TRV
Translation
King James Version
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
Complete Jewish Bible
They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them in the fire.” So they had bricks for building-stone and clay for mortar.
Berean Standard Bible
And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.
American Standard Version
And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
World English Bible Messianic
They said one to another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
Geneva Bible (1599)
And they said one to another, Come, let vs make bricke, and burne it in the fire. So they had bricke for stone, and slime had they in steade of morter.
Young's Literal Translation
and they say each one to his neighbour, `Give help, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly:' and the brick is to them for stone, and the bitumen hath been to them for mortar.
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In the KJVVerse 270 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Commentary on Genesis 11 verses 1–4
1 ¶ And the whole earth was of one language, 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 Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime 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 name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details
The close of the foregoing chapter tells us that by the sons of Noah, or among the sons of Noah, the nations were divided in the earth after the flood, that is, were distinguished into several tribes or colonies; and, the places having grown too strait for them, it was either appointed by Noah, or agreed upon among his sons, which way each several tribe or colony should steer its course, beginning with the countries that were next them, and designing to proceed further and further, and to remove to a greater distance from each other, as the increase of their several companies should require. Thus was the matter well settled, one hundred years after the flood, about the time of Peleg's birth; but the sons of men, it should seem, were loth to disperse into distant places; they thought the more the merrier and the safer, and therefore they contrived to keep together, and were slack to go to possess the land which the Lord God of their fathers had given them (Jos 18:3), thinking themselves wiser than either God or Noah. Now here we have,
I. The advantages which befriended their design of keeping together, 1. They were all of one language, Gen 11:1. If there were any different languages before the flood, yet Noah's only, which it is likely was the same with Adam's, was preserved through the flood, and continued after it. Now, while they all understood one another, they would be the more likely to love one another, and the more capable of helping one another, and the less inclinable to separate one from another. 2. They found a very convenient commodious place to settle in (Gen 11:2), a plain in the land of Shinar, a spacious plain, able to contain them all, and a fruitful plain, able, according as their present numbers were, to support them all, though perhaps they had not considered what room there would be for them when their numbers should be increased. Note, Inviting accommodations, for the present, often prove too strong temptations to the neglect of both duty and interest, as it respects futurity.
II. The method they took to bind themselves to one another, and to settle together in one body. Instead of coveting to enlarge their borders by a peaceful departure under the divine protection, they contrived to fortify them, and, as those that were resolved to wage war with Heaven, they put themselves into a posture of defence. Their unanimous resolution is, Let us build ourselves a city and a tower. It is observable that the first builders of cities, both in the old world (Gen 4:17), and in the new world here, were not men of the best character and reputation: tents served God's subjects to dwell in; cities were first built by those that were rebels against him and revolters from him. Observe here,
1.How they excited and encouraged one another to set about this work. They said, Go to, let us make brick (Gen 11:3), and again, (Gen 11:4), Go to, let us build ourselves a city; by mutual excitements they made one another more daring and resolute. Note, Great things may be brought to pass when the undertakers are numerous and unanimous, and stir up one another. Let us learn to provoke one another to love and to good works, as sinners stir up and encourage one another to wicked works. See Psa 122:1; Isa 2:3, Isa 2:5; Jer 50:5.
2.What materials they used in their building. The country, being plain, yielded neither stone nor mortar, yet this did not discourage them from their undertaking, but they made brick to serve instead of stone, and slime or pitch instead of mortar. See here, (1.) What shift those will make that are resolute in their purposes: were we but zealously affected in a good thing, we should not stop our work so often as we do, under pretence that we want conveniences for carrying it on. (2.) What a difference there is between men's building and God's; when men build their Babel, brick and slime are their best materials; but, when God builds his Jerusalem, he lays even the foundations of it with sapphires, and all its borders with pleasant stones, Isa 54:11, Isa 54:12; Rev 21:19.
