CHAPTER 11
. 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 (), 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 (Deuteronomy 1:28;
Deuteronomy 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 (Joshua 24:15).
31. Sarai his daughter-in-law—the
same as Iscah [Genesis 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.
CHAPTER 11
. 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 (), 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 (Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 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 (Joshua 24:15).
31. Sarai his daughter-in-law—the same as Iscah [Genesis 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.