Genesis 11
Summary for Gen 11:1-9: 11:1-9 a The story of the unfinished tower carries forward themes of language and solidarity from the Table of Nations (ch 10 b). The builders’ desire for autonomy recalls the rebellion in Eden (ch 3 c) and establishes the need for Abram’s redemptive faith in the midst of international disorder (ch 12 d). The scattering of the nations anticipates the warning to Israel that idolatry would result in their being scattered and their cities devastated (see Lev 26:33 e; Num 10:35 f; Deut 4:27 g; 28:64 h; 30:3 i). Chronologically, the story is a flashback that explains the rise of the nations during Peleg’s time (see Gen 10:25 j). 11:1 k At one time: The events described in 11:1-9 l led to the scattering of nations that is reflected in the genealogies of 10:2-30 m. The reversal of order has a theological purpose (see study note on 10:1–11:9).11:2 n migrated to the east: See study note on 3:24.
• Babylonia was located in southern Mesopotamia, the region of Nimrod’s later empire and city-building campaign (see 10:10 o; Isa 11:11 p; Dan 1:2 q; Zech 5:11 r).
11:3 s Stone was plentiful in Canaan; in Mesopotamia, stone was scarce and brick technology was developed.
• Tar was made from bitumen, a natural, cement-like, waterproof asphalt (see 6:14 t; Exod 2:3 u).
11:4 v Far from the original garden (2:15 w), the first cities of Genesis represent arrogance (4:17 x), tyranny (10:8-12 y), and wickedness (18:20-21 z). The city on the Babylonian plain was a magnet for human pride and idolatry.
• a tower that reaches into the sky: This was probably a temple-tower (a ziggurat). Common in ancient Babylonian urban culture, ziggurats were regarded as sacred mountains by which deities descended to earth (Jacob’s dream in 28:12 aa possibly reflects this idea).
• This will make us famous (literally let us make a name for ourselves): The tower builders sought fame through idolatrous ambition. God promised to give Abram a famous name because of his humble obedience (12:2 ab).
11:5 ac came down: The tower was a human attempt to ascend to God’s realm (see Deut 26:15 ad; Pss 2:4 ae; 103:19 af; 115:16 ag). The folly of that attempt was exposed by God’s “coming down” to see their feeble efforts.
11:6 ah If left unchecked, the tower builders’ solidarity and ambition would allow human wickedness to flourish in unimaginable ways.
11:7 ai Come, let’s go down: God addresses his angelic court (see 1:26 aj; 3:22 ak; and study notes).
• won’t be able to understand each other: Their inability to communicate would curtail their unified sinful ambition. The God-honoring unity of language on the day of Pentecost was a symbolic reversal of the Babel dispersion (Acts 2:5-13 al; see Zeph 3:9 am).
11:8 an the Lord scattered them: Similarly, Adam and Eve’s punishment for grasping at autonomy and Cain’s punishment for murder involved banishment and dispersion (3:23 ao; 4:12 ap, 14 aq; 9:19 ar; 10:5 as, 25 at, 32 au).
11:9 av Babel: The Babylonians viewed their city as the residence or gateway of the gods. The pun that concludes this account accurately reveals Babylon’s spiritual confusion. Babylon achieved prominence under Nimrod (10:10 aw) and in later biblical history (see 2 Kgs 25:1-30 ax). Its role as an epicenter of arrogance and idolatry make it a fitting image for the anti-God forces associated with the end of time (e.g., Rev 14:8 ay; 16:19 az; 18:2 ba).
• The tower builders had centralized to ascend into God’s realm (Gen 11:3-4 bb). God descended and scattered them all over the world to frustrate their idolatrous ambition.
11:10 bc This account of Shem’s family resumes the line of Shem from 10:21-32 bd, now with special focus on the line leading to Abram. Only Abram and Israel are heirs to Shem’s God (see 9:26-27 be; Deut 32:8-9 bf). The Babel story vividly repudiates the culture that Abram was called to abandon (Gen 12:1 bg; 24:6-7 bh). Together with the account of Terah’s descendants (11:27-32 bi), this second account of Shem’s line forms a bridge from the universal history of chs 1–11 bj to the national history of Israel that begins in ch 12 bk. Abram is the remnant from Babel’s confused world. God called him as an act of grace whereby the fractured world of Babel would be blessed (12:3 bl).
• the father of: Or the ancestor of; Hebrew genealogies do not necessarily list every single generation.
11:18 bm Peleg: See study note on 10:25.
Summary for Gen 11:27: 11:27–25:11 bn This is the account (Hebrew toledoth; see study note on 2:4) of Terah’s family: What follows in 11:28–25:11 bo are the particulars about the family descended from Terah, notably about Abraham and God’s covenant with him, and about Isaac, the child of promise, who carried forward the line and the blessing to the next generation.
Summary for Gen 11:27-32: 11:27-32 bp This brief section provides a complete summary of Terah’s life and accounts for his other sons and their marriages; it also introduces Lot, Abram’s nephew, who later played a prominent role. The ancestors, including Terah and his family, were idolatrous, worshiping other gods in Mesopotamia (Josh 24:2 bq). 11:27 br Nahor was the grandfather of Laban, whose daughters later became Jacob’s wives (chs 29–31 bs).
