John Gill Commentary Genesis 11

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech,
etc.] Or had been^F23, before the flood, and from that time to this, and still was, until the confusion took place; the account of which, and the occasion of it, are given in this chapter: by the whole earth is meant the inhabitants of it, see (Isaiah 37:18) (1 Kings 10:24) and so the Jerusalem Targum paraphrases the words, ``and all the generations of the earth were of one language, and of one speech, and of one counsel, for they spoke in the holy tongue in which the world was created at the beginning;'' and to the same purpose the Targum of Jonathan.

All the posterity of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, used the same language, though it does not appear that they were all in one counsel or consultation, or of one mind about building a city or tower, which the Targum seems to suggest; for it is not likely that Shem and his sons were in it.

Nor by "one lip" and "the same words or things"^F24, as these phrases may be rendered, are we to understand the same simplicity of speech and business, and likeness of manners; for it appears there was a difference with respect to these in the immediate sons of Noah, and it may be supposed to be much more in their remote offspring; nor as if they were all of the same religion, embraced the same doctrines, and spoke the same things; for as idolatry and superstition obtained in the race of Cain before the flood, so Ham and his posterity soon fell into the same, or the like, afterwards: and it may be observed that the same distinction was made of the children of God, and of the children of men, before the confusion and dispersion, as was before the flood, (Genesis 11:5) from where it appears they were not in the same sentiments and practice of religion.

But this is to be understood of one and the same language, without any diversity of dialects, or without any hard and strange words, not easily understood; and perhaps it was pronounced by the lip and other instruments of speech in the same way; so that there was no difficulty in understanding one another, men, women, and children, all the people in common, princes and peasants, wise and unwise, all spoke the same language and used the same words; and this the Targumists take to be the holy or Hebrew language; and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra, and the Jewish writers in general, and most Christians; though some make a question of it, whether it might not be rather the Syriac, or Chaldee, or Arabic; but there is no need of such a question, since these with the Hebrew are all one and the same language; and no doubt it was the eastern language, without giving it any other name, which now subsists in the above dialects, though not in anyone alone, which was first spoken; though more purely and without the difference of dialects it now consists of, or without the various different inflexions now made in it; for nothing is more reasonable to suppose, than that the language Adam spoke was used by Noah, since Adam lived within one hundred years and a little more of the birth of Noah; and it is not to be questioned but Noah's sons spoke the same language as he did, and their posterity now, which was but little more than one hundred years after the flood.

There are various testimonies of Heathens confirming this truth, that originally men spoke but one language; thus Sibylla in Josephus^F25, who says, ``when all men were (omofwnwn), of the same language, some began to build a most high tower'' so Abydenus<sup>F26</sup> an Heathen historian, speaking of the building of the tower of Babel, says, ``at that time men were (omoglwssouv), of the same tongue;'' in like manner Hyginus^F1, speaking of Phoroneus, the first of mortals, that reigned, says, ``many ages before, men lived without towns and laws, "una lirgua loquentes", speaking one language, under the empire of Jove.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: (yhyw) "et fuerat", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "caeterum fuit olim", Schmidt.
• F24: (Mydha Myrbdw txa hpv) "unum labium et verba eadem", Schmidt; "Labii unius et sermonum eorundem, vel rerum", Clarius.
• F25: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 4. sect. 3.
• F26: Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 14. p. 416.
• F1: Fabulae, Fab. 143.

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east
That is, the inhabitants of the whole earth; not Ham and his posterity only, or Nimrod and his company; but as all the sons of Noah and his posterity for a while dwelt together, or at least very near each other, and finding the place where they were too scanty for them, as their several families increased, they set out in a body from the place where they were, to seek for a more convenient one: it seems a little difficult how to interpret this phrase, "from the east", since if they came from Ararat in Armenia, where the ark rested, as that lay north of Shinar or Babylon, they might rather be said to come from the north than from the east, and rather came to it than from it: so some think the phrase should be rendered, "to the east" ^F2 , or eastward, as in (Genesis 13:11). Jarchi thinks this refers to (Genesis 10:30) "and their dwelling was" at "the mountain of the east"; from which he supposes they journeyed, to find out a place that would hold them all, but could find none but Shinar; but then this restrains it to Joktan's sons, and besides, their dwelling there was not until after the confusion and dispersion.

