Obviously, chapter eleven moves back to the beginning of the previous chapter. The first nine verses tell us how the dispersion of nations over the whole earth started out. The rest of the chapter goes back to the genealogy of Shem.
There was some kind of a ‘big bang,’ which drove people apart forcefully. There are some questions that are not answered in this chapter, into which we will have to look.
The chapter starts out by saying: “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech,”
or as the RSV puts it: “Now the whole earth had one language and few words.” The latter translation seems wrong to me. It would be highly unlikely that people communicated in few words. It could be that people were still able to use telepathy at that stage, and that they did not have to talk much, because they were able to read minds without the use of words. Adam Clarke is quite dogmatic about the fact that the original language must have been Hebrew. In spite of his arguments, I see no reason for the supposition. The Pulpit Commentary affirms that the Rabbins, the Fathers and the older theologians believe the original language to have been Hebrew. But they would not have been able to prove this either, although they were a few centuries closer to the period than we are.
The unity of speech was an indication that the people who started to repopulate the earth after the flood formed one body, which was well coordinated. Evidently, people were able to contribute ideas that were used in the forming and the execution of the project to the point where they would become a real threat to the plan of God with the earth. God was not being sarcastic when He said: “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them,”
otherwise there would have been no need for such a drastic measure as the confusion of languages.
So the “one language and one common speech” was probably more a matter of coordination than of talking alone. I am sure that people possessed individuality at that time, as we do now. But this did not push them apart. God’s original intent in giving people individuality was unity in variety. This is the principle that should govern the body of Christ in our New Testament times, but it does not. The principle of Babel was briefly superseded at Pentecost, but confusion soon took over again, and, presently, it reigns supremely.
So God considers the plan a real threat. The astronomer, Carl Sagan mocks the passage in one of his books, saying that he does not see why a supposedly almighty God should get so upset about such an innocent plan as the construction of a tower. If there would be nothing more in it than an unrealistic plan, topped by a hyperbolic declaration that the tower would reach to the heavens, Sagan certainly would have a point. But God’s reaction seems to indicate that more was at stake.
I have no proof for the following. What I am going to say could very well be one of my “Schultz-illusions,” like the theory that the Nephilim in ch. 6 were the product of genetic engineering. But could it be that the tower of Babel was really meant to be the starting point for reaching into the heavens? Could it be that people at that time would have possessed enough know-how to build space ships, and to travel in space, and thus export sin into the universe? If we hold on to the evolutionary suggestion that man developed from a primitive being into the sophisticated person he is now, there would be no basis for such a suggestion, but since we reject Darwin on other points, why not here? I firmly believe that man, who was much closer to Paradise than we are, who lived centuries longer than we do, had a sharper mind and a keener ability than we do too. It could very well be that it took modern science forty centuries or more to recover a knowledge that
213 Matt. 10:29-31
214 I Cor. 8:3
215 Matt. 7:22,23
was common property at the pre- and post-flood period. It is certainly a matter to look into when we get to heaven.
Again, the fact that Moses describes the event in such a way that it looks like a very primitive effort to achieve things that are impossible, could prove that Moses himself did not have enough sophisticated knowledge to describe the story.
The event takes place in the plain of Shinar. It happened to the fourth generation after the flood.
Shem’s great grandson was called Peleg, according to ch. 10:25: “One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided...” So we are still in the first century after the flood. The world population could not have been more than several thousand; probably less than one hundred thousand. Moving east from the Ararat mountains brings us approximately in Mesopotamia. It could be we are again in the neighborhood of the old Paradise site.
The plain was probably very fertile, being filled with deluvian deposits. There are no stones to be found, so people resort to baking bricks from clay, which is a respectable way of building. The story is told, however, from the viewpoint of one who is used to building with stone and cement. Archaeological finds confirm the solidity of brick with bitumen as mortar. But these details, however interesting, have little to do with the core of the story.
The real issue comes to light in vs. 4: “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’ ” There are three points to be distinguished in the plan: the building of the tower, the making of a name and prevention from being scattered. The three go together. The making of a name was probably the most blasphemous part of the plan. It reeks of the rebellion of Lucifer, about which we read in Isaiah: “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ ”216
So it was not just a plan of evacuation in case of another flood. That may have been the first reason. And this would be an indication that the promise of God that a flood would never again destroy the earth was either completely forgotten or ignored. It usually does not take more than one or two generations for the Word of God to start gathering dust. So it could be that people did not take the Word of God into account at all, and made plans for themselves in case a similar disaster would occur. The tower might get them high enough to stay out of the water or, if we are correct about the space program, there would be the option to move to another planet. That was how it started. But the disregard for the promise of God brought about a sense of pride in human ingenuity that was completely blown out of proportion.
It is interesting to reflect how much Nimrod had to do in this. As we saw in connection with ch.