3.For what ends they built. Some think they intended hereby to secure themselves against the waters of another flood. God had told them indeed that he would not again drown the world; but they would trust to a tower of their own making, rather than to a promise of God's making or an ark of his appointing. If, however, they had had this in their eye, they would have chosen to build their tower upon a mountain rather than upon a plain, but three things, it seems, they aimed at in building this tower: -
(1.)It seems designed for an affront to God himself; for they would build a tower whose top might reach to heaven, which bespeaks a defiance of God, or at least a rivalship with him. They would be like the Most High, or would come as near him as they could, not in holiness but in height. They forgot their place, and, scorning to creep on the earth, resolved to climb to heaven, not by the door or ladder, but some other way.
(2.)They hoped hereby to make themselves a name; they would do something to be talked of now, and to give posterity to know that there had been such men as they in the world. Rather than die and leave no memorandum behind them, they would leave this monument of their pride, and ambition, and folly. Note, [1.] Affectation of honour and a name among men commonly inspires with a strange ardour for great and difficult undertakings, and often betrays to that which is evil and offensive to God. [2.] It is just with God to bury those names in the dust which are raised by sin. These Babel-builders put themselves to a great deal of foolish expense to make themselves a name; but they could not gain even this point, for we do not find in any history the name of so much as one of these Babel-builders. Philo Judaeus says, They engraved every one his name upon a brick, in perpetuam rei memoriam - as a perpetual memorial; yet neither did this serve their purpose.
(3.)They did it to prevent their dispersion: Lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth. "It was done" (says Josephus) "in disobedience to that command (Gen 9:1), Replenish the earth." God orders them to disperse. "No," say they, "we will not, we will live and die together." In order hereunto, they engage themselves and one another in this vast undertaking. That they might unite in one glorious empire, they resolve to build this city and tower, to be the metropolis of their kingdom and the centre of their unity. It is probable that the band of ambitious Nimrod was in all this. He could not content himself with the command of a particular colony, but aimed at universal monarchy, in order to which, under pretence of uniting for their common safety, he contrives to keep them in one body, that, having them all under his eye, he might not fail to have them under his power. See the daring presumption of these sinners. Here is, [1.] A bold opposition to God: "You shall be scattered," says God. "But we will not," say they. Woe unto him that thus strives with his maker. [2.] A bold competition with God. It is God's prerogative to be universal monarch, Lord of all, and King of kings; the man that aims at it offers to step into the throne of God, who will not give his glory to another.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–4. Public domain.
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Book of Jubilees
Book of Jubilees Chapter 10, sections 18-27, Charles' 1913 translation
And in the three and thirtieth jubilee, in the first year in the second week, Peleg took to himself a wife, whose name was Lomna the daughter of Sina'ar, and she bare him a son in the fourth year of this week, and he called his name Reu; for he said: 'Behold the children of men have become evil through the wicked purpose of building for themselves a city and a tower in the land of Shinar.' For they departed from the land of Ararat eastward to Shinar; for in his days they built the city and the tower, saying, 'Go to, let us ascend thereby into heaven.' And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks served them for stone, and the clay with which they cemented them together was asphalt which comes out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water in the land of Shinar. And they built it: forty and three years were they building it; its breadth was 203 bricks, and the height (of a brick) was the third of one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms, and (the extent of one wall was) thirteen stades (and of the other thirty stades). And the Lord our God said unto us: Behold, they are one people, and (this) they begin to do, and now nothing will be withholden from them. Go to, let us go down and confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech, and they may be dispersed into cities and nations, and one purpose will no longer abide with them till the day of judgment.' And the Lord descended, and we descended with him to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built. And he confounded their language, and they no longer understood one another's speech, and they ceased then to build the city and the tower. For this reason the whole land of Shinar is called Babel, because the Lord did there confound all the language of the children of men, and from thence they were dispersed into their cities, each according to his language and his nation. And the Lord sent a mighty wind against the tower and overthrew it upon the earth, and behold it was between Asshur and Babylon in the land of Shinar, and they called its name 'Overthrow'. In the fourth week in the first year in the beginning thereof in the four and thirtieth jubilee, were they dispersed from the land of Shinar.