But it is very probable the case was this, that when Noah and his sons came out of the ark, in a little time they returned to their former habitation, from where they had entered into the ark, namely, to the east of the garden of Eden, where was the appearance of the divine Presence, or Shechinah; and from here it was that these now journeyed: and so it was as they were passing on,

that they found a plain in the land of Shinar ;
which the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the land of Babylon; and Hestiaeus ^F3 , a Phoenician historian, calls it Sennaar of Babylon; there are plain traces of this name in the Singara of Ptolemy ^F4 and Pliny ^F5 , the Hebrew letter (e) being sometimes pronounced as "G", as in Gaza and Gomorrah; the first of these place a city of this name in Mesopotamia, near the Tigris, and that of the other is reckoned a capital of the Rhetavi, a tribe of the Arabs, near Mesopotamia.

This plain was very large, fruitful, and delightful, and therefore judged a fit place for a settlement, where they might have room enough, and which promised them a sufficient sustenance:

and they dwelt there ;
and provided for their continuance, quickly beginning to build a city and tower, afterwards called Babylon: and that Babylon was built in a large plain is not only here asserted, but is confirmed by Herodotus ^F6 , who says of it, that it lay (en pediw megalw) , in a vast plain, and so Strabo ^F7 ; which was no other than the plain of Shinar.

FOOTNOTES:

• F2: (Mdqm) "ad Orientem, sive Orientem versus"; so some in Schmidt. Vid. Drusium in loc. & Fuller. Miscell. Sacr. l. 1. c. 4.
• F3: Apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 1. c. 4. sect. 3.
• F4: Geograph. l. 5. c. 18.
• F5: Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 24.
• F6: Clio sive, l. 1. c. 178.
• F7: Geograph. l. 16. p. 508.

And they said one to another, go to
Advising, exhorting, stirring up, and encouraging one another to the work proposed, of building a city and tower for their habitation and protection; saying,

let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly ;
they knew the nature of bricks, and how to make them before: according to Sanchoniatho ^F8 , the brothers of Vulcan, or Tubalcain, before the flood, were the first inventors of them; for he relates, that ``there are some that say that his brothers invented the way of making walls of bricks: he adds, that from the generation of Vulcan came two brothers, who invented the way of mixing straw or stubble with brick clay, and to dry them by the sun, and so found out tiling of houses.''

Now in the plain of Shinar, though it afforded no stones, yet they could dig clay enough to make bricks, and which they proposed to burn thoroughly, that they might be fit for their purpose. According to an eastern tradition ^F9 , they were three years employed in making and burning those bricks, each of which was thirteen cubits long, ten broad, and five thick, and were forty years in building:

and they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar :
they could not get stone, which they would have chosen, as more durable; they got the best bricks they could make, and instead of mortar they used slime; or what the Septuagint version calls "asphaltos", a bitumen, or kind of pitch, of which there was great plenty in that neighbourhood. Herodotus ^F11 speaking of the building of Babylon, uses language very much like the Scripture;

``digging a foss or ditch (says he), the earth which was cast up they formed into bricks, and drawing large ones, they burnt them in furnaces, using for lime or mortar hot asphaltos or bitumen.''

And he observes, that ``Eight days journey from Babylon was another city, called Is, where was a small river of the same name, which ran into the river Euphrates, and with its water were carried many lumps of bitumen, and from hence it was conveyed to the walls of Babylon.''

This city is now called Ait, of which a traveller ^F12 of the last century gives the following account; ``from the ruins of old Babylon we came to a town called Ait, inhabited only with Arabians, but very ruinous; near unto which town is a valley of pitch, very marvellous to behold, and a thing almost incredible wherein are many springs throwing out abundantly a kind of black substance, like unto tar and pitch, which serveth all the countries thereabout to make staunch their barks and boats; everyone of which springs makes a noise like a smith's forge, which never ceaseth night nor day, and the noise is heard a mile off, swallowing up all weighty things that come upon it; the Moors call it "the mouth of hell."''

Curtius relates ^F13 , that Alexander, in his march to Babylon, came to a city called Mennis, where was a cavern, from where a fountain threw out a vast quantity of bitumen or pitch; so that, says he, it is plain, that the huge walls of Babylon were daubed with the bitumen of this fountain; and he afterwards speaks of the walls, towers, and houses, being built of brick, and cemented with it;

and so Diodorus Siculus says ^F14 from Ctesias, that the walls of Babylon were built of bricks, cemented with bitumen; and not only these, but all Heathen authors that write of Babylon, confirm this; and not only historians, but poets, of which Bochart ^F15 has made a large collection; as well as Josephus ^F16 speaks of it,

and this sort of pitch still remains. Rauwolff says ^F17 near the bridge over the Euphrates, where Babylon stood, are several heaps of Babylonian pitch, which is in some places grown so hard, that you may walk over it; but in others, that which has been lately brought over thither is so soft, that you may see every step you make in it.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 1. p. 35.
• F9: Elmacinus, p. 14. apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 263, 264.
• F11: Clio sive, l. 1. c. 179.
• F12: Cartwright's Preacher's Travels, p. 105, 106.
• F13: Hist. l. 5. c. 1.
• F14: Bibliothec l. 2. p. 96.
• F15: Phaleg. l. 1. c. 11.
• F16: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 4. sect. 3.
• F17: Travels, par. 2. ch. 7. p. 138.

