Old Testament Commentary - Genesis 11

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 11 All men speak the same language— They build tower of Babel—The Lord confounds their language and scatters them over all the earth— The generations of Shem include Abram whose wife was Sarai— Abram leaves Ur and settles Haran.
1 AND the whole earth was of one ^alanguage, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of ^aShinar^a; and they dwelt there.	2^a they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar Now as already established, Shinar was between the two great rivers of the fertile cresent. And it would be there that the tower of Babel would be built. In that 'plains' area between the two rivers, during the various wet seasons ironically there would continue to be localized flooding. Thus the various Ziggurat towers, which the Tower of Babel is thought to be like, had drainage systems built in them to ride out and drain the flood waters from them. In such an environment, man's faith was challenged and they thought to built such a tower of protection to heaven, as though any tower could be built so tall and so tall as to protect them from the hand of God. Rather than dispurse upon the land, as the Lord had commanded to go forth and fill the earth, they stayed as one particular group centered in Shinar and thus rebelled against God, his commandments, including that of going forth and multiplying upon the whole of the land, and thought themselves great, forgetting their God. It seems also significant to mention here that the people who came off of the Ararat range of mountains where the ark had landed at come down east of Shinar of Babylon, and thus they traveled from the east to arrive in Shinar and there to build the great tower.	1^a TG Creation ^b Isa. 45:12; D&C 29:36; D&C 38:1; D&C 45:1; Moses 3:1; Abr. 5:1 2^a OR done ^b HEB stopped, ceased; from the verb shavat, the noun shabbat (Engl. Sabbath) means a stopping of cessation; D&C 77:12; Moses 3:2; Abr. 5:2 (1-3); TG Rest ^c TG Industry 3^a TG Sabbath ^b Ex. 20:11; Mosiah 13:19 (16-19); D&C 77:12; Moses 3:3 (1-3); Abr. 5:3 (1-3); TG Sacred ^c Ex. 31:17 ^d OR created through working
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and ^aslime had they for morter. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a ^aname, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth^a.	4^a lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth The intent of the people was to disobey God, for God had told them to multiply and fill the earth, meaning to go forth upon all the land and repopulate the whole earth. This act of grouping together and building the tower to heaven and the stated intent not to so go forth and multiply and repopulate the whole earth was in direct rebellion against God. Thus the purpose of God in confusing the language was not just to thwart the building of the tower. It was for the intended purpose to divide the people, that they would separate and go forth upon all the earth.	1^a TG Creation ^b Isa. 45:12; D&C 29:36; D&C 38:1; D&C 45:1; Moses 3:1; Abr. 5:1 2^a OR done ^b HEB stopped, ceased; from the verb shavat, the noun shabbat (Engl. Sabbath) means a stopping of cessation; D&C 77:12; Moses 3:2; Abr. 5:2 (1-3); TG Rest ^c TG Industry 3^a TG Sabbath ^b Ex. 20:11; Mosiah 13:19 (16-19); D&C 77:12; Moses 3:3 (1-3); Abr. 5:3 (1-3); TG Sacred ^c Ex. 31:17 ^d OR created through working
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their ^alanguage, that they may not understand one another's speech.		1^a TG Creation ^b Isa. 45:12; D&C 29:36; D&C 38:1; D&C 45:1; Moses 3:1; Abr. 5:1 2^a OR done ^b HEB stopped, ceased; from the verb shavat, the noun shabbat (Engl. Sabbath) means a stopping of cessation; D&C 77:12; Moses 3:2; Abr. 5:2 (1-3); TG Rest ^c TG Industry 3^a TG Sabbath ^b Ex. 20:11; Mosiah 13:19 (16-19); D&C 77:12; Moses 3:3 (1-3); Abr. 5:3 (1-3); TG Sacred ^c Ex. 31:17 ^d OR created through working
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth^a: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there ^aconfound the ^blanguage of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD ^cscatter them ^dabroad upon the face of all the earth^a.	8^a So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth This is literal, for the proof is in the book of Ether in the Book or Mormon, that the people were so scattered even to the reaches of the Western Hemisphere from the Middle East of the Eastern Hemisphere. 9^a from thence did the LORD scatter them upon the face of all the earth Though not as clearly stated, despite the double statement both in verse 8 and 9. The command of the LORD had been to multiply and fill the earth and thus the instruction was to go forth upon all the face of the earth and repopulate it. When the people refused the commandment of God to do so, and rather centrally grouped together in the land of Shinar to build the tower and make a 'name for themselves' rather than to serve God and follow his commandment, the LORD then confused their tongue and proceeded to scatter them through out all the world.
Generations of Shem Now there is a 10 year difference between the Jewish compiled Book of Genesis and the record of Moses as given through the Prophet Joseph Smith. According to the Book of Moses, Shem was born second when moses was the age of 492, and the flood came when Moses was 600 years old. Thus according to the Book of Moses, Shem would have been 108 years old at the end of the flood and 110 at the birth of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. Though insignificant in terms of lifes of hundreds of years a 10 year amount might be, it is noted here. As for the 'Generations of Shem', the dating that will be used is Post Flood, or P.F., to avoid any such 10 year diference due to Shem's age differnce.
10 ¶ These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood^a: 11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years^a, and begat sons and daughters.	10^a begat Arphaxad two years after the flood Thus Arphaxad was born in 2 P.F., meaning 2 years after the flood (Post Flood). 11^a Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years Thus Shem died in 502 P.F. at age 600 according to the King James Bible and 610 according to the Book of Moses.
12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: 13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: 15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat ^aPeleg: 17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: 19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: 23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat ^aTerah: 25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26 And ^aTerah lived seventy years, and begat ^bAbram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 ¶ Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the ^aChaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was ^aSarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, ^bMilcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
30 But Sarai was ^abarren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur^a of the ^aChaldees, to go into the land of ^bCanaan; and they came unto ^cHaran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.	31^a Terah took Abraham his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur Perhaps the Jewish Bible compilation was written to emphasize the honoring of the parent over the children, but for whatever reason, it was not Terah who was commanded of God and who took the family from Ur. It was Abraham as recorded in the Book of Abraham chapter 2 verses 1-4. Terah was not the righteous leader of his family. It was Abraham. Terah did come to Haran to live, but he followed after Abraham.