Book of Biblical AntiquitiesAD 100
Book of Biblical Antiquities by Pseudo-Philo, Sections 1-18
VI. Then all they that had been divided and dwelt upon the earth gathered together there after, and dwelt together; and they set forth from the East and found a plain in the land of Babylon: and there they dwelt, and they said every man to his neighbour: Behold, it will come to pass that we shall be scattered every man. from his brother, and in the latter days we shall be fighting one against another. Now, therefore, come and let us build for ourselves a tower, the head whereof shall reach unto heaven, and we shall make us a name and a renown upon the earth.
2. And they said everyone to his neighbour: Let us take bricks (lit. stones), and let us, each one, write our names upon the bricks and burn them with fire: and that which is thoroughly burned shall be for mortar and brick. (Perhaps, that which is not thoroughly burned shall be for mortar, and that which is, for brick.)
3. And they took every man their bricks, saving 12 men, which would not take them, and these are their names: Abraham, Nachor, Loth, Ruge, Tenute, Zaba, Armodath, Iobab, Esar, Abimahel, Saba, Auphin.
4. And the people of the land laid hands on them and brought them before their princes and said: These are the men that have transgressed our counsels and will not walk in our ways. And the princes said unto them: Wherefore would ye not set every man your bricks with the people of the land? And they answered and said: We will not set bricks with you, neither will we be joined with your desire. One Lord know we, and him do we worship. And if ye should cast us into the fire with your bricks, we will not consent to you.
5. And the princes were wroth and said: As they have said, so do unto them, and if they consent not to set bricks with you, ye shall burn them with fire together with your bricks.
6. Then answered Jectan which was the first prince of the captains: Not so, but there shall be given them a space of 7 days. And it shall be, if they repent of their evil counsels, and will set bricks along with us, they shall live; but if not, let them be burned according to your word. But he sought how he might save them out of the hands of the people; for he was of their tribe, and he served God.
7. And when he had thus said he took them and shut them up in the king's house: and when it was evening the prince commanded 50 mighty men of valour to be called unto him, and said unto them: Go forth and take to-night these men that are shut up in mine house, and put provision for them from my house upon 10 beasts, and the men bring ye to me, and their provision together with the beasts take ye to the mountains and wait for them there: and know this, that if any man shall know what I have said unto you, I will burn you with fire.
8. And the men set forth and did all that their prince commanded them, and took the men from his house by night; and took provision and put it upon beasts and took them to the hill country as he commanded them.
9. And the prince called unto him those 12 men and said to them: Be of good courage and fear not, for ye shall not die. For God in whom ye trust is mighty, and therefore be ye stablished in him, for he will deliver you and save you. And now lo, I have commanded So men to take [you with] provision from my house, and go before you into the hill country and wait for you in the valley: and I will give you other 50 men which shall guide you thither: go ye therefore and hide yourselves there in the valley, having water to drink that floweth down from the rocks: hold yourselves there for 30 days, until the anger of the people of the land be appeased and until God send his wrath upon them and break them. For I know that the counsel of iniquity which they have agreed to perform shall not stand, for their thought is vain. And it shall be when 7 days are expired and they shall seek for you, I will say unto them: They have gone forth and have broken the door of the prison wherein they were shut up and have fled by night, and I have sent 100 men to seek them. So will I turn them from their madness that is upon them.
10. And there answered him 11 of the men saying: Thy servants have found favour in thy sight, in that we are set free out of the hands of these proud men.
11. But Abram only kept silence, and the prince said unto him: Wherefore answerest thou not me, Abram, servant of God? Abram answered and said: Lo, I flee away to-day into the hill country, and if I escape the fire, wild beasts will come out of the mountains and devour us. Or our victuals will fail and we shall die of hunger; and we shall be found fleeing from the people of the land and shall fall in our sins. And now, as he liveth in whom I trust, I will not remove from my place wherein they have put me: and if there be any sin of mine so that I be indeed burned, the will of God be done. And the prince said unto him: Thy blood be upon thy head, if thou refuse to go forth with these. But if thou consent, thou shall be delivered. Yet if thou wilt abide, abide as thou art. And Abram said: I will not go forth, but I will abide here.
