John Calvin Commentary Genesis 11:8

"So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city." — Genesis 11:8 (ASV)

So the Lord scattered them abroad. People had already been spread abroad; and this should not be regarded as a punishment, since it rather flowed from the benediction and grace of God. But those whom the Lord had previously distributed with honor in various dwelling places, he now ignominiously scatters, driving them here and there like the members of a lacerated body. This, therefore, was not a simple dispersion for replenishing the earth, so that it might everywhere have cultivators and inhabitants; but a violent rout, because the main bond of connection between them was severed.