And they said, go to, let us build us a city and a tower ,
&c.] Some Jewish writers ^F18 say, these are the words of Nimrod to his people; but it is a question whether he was now born, or if he was, must be too young to be at the head of such a body of people; but they are spoken to one another, or by the principal men among them to the common people, advising and encouraging to such an undertaking.

It is generally thought what led them to it was to secure them from another flood, they might be in fear of; but this seems not likely, since they had the covenant and oath of God, that the earth should never be destroyed by water any more; and besides, had this been the thing in view, they would not have chosen a plain to build on, a plain that lay between two of the greatest rivers, Tigris, and Euphrates, but rather one of the highest mountains and hills they could have found.

Nor could a building of brick be a sufficient defence against such a force of water, as the waters of the flood were; and besides, but few at most could be preserved at the top of the tower, to which, in such a case, they would have betook themselves. The reason of this building is given in a following clause, as will be observed. Some think by "a city and tower" is meant, by the figure "hendyadis", one and the same thing, a city with towers; and, according to Ctesias ^F19 , there were two hundred and fifty towers in Babylon: but no doubt the city and tower were two distinct things; or there was one particular tower proposed to be built besides the city, though it might stand in it, or near it, as an acropolis or citadel to it; as it is not unusual in cities to have such, to betake unto in case of danger:

whose top [may reach] unto heaven :
not that they imagined such a thing could be literally and strictly done, but that it should be raised exceeding high, like the cities in Canaan, said to be walled up to heaven, (Deuteronomy 1:28) (9:1) hyperbolically speaking; and such was the tower of Babel, by all accounts, even of Heathens: the Sibyl in Josephus ^F20 calls it a most high tower; and so Abydenus ^F21 reports;

``there are (says he) that say, that the first men that rose out of the earth, proud of their strength and largeness (of their bodies), and thinking themselves greater than the gods, erected a tower of a vast height, near to heaven, where Babylon now is.''

And the temple of Belus, which some take to be the same with this tower, at least was that perfected, and put to such an use, was, according to Ctesias ^F23 , of an immense height, where the Chaldeans made their observations of the stars:

however, the tower that was in the middle of it, and which seems plainly to be the same with this, was exceeding high: the account Herodotus ^F24 gives of it is, ``in the midst of the temple a solid tower is built, of a furlong in length, and of as much in breadth; and upon this tower another tower is placed, and another upon that, and so on to eight towers.'' (mhkov) , the word used by Herodotus, translated "length", signifies also "height", and so it is taken here by some; and if so, it looks as if every tower was a furlong high, which makes the whole a mile, which is too extravagant to suppose, though it may denote the height of them all, a furlong, which makes it a very high building. This agrees with Strabo's account of it, who calls it a pyramid, and says it was a furlong high ^F25 :

according to Rauwolff ^F26 , the tower of Babel is still in being; this, says he, we saw still (in 1574), and it is half a league in diameter; but it is so mightily ruined, and low, and so full of vermin, that has bored holes through it, that one may not come near it for half a mile, but only in two months in the winter, when they come not out of their holes. Another traveller ^F1 , that was in those parts at the beginning of the last century, says, ``now at this day, that which remains is called the remnant of the tower of Babel; there standing as much as is a quarter of a mile in compass, and as high as the stone work of Paul's steeple in London--the bricks are three quarters of a yard in length, and a quarter in thickness, and between every course of bricks there lies a course of mats, made of canes and palm tree leaves, so fresh as if they had been laid within one year.''

Not to take notice of the extravagant account of the eastern writers, who say the tower was 5533 fathoms high ^F2 ; and others, beyond all belief, make it 10,000 fathoms, or twelve miles high ^F3 ; and they say the builders were forty years in building it: their design in it follows,

and let us make us a name ;
which some render "a sign" ^F4 , and suppose it to be a signal set upon the top of the tower, which served as a beacon, by the sight of which they might be preserved from straying in the open plains with their flocks, or return again when they had strayed. Others take it to be an idol proposed to be set upon the top of the tower; and the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem intimate as if the tower was built for religious worship, paraphrasing the words,

``let us build in the midst of it a temple of worship on the top of it, and let us put a sword into his (the idol's) hand.''