12. And the prince took those 11 men and sent other 50 with them, and commanded them saying: Wait, ye also, in the hill country for 15 days with those 50 which were sent before you; and after that ye shall return and say We have not found them, as I said to the former ones. And know that if any man transgress one of all these words that I have spoken unto you, he shall be burned with fire. So the men went forth, and he took Abram by himself and shut him up where he had been shut up aforetime.
13. And after 7 days were passed, the people were gathered together and spake unto their prince saying: Restore us the men which would not consent unto us, that we may burn them with fire. And they sent captains to bring them, and they found them not, save Abram only. And they gathered all of them to their prince saying: The men whom ye shut up are fled and have escaped that which we counselled.
14. And Phenech and Nemroth said unto Jectan: Where are the men whom thou didst shut up? But he said: They have broken prison and fled by night: but I have sent 100 men to seek them, and commanded them if they find them that they should not only burn them with fire but give their bodies to the fowls of the heaven and so destroy them.
15. Then said they: This fellow which is found alone, let us burn him. And they took Abram and brought him before their princes and said to him: Where are they that were with thee? And he said: Verily at night I slept, and when I awaked I found them not.
16. And they took him and built a furnace and kindled it with fire, and put bricks burned with fire into the furnace. Then Jectan the prince being amazed (lit. melted) in his mind took Abram and put him with the bricks into the furnace of fire.
17. But God stirred up a great earthquake, and the fire gushed forth of the furnace and brake out into flames and sparks of fire and consumed all them that stood round about in sight of the furnace; and all they that were burned in that day were 83,500. But upon Abram was there not any the least hurt by the burning of the fire.
18. And Abram arose out of the furnace, and the fiery furnace fell down, and Abram was saved. And he went unto the 11 men that were hid in the hill country and told them all that had befallen him, and they came down with him out of the hill country rejoicing in the name of the Lord, and no man met them to affright them that day. And they called that place by the name of Abram, and in the tongue of the Chaldeans Deli, which is being interpreted, God.
JosephusAD 100
Antiquities of the Jews - Book I, Chapter 4, Sections 1-3
1. Now the sons of Noah were three, - Shem, Japhet, and Ham, born one hundred years before the Deluge. These first of all descended from the mountains into the plains, and fixed their habitation there; and persuaded others who were greatly afraid of the lower grounds on account of the flood, and so were very loath to come down from the higher places, to venture to follow their examples. Now the plain in which they first dwelt was called Shinar. God also commanded them to send colonies abroad, for the thorough peopling of the earth, that they might not raise seditions among themselves, but might cultivate a great part of the earth, and enjoy its fruits after a plentiful manner. But they were so ill instructed that they did not obey God; for which reason they fell into calamities, and were made sensible, by experience, of what sin they had been guilty: for when they flourished with a numerous youth, God admonished them again to send out colonies; but they, imagining the prosperity they enjoyed was not derived from the favor of God, but supposing that their own power was the proper cause of the plentiful condition they were in, did not obey him. Nay, they added to this their disobedience to the Divine will, the suspicion that they were therefore ordered to send out separate colonies, that, being divided asunder, they might the more easily be Oppressed.
2. Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers!
3. Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion. The Sibyl also makes mention of this tower, and of the confusion of the language, when she says thus: "When all men were of one language, some of them built a high tower, as if they would thereby ascend up to heaven, but the gods sent storms of wind and overthrew the tower, and gave every one his peculiar language; and for this reason it was that the city was called Babylon." But as to the plan of Shinar, in the country of Babylonia, Hestiaeus mentions it, when he says thus: "Such of the priests as were saved, took the sacred vessels of Jupiter Enyalius, and came to Shinar of Babylonia."
