arphaxad This figure is listed as the firstborn of Shem here , but in 10:22 he is listed third . The account here seems to reflect birth order , while the genealogy in ch . 10 seems to change the birth order because it is focused on the geographical distribution of people groups . 11:14 Eber The eponymous ancestor of the Hebrew people ( the one whom the people group derives its name from , according to this account ). See 10:21 and note . 11:16 Peleg The line of Shem described in 10:21 – 31 follows the line of Joktan , Peleg ’ s brother . The line of Peleg is resumed here , leading to Abram . See note on 10:25 . 11:18 Reu This descendant of Shem was not mentioned in the earlier genealogy . In the Bible , this name appears only in genealogies ( 1Ch 1:25 ; Lk 3:35 ). 11:20 Serug Several of Abram ’ s ancestors have names that correspond to cities in Mesopotamia . Serug is the name of a place west of Harran in northwestern Mesopotamia . 11:22 Nahor Abram ’ s grandfather and brother ( Ge 11:26 ) are both named Nahor . A city known as Nahur is located not far from Harran in northwestern Mesopotamia . 11:24 Terah Assyrian sources mention a place name