11 And Shem liveth after his begetting Arphaxad five hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters.
And God blesseth them, and God saith to them, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that is creeping upon the earth.'
And the days of Adam after his begetting Seth are eight hundred years, and he begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Adam which he lived are nine hundred and thirty years, and he dieth. And Seth liveth an hundred and five years, and begetteth Enos. And Seth liveth after his begetting Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Seth are nine hundred and twelve years, and he dieth. And Enos liveth ninety years, and begetteth Cainan. And Enos liveth after his begetting Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Enos are nine hundred and five years, and he dieth. And Cainan liveth seventy years, and begetteth Mahalaleel. And Cainan liveth after his begetting Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Cainan are nine hundred and ten years, and he dieth. And Mahalaleel liveth five and sixty years, and begetteth Jared. And Mahalaleel liveth after his begetting Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Mahalaleel are eight hundred and ninety and five years, and he dieth. And Jared liveth an hundred and sixty and two years, and begetteth Enoch. And Jared liveth after his begetting Enoch eight hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared are nine hundred and sixty and two years, and he dieth. And Enoch liveth five and sixty years, and begetteth Methuselah. And Enoch walketh habitually with God after his begetting Methuselah three hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch are three hundred and sixty and five years. And Enoch walketh habitually with God, and he is not, for God hath taken him. And Methuselah liveth an hundred and eighty and seven years, and begetteth Lamech. And Methuselah liveth after his begetting Lamech seven hundred and eighty and two years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Methuselah are nine hundred and sixty and nine years, and he dieth. And Lamech liveth an hundred and eighty and two years, and begetteth a son, and calleth his name Noah, saying, `This `one' doth comfort us concerning our work, and concerning the labour of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed.' And Lamech liveth after his begetting Noah five hundred and ninety and five years, and begetteth sons and daughters. And all the days of Lamech are seven hundred and seventy and seven years, and he dieth. And Noah is a son of five hundred years, and Noah begetteth Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Lo, an inheritance of Jehovah `are' sons, A reward `is' the fruit of the womb. As arrows in the hand of a mighty one, So `are' the sons of the young men.
Thy wife `is' as a fruitful vine in the sides of thy house, Thy sons as olive plants around thy table. Lo, surely thus is the man blessed who is fearing Jehovah.
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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.