IrenaeusAD 202
The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, Section 23
And they arose and came from the land of the east; and, as they went through the land, they chanced upon the land of Shinar, which was exceeding broad; where they took in hand to build a tower. They sought means thereby to go up to heaven, and be able to leave their work as a memorial to those men who should come after them. And the building was made with burnt bricks and bitumen: and the boldness of their audacity went forward, as they were all of one mind and consent, and by means of one speech they served the purpose of their desires. But that the work should advance no further, God divided their tongues, that they should longer be able to understand one another. And so they were scattered and planted out, and took possession of the world, and dwelt in groups and companies each according to his language: whence came the diverse tribes and various languages upon the earth. So then, whereas three races of men took possession of the earth, and one of them was under the curse, and two under the blessing, the blessing first of all came to Shem, whose race dwelt in the east and held the land of the Chaldeans.
Origen of AlexandriaAD 253
Contra Celsum, Book IV, Chapter 21
But I do not understand how he can imagine the overturning of the tower (of Babel) to have happened with a similar object to that of the deluge, which effected a purification of the earth, according to the accounts both of Jews and Christians. For, in order that the narrative contained in Genesis respecting the tower may be held to convey no secret meaning, but, as Celsus supposes, may be taken as true to the letter, the event does not on such a view appear to have taken place for the purpose of purifying the earth; unless, indeed, he imagines that the so-called confusion of tongues is such a purificatory process. But on this point, he who has the opportunity will treat more seasonably when his object is to show not only what is the meaning of the narrative in its historical connection, but what metaphorical meaning may be deduced from it. Seeing that he imagines, however, that Moses, who wrote the account of the tower, and the confusion of tongues, has perverted the story of the sons of Aloeus, and referred it to the tower, we must remark that I do not think any one prior to the time of Homer has mentioned the sons of Aloeus, while I am persuaded that what is related about the tower has been recorded by Moses as being much older not only than Homer, but even than the invention of letters among the Greeks. Who, then, are the perverters of each other's narratives? Whether do they who relate the story of the Aloadæ pervert the history of the time, or he who wrote the account of the tower and the confusion of tongues the story of the Aloadæ? Now to impartial hearers Moses appears to be more ancient than Homer. The destruction by fire, moreover, of Sodom and Gomorrha on account of their sins, related by Moses in Genesis, is compared by Celsus to the story of Phæthon — all these statements of his resulting from one blunder, viz., his not attending to the (greater) antiquity of Moses. For they who relate the story of Phæthon seem to be younger even than Homer, who, again, is much younger than Moses. We do not deny, then, that the purificatory fire and the destruction of the world took place in order that evil might be swept away, and all things be renewed; for we assert that we have learned these things from the sacred books of the prophets. But since, as we have said in the preceding pages, the prophets, in uttering many predictions regarding future events, show that they have spoken the truth concerning many things that are past, and thus give evidence of the indwelling of the Divine Spirit, it is manifest that, with respect to things still future, we should repose faith in them, or rather in the Divine Spirit that is in them.
Eusebius of CaesareaAD 339
Preparation for the Gospel, BOOK IX, CHAPTER XIV
AGAIN, whereas Moses wrote an account of the building of the tower, and how from one language men passed into the confusion of many dialects, the author just before mentioned, in his work entitled Of Assyrian History, bears the like testimony, speaking as follows:
[ABYDENUS] 'But there are some who say that the men who first arose out of the earth, being puffed up by their strength and great stature, and proudly thinking that they were better than the gods, raised a huge tower, where Babylon now stands: and when they were already nearer to heaven, the winds came to the help of the gods, and overthrew their structure upon them, the ruins of which were called Babylon. And being up to that time of one tongue, they received from the gods a confused language; and afterwards war arose between Cronos and Titan.
