Genesis 11 Revisited Notes

                                                  Genesis 11 Revisited Notes

This chapter opens up pertaining to the division that occured during the birth of Peleg. Verse 1 is not saying that the whole Noahic race shared the same linguistic language; the entire planet was never monolingual . For simplicity's sake, Genesis 10 uses the Hebrew word "lashon" for a linguistic language while Genesis 11 uses "sapah" to describe the mode of how speech is expressed. For a scholarly review, see Chris Gousmett- The confusion of language in the interpretation of Genesis 11. 


What we see here is the division caused by a shared agreement. This wicked remnant (Sons of Joktan) broke away from the righteous group of Shem and settled in Babel. They started to gather bricks (associated with idolatry) and bitumen (waterproof the building structure) in order to build a ziggurat. They did not believe that God will be faithful to his covenant of not flooding the region again. Notice, the people sound like the Trinity in Genesis 1 making mankind. We see covenant mankind falling back into the same sinful traps of name/legacy building just like the Sethites and Cainites. These people feared that scattering would make them a forgotten people-a lost of identity/Name building. They were not interested in building a name for God by being image bearers.


Nimrod was their Messiah and they were building him an idolatrous Temple. A War Fortress and armory in order to conquer weaker nations. The Tower of Babel/Temple was a gate that Nimrod can brazenly use to enter into God's presence on his terms. It's possible that Nimrod believed Yahweh was a God of War and wanted to enter his presence whenever to gain victories over his many conquests. In contrast, his grandfather Noah met with God in a small tent in a humble manner. Not in front of a public spectacle like Nimrod. In verse 5, God comes down from Heaven to see the large structure. This is meant to come off as insulting and humorous. To God, this tower was not impressive.


Upon God's inspection, He responds proactively to stop Nimrod and his followers. God confuses them so they would work against each other. This could have involved many disagreements on how the tower was going to be constructed, which ultimately resulted in the project being abandoned and going their separate ways. In the end, we see that the word Babel is translated as Gate of God, but it can also mean confusion. Some of these themes are related in the Book of Haggai. For example, when God's Temple was not a priority for construction. In that case, man was focused on building up their houses with beautiful paneling. Likewise, they were making a name for themselves.


Now, we are introduced to the righteous remnant of Shem who was not involved in the Tower of Babel incident. Remember from Genesis 5, that these ages are based on a special numbering system. So people were not over 100 years old literally. Interestingly, Shem's son Arpachshad was born two years AFTER the flood. Therefore, from the flood to Abram, there is only 292 years, that is not enough time to build a large society. Let alone a continent. That is a mathematical impossiblity. Global flood advocates are grasping for straws. This Genealogy of Shem doesn't include the wicked sons of Joktan. God judged them at Babel. It focuses on Peleg's side. 


One important feature that is different from the Genesis 5's Genealogy of Covenantal Death is that Genesis 11's focus is on Covenantal Life. At age 70, Terah fathers three sons Abram, Nahor, and Haran- just like Noah. There is no clear indication which sons gets the double portion  inheritance. Haran fathered Lot, Milcah, and Iscah- Abram's nephew. Haran dies in front of Terah in Ur of the Chaldeans- retroactively called by this name by the writer. Abram married Sarai and Nahor married Milcah. Milcah and Iscah are believed to be the daughters of Haran. However, the Hebrew word- Bat, for daughter is a very loaded term. It can mean female relative which can include sister, female cousin, aunt, daughter, and/or granddaughter. See 2 Kings 8:26, 2 Chronicles 22:2. We don't know how many wives, concubines, and/or what other relatives lived with Haran. Scholars have believed that Iscah is another name for Sarai. However, this is not true because Milcah's name means queen and Sarai's name means princess. Iscah means to see, observe, and/or watch with pleasure. I believe this word can be linked to Lot's wife. Genesis 19:26, Luke 17:32. 


Sarai is mentioned as having no children. Abram, Lot, and Sarai left Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land  of Canaan. For some reason, they got detoured for awhile in the Land of Haran, which is the name of the deceased son / brother instead of going forward to Canaan. They settled in this land until Terah's death. My best guess is that Terah could not move forward to Canaan because of the grief of losing his son, Haran. By staying in that land, showed that he was stuck in the past. There is no more mention of Nahor, Milcah, and Iscah at this point.


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