And it is the conjecture of Dr. Tennison, in his book of idolatry, that this tower was consecrated by the builders of it to the sun, as the cause of drying up the waters of the deluge: but the sense is, that they proposed by erecting such an edifice to spread their fame, and perpetuate their name to the latest posterity, that hereby it might be known, that at such a time, and in such a place, were such a body of people, even all the inhabitants of the world; and all of them the sons of one man, as Ben Gersom observes; so that as long as this tower stood, they would be had in remembrance, it being called after their names; just as the Egyptian kings afterwards built their pyramids, perhaps for a like reason; and in which the end of neither have been answered, it not being known who were by name concerned therein, see (Psalms 49:11)

though a late learned writer ^F5 thinks, that by making a name is meant choosing a chief or captain, which was proposed by them; and that the person they pitched upon was Nimrod, in which sense the word he supposes is used, (2 Samuel 23:17–19) but what has been observed at the beginning of this note may be objected to it; though Berosus ^F6 says, that Nimrod came with his people into the plain of Sannaar, where he marked out a city, and founded the largest tower, in the year of deliverance from the waters of the flood one hundred and thirty one, and reigned fifty six years; and carried the tower to the height and size of mountains, "for a sign" and "monument", that the people of Babylon were the first in the world, and ought to be called the kingdom of kingdoms; which last clause agrees with the sense given:

lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth :
which they seemed to have some notion of, and feared would be their case, liking better to be together than to separate, and therefore were careful to avoid a dispersion; it being some way or other signified to them, that it was the will of God they should divide into colonies, and settle in different parts, that so the whole earth might be inhabited; or Noah, or some others, had proposed a division of the earth among them, each to take his part, which they did not care to hearken to; and therefore, to prevent such a separation, proposed the above scheme, and pursued it.

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: In Pirke Eliezer, c. 24.
• F19: Apud Diodor. Sicul. Bibliothec, l. 2. p. 96.
• F20: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 4. sect. 3.
• F21: Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 14. p. 416.
• F23: Apud Diodor. ut supra, (Sicul. Bibliothec, l. 2.) p. 98.
• F24: Clio sive, l. 1. c. 181.
• F25: Geograph. l. 16. p. 508.
• F26: Travels, ut supra. (pars. 2. ch. 7. p. 138.)
• F1: Cartwright's Preacher's Travels, p. 99, 100.
• F2: Elmacinus, p. 14. Patricides, p. 13. apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 264.
• F3: Vid. Universal History, vol. 1. p. 331.
• F4: Perizonius, apud Universal History, ib. p. 325.
• F5: Dr. Clayton's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 56.
• F6: Berosus, Antiqu. l. 4. p. 28, 29.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower
Not locally or visibly, being immense, omnipresent, and invisible; nor in order to see and take notice of what he otherwise could not see from heaven, for he is omniscient; but this is spoken after the manner of men, and is to be understood of some effects and displays of his power, which were manifest, and showed him to be present: the Targum is, ``and the Lord was revealed to take vengeance on them on account of the business of the city and tower the children of men built.''

This shows the patience and longsuffering of God, that he did not immediately proceed against them, and his wisdom and justice in taking cognizance of the affair, and inquiring into it; examining the truth and reality of things before he passed judgment and took measures to hinder them in the execution of their design; all which must be understood agreeably to the divine Majesty, and as accommodated to the capacities of men, and as an instruction to them in judging matters they have a concern in:

which the children of men builded ;
or were building, for they had not finished their building, at least not the city, as appears from (Genesis 11:8) . These were either the whole body of the people, under the general appellation of "the children of men": or else a part of them, distinguished by this character from the "sons of God", who were truly religious; by which it seems that Noah, Shem, Arphaxad, Salah, and others, were not concerned in this affair, who though they might come with the rest unto Shinar, yet when they understood their design, refused to join with them in it; so that it was only the carnal and irreligious part of them, who very probably were by far the majority, and therefore there was no overruling their debates, and stopping them in their works, that were the builders; and these might be the posterity of Ham in general, with others of Shem and Japheth mixed with them. Josephus ^F7 makes Nimrod to be the head of them, which is not likely, as before observed.

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Antiqu. l. 1. c. 4. sect. 2, 3.