[JOSEPHUS] 'And the place in which they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of what at first was clear in their language. For the Hebrews call confusion "Babel." '
Gregory of NyssaAD 395
Answer to Eunomius’ Second Book, Section 276
And if any one cites the confusion of tongues that took place at the building of the tower, as contradicting what I have said, not even there is God spoken of as creating men’s languages, but as confounding the existing one, that all might not hear all. For when all lived together and were not as yet divided by various differences of race, the aggregate of men dwelt together with one language among them; but when by the Divine will it was decreed that all the earth should be replenished by mankind, then, their community of tongue being broken up, men were dispersed in various directions and adopted this and that form of speech and language, possessing a certain bond of union in similarity of tongue, not indeed disagreeing from others in their knowledge of things, but differing in the character of their names. For a stone or a stick does not seem one thing to one man and another to another, but the different peoples call them by different names. So that our position remains unshaken, that human language is the invention of the human mind or understanding. For from the beginning, as long as all men had the same language, we see from Holy Scripture that men received no teaching of God’s words, nor, when men were separated into various differences of language, did a Divine enactment prescribe how each man should talk. But God, willing that men should speak different languages, gave human nature full liberty to formulate arbitrary sounds, so as to render their meaning more intelligible. Accordingly, Moses, who lived many generations after the building of the tower, uses one of the subsequent languages in his historical narrative of the creation, and attributes certain words to God, relating these things in his own tongue in which he had been brought up, and with which he was familiar, not changing the names for God by foreign peculiarities and turns of speech, in order by the strangeness and novelty of the expressions to prove them the words of God Himself.
John ChrysostomAD 407
HOMILIES ON GENESIS 30.5
“When they traveled from the east, they found open country in the land of Sennar [Shinar] and settled there.” Notice how the human race, instead of managing to keep to its own boundaries, always longs for more and reaches out for greater things. This is what the human race has lost in particular, not being prepared to recognize the limitations of its own condition but always lusting after more, entertaining ambitions beyond its capacity. In this regard, too, when people who chase after the things of the world acquire for themselves much wealth and status, they lose sight of their own nature, as it were, and aspire to such heights that they topple into the very depths. You could see this happening every day without others being any the wiser from the sight of it. Instead, they pause for a while but immediately lose all recollection of it and take the same road as the others and fall over the same precipice. This is exactly what you can see happening to these people in the present instance: “When they traveled from the east, they found open country in the land of Sennar [Shinar] and settled there.” See how in gradual stages it teaches us the instability of their attitude. When they saw the open country (the text says), they packed up and left their previous dwelling and settled down there.
JeromeAD 420
St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER ONE
Verse 2. "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand." The fact that Jehoiachim is recorded to have been given over shows that it was not a victory for the might of his enemies but rather it was of the will of the Lord. "...and some of the vessels of the house of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar to the house of his god, and he conveyed them into the treasure house of his god" (Gen. 11). The land of Shinar is a region of Babylon in which the plain of Dura was located, and also the tower which those who had migrated from the East attempted to build up to heaven. From this circumstance and from the confusion of tongues the region received the name Babylon, which, translated into our language, means "confusion." At the same time it ought to be noted, by way of spiritual interpretation, that the king of Babylon was not able to transport all of the vessels of God, and place them in the idol-house which he had built himself, but only a part of the vessels of God's house. By these vessels we are to understand the dogmas of truth. For if you go through all of the works of the philosophers, you will necessarily find in them some portion of the vessels of God. For example, you will find in Plato that God is the fashioner of the universe, in Zeno the chief of the Stoics, that there are inhabitants in the infernal regions and that souls are immortal, and that honor is the one (true) good. But because the philosophers combine truth with error and corrupt the good of nature with many evils, for that reason they are recorded to have captured only a portion of the vessels of God's house, and not all of them in their completeness and perfection.
Sibylline OraclesAD 700
Sibylline Oracles Book III: 117-129
But when the threatenings of the mighty God
Are fulfilled, which he threatened mortals once,
When in Assyrian land they built a tower;--
120 (And they all spoke one language, and resolved
To mount aloft into the starry heaven;
But on the air the Immortal straightway put
A mighty force; and then winds from above
Cast down the great tower and stirred mortals up
125 To wrangling with each other; therefore men
Gave to that city the name of Babylon);--
Now when the tower fell and the tongues of men
Turned to all sorts of sounds, straightway all earth
Was filled with men and kingdoms were divided;
BedeAD 735
Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)
And one said to his neighbor: Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire, and they had bricks for stones and bitumen for mortar. Perhaps, therefore, they used bricks for stones and bitumen for mortar because in those regions the supply of stones, from which such a great work could be completed, was lacking; or because they knew that a wall of bricks could more strongly resist the danger of fires. Bitumen, however, is made from trees, and it is also made from the earth or waters; whence it is written later about the land of Sodom. The woodland valley had many bitumen pits; and the Dead Sea is called the Asphalt Lake in Greek, that is, the Bitumen Lake; because bitumen floating on it is usually collected, which more clearly suggests that the walls of Babylon were constructed from it.