• Lot: See profile for Lot at end of chapter.
11:28 bt The call of Abram occurred in Ur of the Chaldeans (15:7 bu; Acts 7:2-4 bv), the main city of Sumer in Mesopotamia near the mouth of the Persian Gulf. The family had moved there perhaps generations before the call. Their ancestral home (“native country,” Gen 12:1 bw) was apparently near Haran, in the region of the descendants of Shem (11:10-26 bx); thus they settled there when they left Ur (11:31 by) and were later described as “Arameans” (Deut 26:5 bz).
• land of his birth: The same Hebrew phrase is repeated in 12:1 ca (“native country”), making Ur, not Haran, the location of Abram’s call (see 15:7 cb; Neh 9:7 cc; Acts 7:2 cd).
11:29 ce Sarai means “princess” in Hebrew. No mention is made of Sarai’s parentage, perhaps to add suspense to the Abimelech story, which reveals that she was Abram’s half sister (20:9-12 cf). Later, the law prohibited such a marriage (Lev 18:9 cg; 20:17 ch; Deut 27:22 ci).
• Nahor’s wife was Milcah: Milcah was Haran’s daughter and Nahor’s niece (see Gen 11:29 cj). Her son Bethuel was the father of Rebekah, the wife of Abram’s son Isaac (24:10 ck, 15 cl, 24 cm). The name Milcah is related to the Hebrew word meaning “queen.” In Akkadian, it is a title of the goddess Ishtar, the moon-god’s daughter. Terah’s name is related to the word for “moon” in Hebrew; his whole family appears to have worshiped Sin, the moon-god (see Josh 24:14 cn).
11:30 co Sarai, Rebekah (25:21 cp), and Rachel (29:31 cq) all suffered infertility. Sarai’s situation in particular highlights the paradox between the apparent reality and God’s promise to give many descendants (12:2 cr). The Israelite nation’s origin from barren women fixes its identity in the sovereignty of God, who miraculously gives children to barren women (see also 1 Sam 1:2 cs; 2:5 ct; Ps 113:9 cu; Isa 54:1 cv).
11:31 cw Terah took: The text is clear that Abram’s departure from Ur was prompted by God’s calling (see study note on 11:28), but the event is described from Terah’s perspective, in keeping with the patriarchy of ancient Near Eastern culture. This cultural deference to the oldest male is evidently why Abram did not continue on to Canaan by himself at this time (see Acts 7:2-4 cx).
• Haran was 550 miles northwest of Ur, near the Syrian-Turkish border. Despite the similar name, there is no connection with Terah’s son Haran, who had died in Ur (11:28 cy).
• Haran means “caravan.” Ancient commercial routes converged there, making it a key site for trade.
• Haran was also well known for the moon worship to which Terah’s family was apparently devoted (see study note on 11:29).
Profile: Lot
Lot was Abraham’s nephew and the ancestor of the Moabites and Ammonites. Like Abraham, Lot was born in Ur and accompanied Terah to Haran (Gen 11:27-32 cz). After Terah’s death, he joined Abraham in journeying to Canaan and Egypt.
When Lot and Abraham returned from Egypt to Canaan, their flocks and herds grew too numerous for them to live together, so Abraham gave Lot his choice of land on which to settle. Lot chose the fertile plain of the Jordan that was like “the garden of the Lord” (Gen 13:10 da), and eventually he took up residence in Sodom. Lot’s increasing involvement with the completely corrupt cities of the plain compromised him.
While Lot lived in Sodom, four Mesopotamian kings defeated the kings of five towns in the area; in the subsequent plundering, they carried off Lot, his family, and his possessions (Gen 14:1-12 db). When word of this reached Abraham, he launched a rearguard action against the invaders and recovered the prisoners and property (14:13-16 dc).
Because of the wickedness of Sodom and the neighboring city of Gomorrah, God decided to destroy these towns. He sent two angelic visitors to Lot in Sodom to encourage his departure from the doomed city (Gen 19:1-15 dd). The city’s depravity became even more evident in an attempted homosexual attack on the visitors. Lot’s willingness to sacrifice his daughters, along with his reluctance to leave Sodom, shows how corrupt and compromised he had become. No one but his immediate family accompanied him, and his wife was destroyed when she turned back in disobedience. Soon after the destruction of Sodom, Lot’s daughters, despairing of having no husbands, got Lot drunk enough to have sexual relations with them. Their two sons, Moab and Ben-ammi, were ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites (Gen 19:30-38 de), two nations that became inveterate enemies of Israel (see Deut 23:3-6 df). Despite Lot’s waywardness, Peter declares that Lot was a “righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day” (see 2 Pet 2:6-9 dg). This analysis of Lot may stem from Jewish interpretive tradition, as it is difficult to see in the Genesis account.
Passages for Further Study
Gen 11:27 dh, 31 di; 12:4-5 dj; 13:1-14 dk; 14:12-16 dl; 19:1-38 dm; Deut 2:9 dn, 17-19 do; Ps 83:4-8 dp; Luke 17:28-33 dq; 2 Pet 2:6-9 dr
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