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The Tower of Babel
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11:1 |
The entire earth had one language with uniform words. |
11:2 |
When [the people] migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and they settled there. |
11:3 |
They said to one another, 'Come, let us mold bricks and fire them.' They then had bricks to use as stone, and asphalt for mortar. |
11:4 |
They said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top shall reach the sky. Let us make ourselves a name, so that we will not be scattered all over the face of the earth.' |
11:5 |
God descended to see the city and the tower that the sons of man had built. |
11:6 |
God said, 'They are a single people, all having one language, and this is the first thing they do! Now nothing they plan to do will be unattainable for them! |
11:7 |
Come, let us descend and confuse their speech, so that one person will not understand another's speech.' |
11:8 |
From that place, God scattered them all over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. |
11:9 |
He named it Babel, because this was the place where God confused the world's language. It was from there that God dispersed [humanity] over all the face of the earth. |
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The Eleventh Generation
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11:10 |
These are the chronicles of Shem: Shem was 100 years old when he had a son Arpachshad, two years after the flood. |
11:11 |
Shem lived 500 years after he had Arpachshad, and he had sons and daughters. |
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The Twelfth Generation
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11:12 |
Arpachshad was 35 years old when he had a son Shelach. |
11:13 |
Arpachshad lived 403 years after he had Shelach, and he had sons and daughters. |
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The Thirteenth Generation
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11:14 |
Shelach was 30 years old when he had a son Eber. |
11:15 |
Shelach lived 403 years after he had Eber, and he had sons and daughters. |
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The Fourteenth Generation
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11:16 |
Eber was 34 years old when he had a son Peleg. |
11:17 |
Eber lived 430 years after he had Peleg, and he had sons and daughters. |
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The Fifteenth Generation
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11:18 |
Peleg was 30 years old when he had a son Reu. |
11:19 |
Peleg lived 209 years after he had Reu, and he had sons and daughters. |
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The Sixteenth Generation
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11:20 |
Reu was 32 years old when he had a son Serug. |
11:21 |
Reu lived 207 years after he had Serug, and he had sons and daughters. |
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The Seventeenth Generation
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11:22 |
Serug was 30 years old when he had a son Nachor. |
11:23 |
Serug lived 200 years after he had Nachor, and he had sons and daughters. |
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The Eighteenth Generation
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11:24 |
Nachor was 29 years old when he had a son Terach. |
11:25 |
Nachor lived 119 years after he had Terach, and he had sons and daughters. |
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Abram
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11:26 |
Terach was 70 years old when he fathered Abram, Nachor and Haran. |
11:27 |
These are the chronicles of Terach: Terach fathered Abram, Nachor and Haran. Haran had a son Lot. |
11:28 |
Haran died during the lifetime of his father Terach, in the land of his birth, Ur Casdim. |
11:29 |
Abram and Nachor married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai. The name of Nachor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran (who was the father of Milcah and Yiscah). |
11:30 |
Sarai was sterile; she had no children. |
11:31 |
Terach took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram's wife). With them, he left Ur Casdim, heading toward the land of Canaan. They came as far as Charan and settled there. |
11:32 |
All of Terach's days were 205 years, and Terach died in Charan. |
Shinar See note on Genesis 10:10.
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asphalt See Genesis 14:10, Exodus 2:3. In ancient times, asphalt was often used as a mortar. The Targum Yonathan, however, renders the word chemar here as clay.
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descended An anthropomorphism denoting special attention, especially for the purpose of punishing the wicked (Moreh Nevukhim 1:10).
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us God was speaking to the angels, or to the forces of creation (Rashi; Ibn Ezra). See note on Genesis 1:26.
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Babel Hebrew for Babylonia or Babylon.
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confused Balal in Hebrew, cognate to Babel.
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Arpachshad See Genesis 10:24.
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Ur Casdim Often translated Ur of the Chaldeans. Some say that the Casdim derived their name from Arpachshad, which is Arp-casad. Others say that the name came from Kesed (Genesis 22:22), and was not used until after Abraham's time (Radak). (See Yov'loth 11:3).
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Yiscah Usually identified with Sarah (Rashi; Targum Yonathan; Josephus, Antiquities 1:6:5). In English, this is sometimes rendered as Jessica.
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Charan A city in Mesopotamia, some 400 miles northeast of the Holy Land. The journey from Ur to Charan was close to 600 miles.
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