Genesis 11:9 BSB — MannaFest

Genesis 11:9

That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

KJV

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

HOMILIES 21 (420)

Just as when holy men live together, it is a great grace and blessing; so, likewise, that congregation is the worst kind when sinners dwell together. The more sinners there are at one time, the worse they are. Indeed, when the tower was being built up against God, those who were building it were disbanded for their own welfare. The conspiracy was evil. The dispersion was of true benefit even to those who were dispersed.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

(5.) We may here lament the loss of the universal use of the Hebrew tongue, which from this time was the vulgar language of the Hebrews only, and continued so till the captivity in Babylon, where, even among them, it was exchanged for the Syriac.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Therefore is the name of it called Babel - בבל babel, from בל bal, to mingle, confound, destroy; hence Babel, from the mingling together and confounding of the projects and language of these descendants of Noah; and this confounding did not so much imply the producing new languages, as giving them a different method of pronouncing the same words, and leading them to affix different ideas to them. Besides Mr. Hutchinson’s opinion, (see on Gen 11:4 (note)), there have been various conjectures concerning the purpose for which this tower was built.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

19 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
עַל־	'al-	there-	H5921 →
כֵּ֞ן	ken	-fore	H3651 →
קָרָ֤א	ka.Ra'	someone called	H7121 →
שְׁמָהּ֙	she.Mah	name its	H8034 →
בָּבֶ֔ל	ba.Vel	Babel	H894 →
כִּי־	ki-	for	H3588 →
שָׁ֛ם	sham	there	H8033 →
בָּלַ֥ל	ba.Lal	he confused	H1101 →
יְהוָ֖ה	Yah.weh	Yahweh	H3068 →
שְׂפַ֣ת	se.Fat	[the] language of	H8193 →
כָּל־	kol-	all	H3605 →
הָאָ֑רֶץ	ha.'A.retz	the earth	H776 →
וּמִשָּׁם֙	u.mi.Sham	and from there	H8033 →
הֱפִיצָ֣ם	he.fi.Tzam	he scattered them	H6327 →
יְהוָ֔ה	Yah.weh	Yahweh	H3068 →
עַל־	'al-	over	H5921 →
פְּנֵ֖י	pe.Nei	[the] surface of	H6440 →
כָּל־	kol-	all	H3605 →
הָאָֽרֶץ׃ פ	ha.'A.retz	the earth	H776 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Acts 17:26
From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:7–8
  Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.
- Genesis 3:20
  And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.
- Malachi 2:10
  Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why then do we break faith with one another so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?
- Romans 5:12–19
  Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
- 1 Corinthians 15:22
  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Through
Genesis 10:10
His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
leads to
- Genesis 11:2
  And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
Through
1 Corinthians 14:23
So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who are uninstructed or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
leads to
- Acts 2:13
  But others mocked them and said, “They are drunk on new wine!”
Through
Genesis 10:5
From these, the maritime peoples separated into their territories, according to their languages, by clans within their nations.
leads to
- Zephaniah 2:11
  The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then the nations of every shore will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.

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About Genesis

The Tower of Babel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Genesis: the study guide →Read chapter 11 →The featured study →

PlaceShinar (Mesopotamia)BabelThe city and tower on the plain of Shinar where men set out to make a name for themselves, and where God confused their speech and…

Continue: Genesis 11 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Genesis

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Genesis