The Tower of Babel

We're reading today from Genesis (Beresheet) 10-11.

There's not a whole lot that's interesting in chapter 10, short of a couple verses, so that's why that section in here is so short. I can try to make genealogies interesting... But it rarely works because people tend to get more caught up in pronouncing the names than the section near some names that explains what that person did. I could get into what these people's names mean, and that might be pretty cool, but I'm saving that project for later books when there are a LOT of genealogies. However, when you get to take a look at these genealogies, make sure you  notice the general area where each of these families settled. They're all related, but in future years there are some conflicts between them and the Israelites.

Beresheet 10:25 "To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan."

Have you ever looked at a globe? Of course you probably have, that's a silly question... But wait, have you ever really seen one? If you take a good look at any globe, you just might notice that a lot of the continents look like puzzle pieces, like maybe they fit together at some point. Maybe they did fit together once, and when Peleg was born (or around that time, at least), perhaps that's when the land separated into a bunch of different continents instead of only one. Hey, it could've happened. By the way, Peleg means "Division" according to http://www.behindthename.com/

Beresheet 11:1-2 "Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there."


If you're wondering who "they" are, you may want to check out the genealogies. Maybe they were one huge nomadic tribe that hadn't separated yet at this point, but it looks like they had a lot of people in the area, just enough to take on a gigantic project.

Beresheet 11:3 "Then they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar."

Seems an innocent enough undertaking. They just wanna build stuff, right? Maybe a nice city, a few houses, a giant tower... Nothing out of the ordinary. Right. Now what was that recurring theme again?

Beresheet 11:4 "And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.'"

It still sounds fairly innocent, but if you happen to take a look at this Wikipedia listing, you'll find that there are a couple different theories about this. First is that Yah was angry because the people weren't glorifying Him, they were glorifying themselves. And second is that they were building a ziggurat; a temple to a different god or set of gods. Maybe it was both. Anyways, they're in for some bitter irony.

11:5 "But Yahuah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And Yahuah said, 'Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.'"

Ok, let's say... You and your siblings work together to do something for the first time ever, except rather than doing something like helping your mom garden or working on the car with your dad, you're filling water balloons. It seems innocent enough... Until you wind up hitting your grandpa with one. Big trouble. Your grandpa takes it in stride, even tossing a couple back at you, but you and your siblings get sent to different rooms not to come out until later. That evening when your dad is talking to your mom and you happen to be listening at the door, you hear "They are finally working together and they do this?" Your mom says "How in the world am I supposed to teach them how to behave when they act up like this? How do I know that next week they won't be spray painting buildings?" "Dear, that's an awfully big jump, it was just a water balloon." She sighs and said "I know... I just... Never know what they're going to do next. They need limits." Then you hear footsteps coming up to the door and you run back to your room before they catch you listening.

Beresheet 11:7 "'Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.'"

Anybody else ever wonder who He's talking to when He's saying "Us"? Hmm... Angels, maybe?

Beresheet 11:8 "So Yahuah scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth and they ceased building the city."

There's some irony for you. They started building specifically so as not to get scattered, and what happens? They scatter.

Beresheet 11:9 "Therefore its name is called Babel, because there Yahuah confused the language of all the earth; and from there Yahuah scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth."

Interesting play on names there; the place where there was probably more confusion than ever before or since gets called Babel? What modern word does that sound kinda like? Babble, right? Hmm...

You'll notice during the rest of chapter 11, that there is yet another interesting thing going on during the genealogy bits. Shem lived to be 600. Arphaxad lived to be 438. Salah lived to be 433. Eber lived to be 464. Peleg lived to be 239. Reu lived to be 239. Serug lived to be 230. Nahor lived to be 148. Terah lived to be 205. Did you notice that their lifespans are steadily decreasing over the passage of time? That brings us back to Beresheet 6:3 "And Yahuah said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.'" We're getting closer and closer to a new lifespan of 120 years rather than the old ones of over 900.

Next reading is from Genesis (Beresheet) 12-14

In the meantime, look up pictures of the towers in Dubai. How's that for tall?