Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Genesis » Chapter 11 » Verse 24

Genesis 11:24 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

24 And Nahor H5152 lived H2421 nine H8672 and twenty H6242 years, H8141 and begat H3205 Terah: H8646

Cross Reference

Luke 3:34 STRONG

Which was the son of Jacob, G2384 which was the son of Isaac, G2464 which was the son of Abraham, G11 which was the son of Thara, G2291 which was the son of Nachor, G3493

Joshua 24:2 STRONG

And Joshua H3091 said H559 unto all the people, H5971 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel, H3478 Your fathers H1 dwelt H3427 on the other side H5676 of the flood H5104 in old time, H5769 even Terah, H8646 the father H1 of Abraham, H85 and the father H1 of Nachor: H5152 and they served H5647 other H312 gods. H430

Commentary on Genesis 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 11

Ge 11:1-32. Confusion of Tongues.

1. the whole earth was of one language. The descendants of Noah, united by the strong bond of a common language, had not separated, and notwithstanding the divine command to replenish the earth, were unwilling to separate. The more pious and well-disposed would of course obey the divine will; but a numerous body, seemingly the aggressive horde mentioned (Ge 10:10), determined to please themselves by occupying the fairest region they came to.

2. land of Shinar—The fertile valley watered by the Euphrates and Tigris was chosen as the center of their union and the seat of their power.

3. brick—There being no stone in that quarter, brick is, and was, the only material used for building, as appears in the mass of ruins which at the Birs Nimroud may have been the very town formed by those ancient rebels. Some of these are sun-dried—others burnt in the kiln and of different colors.

slime—bitumen, a mineral pitch, which, when hardened, forms a strong cement, commonly used in Assyria to this day, and forming the mortar found on the burnt brick remains of antiquity.

4. a tower whose top may reach unto heaven—a common figurative expression for great height (De 1:28; 9:1-6).

lest we be scattered—To build a city and a town was no crime; but to do this to defeat the counsels of heaven by attempting to prevent emigration was foolish, wicked, and justly offensive to God.

6. and now nothing will be restrained from them—an apparent admission that the design was practicable, and would have been executed but for the divine interposition.

7. confound their language—literally, "their lip"; it was a failure in utterance, occasioning a difference in dialect which was intelligible only to those of the same tribe. Thus easily by God their purpose was defeated, and they were compelled to the dispersion they had combined to prevent. It is only from the Scriptures we learn the true origin of the different nations and languages of the world. By one miracle of tongues men were dispersed and gradually fell from true religion. By another, national barriers were broken down—that all men might be brought back to the family of God.

28. Ur—now Orfa; that is, "light," or "fire." Its name probably derived from its being devoted to the rites of fire-worship. Terah and his family were equally infected with that idolatry as the rest of the inhabitants (Jos 24:15).

31. Sarai his daughter-in-law—the same as Iscah [Ge 11:29], granddaughter of Terah, probably by a second wife, and by early usages considered marriageable to her uncle, Abraham.

they came unto Haran—two days' journey south-southeast from Ur, on the direct road to the ford of the Euphrates at Rakka, the nearest and most convenient route to Palestine.