Read Genesis 11:1-32 at Bible Gateway.
the teaching tools of scripture
Hebrew paragraph divisions:
Gen 11:1-9 {p} The tower of Babel rebellion against God
Gen 11:10-11 {s} Shem the father of Arphaxad
Gen 11:12-13 {s} Arphaxad the father of Shelah
Gen 11:14-15 {s} Shelah the father of Eber
Gen 11:16-17 {s} Eber the father of Peleg
Gen 11:18-19 {s} Peleg the father of Reu
Gen 11:20-21 {s} Reu the father of Serug
Gen 11:22-23 {s} Serug the father of Nahor
Gen 11:24-25 {s} Nahor the father of Terah
Gen 11:26-32 {p} Terah the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran
Strong themes of the parashah:
Gen 11:1-9 {p} The tower of Babel rebellion against God
Gen 11:10-32 {sx8+p} The seed of Shem
tower of babel rebellion, a pivotal event in human history
the babylon connection to babel
babel/ babylon index of studies (historical, theological significance)
Gen 11:1-32 chiastic structure:
1a.1) Gen 11:1, The whole earth had one language and one speech;
1a.2) Gen 11:2, As they journeyed from the east, they found a plain in Shinar, and dwelt there;
1b) Gen 11:3-4a, They began building a city + tower;
1c) Gen 11:4b, Lest they be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth;
1d) Gen 11:5, YHVH came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built;
central axis) Gen 11:6, “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;”
2d) Gen 11:7, “Come, let Us go down + confuse their language/ that they may not understand one another;”
2c) Gen 11:8a, YHVH scattered them abroad from there over the face of the earth;
2b) Gen 11:8b, They ceased building the city;
2a.1) Gen 11:9 {p} At Babel YHVH confused the language of all the earth;
2a.2) Gen 11:10-32 {sx8+p} Seed of Shem in Terah journeyed from Ur of the Chaldeans + they came to Haran + dwelt there.
Theme of the parashah:
The movement of the peoples abroad in the earth, after their initial rebellion against God’s command
Finding Messiah in Torah:
Man built a tower whose top was to be in the heavens. They did not like His commandment(s) and, wanting to bypass them, tried to establish their own way to go up to God. But the LORD God came down to us (Gen 11:5). We cannot go up to Him, He comes down to us. Isn’t He wonderful? All His judgments are just!
For further study off site:
Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, Book I
Bricks for Stones part 1, part 2, part 3 (Brad Scott, highly recommended)
Origin of the Human Races (Answers in Genesis)
The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop (While there are some inaccuracies in Hislop’s conclusions drawn at the end, the front section contains an enormous amount of accurate and independently verified information on Babylonian paganism, originally established by Nimrod, much of which has been retained in our culture even down to the present.)
Leave a Reply