10:25, the division took place during the life of Peleg, the great grand son of Shem. If we take ch. 10:6-8 to mean literally that Nimrod was the grandson of Ham, we are two generations behind. But since Nimrod is not mentioned among Cush’s sons in vs. 7 the words “Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth,” may simply indicate that Cush was the ancestor of Nimrod. It seems more logical to assume that Nimrod played a role during the building of the tower and afterward during the dispersion. The way he moved around, founding cities, would not be typical of a spirit of wanting to cling together. The individualism of Nimrod is more indicative of people who want to go their own way, than of the functioning as a body of the people who had one language, one speech and one purpose.
If the above it true, at least one person took full advantage of the curse. He put up monuments for himself and built cities, making himself a name that rang loudly and clearly throughout the post-diluvian centuries.
One of the reasons for the building of the city and the tower was the desire to cling together. The flood must have changed the face and features of the earth drastically. Climatologically and topographically the generations of those who survived the flood found a world that had little in common any more with the planet they had left behind. The mountains must have grown higher and more uninhabitable. The global temperature must have dropped at some places and risen at others to uncomfortable levels. The curse of the ground must have let itself be felt more severely. People had the fear that they would not survive if they would move out of the fertile valley of Shinear. And yet, staying together indefinitely in the valley would have wiped out the whole world population with starvation after a few population explosions.
The implication of the above is that people feared that God would no longer take care of them. They did not trust His promise that never again He would destroy their planet by water. They did not want to
216 Isa. 14:13,14
honor His Name, but wanted to replace it with their own, and they had no thought of trusting Him to keep them alive. They wanted security in their own hands, not in the hands of a God they had offended. They had no idea who God was. The thought that He would really love them and care for them never entered their minds. They believed that they were completely on their own. If they would not take care of themselves, nobody else would; certainly not God, who had destroyed millions of people.
So they worried and acted upon their worries. New Testament phrases come to mind, such as the words of Jesus: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ Or ‘What shall we drink?’ Or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”217
And the writer to the Hebrews says: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ ”218
It has been pointed out that the plan of the people was to go up and reach into heaven; not in order to find God, but to be saved from whatever could happen on earth. It was an effort to have a religion without God. On the other hand we read that God comes down to see. There is a faint shadow of the plan of salvation in this. The Gospel is that God came down, so there is no need for man to go up. Quoting Moses, Paul says: “But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (That is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
If God had been the issue for them, which it was, but they did not know, then their problems would have been solved. They wanted heaven without God; so when heaven came down, they missed the glory.
How God confused human speech we are not told. Since we have no example of unity in diversity, as the condition of mankind must have been at that time, we cannot really understand what happened. There must have been some safeguard in man, such as pain in the body, that was triggered by the touch of God. As the body starts to deteriorate and eventually to decompose, so a mental decomposition must have begun.
God saw that unity of mind and purpose as a danger, not for Himself, but for mankind, and so He prevented the worse by breaking up man’s unity. Obviously, the devil was ready to exploit the condition for the destruction of man, not for his improvement or salvation. In the same way as death delivers us out of a ‘no-hope’ situation, so this confusion must have thwarted the plan of the Evil One, and prevented total disintegration.
My brother, Eduard, has written a booklet (which was never published) entitled That’s Moin, in which he proposes that English, such as it is spoken in one of the mid-Western states of the United States of America, be promoted to become the global language. The book completely overlooks the cause of the present situation. It would be nice if it were that easy!
The confusion of speech is reported as being brought about suddenly. It was obviously not a slow growing apart. Philologists say that it takes centuries for languages to develop and deviate from one another.
If our theory is true that man had the ability to communicate without words in a telepathic way, it would seem likely that God closed that door, so people could not read each others’ minds any longer. The confusion would then come about in that man would be forced to express in words what his thoughts and intentions were, which each one proceeded to do in his own way.
In C. S. Lewis’ book That Hideous Strength there is a rather hilarious scene in which speech is being confused in a supernatural way, just when demons come to the climax of their purpose to take over
217 Matt. 6:25-34
218 Heb. 13:5,6
world dominion through the National Institute of Coordinated Experiments (NICE). Lewis gets probably close to the truth of what happened at Babel in this fantasy.
It seems to me that there is much more in this chapter than we can lay our finger on at present. This is the beginning of the world picture, as we know it now. People are spread out over the world, speaking thousands of languages; and it started here. There is an intriguing verse that speaks about the relationship between this event and the rest of the chapter, where Moses picks up the thread of the line of Shem. In Deuteronomy we read: “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.”219 This prophetic utterance has probably much more to do with revelation of God’s plan of salvation than with arithmetic.
The Apostle Paul contributes to the discussion with his remark to the audience at the Areopagus. In Acts he says: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”220
Even in the dispersion God did not mean to separate man from Himself. God meant for man to live within the boundaries of certain places, so he could be reached by the message of revelation that would be entrusted to Israel. I believe that is the meaning of the two verses quoted above.
In vs. 10 of this chapter the writer commences the genealogy of Shem, obviously with the purpose of pointing to the birth of Abram and God’s call upon his life. So vs. 9 seems to be the right place to draw the line between the post-diluvian period and the life of Abraham, which will be our next chapter.