BedeAD 735
Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)
But as they mold clay into bricks, which are usually made with equal square sides, hence also taking their name, it shows the composition and ornamentation of secular eloquence, through which the proud city of the devil, either in deceptive philosophy or heretical craftiness, seems to be raised much for a time; but in the examination of the strict judge, it will be evident how condemnable and worthy of confusion it is.
BedeAD 735
Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)
They baked the bricks they had made with fire. Indeed, that fire of which it is said: "all adulterers, their hearts are like an oven" (Hosea 7:4), and about which Isaiah says: "Behold, all you who kindle a fire, encircled with flames, walk in the light of your fire and in the flames you have kindled" (Isaiah 50:11). For this fire is indeed the love of vices and the desire for human favor, with which, once they have been found, the foolish teachers of the deceived strive to confirm and harden the doctrines of falsehood so much that they cannot be overcome by any struggle of truth and heavenly doctrine; but nevertheless, with the army of truth prevailing, as Scripture says, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great" (Revelation 18:2), with a twofold fall, having been cast down in the present through the manifestation of truth, and to be condemned in the future by the judgment of ultimate severity. Of such cities, the Israelite people once made from clay and brick in Egypt, because even they, not yet educated by the hearing of the law, served vices and errors, and expressed the form of those in their works, who, still in the obscure deceptions of unclean spirits, by whose harsh Egyptian commands they were oppressed, had learned neither faith nor hope of acquiring the heavenly homeland; and thus they knew only to cling to and be subject to the allurements of this world. But the bitumen with which the builders of Babylon used in place of mortar, which was taken from the ground or pits, certainly shows the intention of earthly and base pleasure, with which the people of this age fortify all their works, as those who, having no hope or knowledge of heavenly goods, direct themselves to seeking the joys that are in the heavens, and thus everything they do is carried out for the sake of temporary gratification or favor: against which it is rightly read that the masons made the temple of the Lord: indeed, mortar is made from stones burned and turned into ashes, which are acted upon by fire, so that what were once singly firm and strong become softened with the addition of whiteness, and, infused with water, are better connected to each other, and the stones placed in the wall can connect others, themselves too quickly regaining better firmness, which they seemed to have lost for a short time. Who then are to be understood by the mortar but those who, being diligently baked in the furnace of temporal tribulations, have first in themselves changed all the darkness of vices into the whiteness of virtues, saying to their Creator: "You will wash me and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7); then also strive to whiten their neighbors with their exhortations or examples and bind each other with the bond of love? Of whom it is rightly said: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9); who the more they are softened, humbled by the flame of tribulations, the stronger they become in strengthening and maintaining the hearts of their neighbors in tribulations. And indeed, the temple is built from white stone, as David said to Solomon when he gave him expenses and showed him the measurements for making the temple: "but also marble from Paros in abundance he provided" (1 Chronicles 29:2), because indeed the Church of Christ is gathered from souls chosen for their firmness in faith and brilliant action. Indeed, marble from the island of Paros is known to be of strong ability and a candid color; but the builders of Babylon, having no abundance or concern of this material, glue their bricks with bitumen from pits: because they try to fortify the whiteness of innocence, the strength of faith, the harmony of brotherhood with the arguments of disputations.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Details the innovative and advanced building techniques employed by the inhabitants of Shinar as they initiated the construction of their ambitious city and tower. Faced with a scarcity of natural stone, they ingeniously adapted by manufacturing durable, fired bricks as their primary structural material and utilized bitumen, a naturally occurring tar-like substance, as a superior, waterproof mortar, thereby laying the technological foundation for a project driven by collective human ambition and a desire for self-exaltation.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse is a pivotal moment within the narrative of the Tower of Babel, which immediately follows the genealogical and geographical dispersion accounts of Noah's descendants in Genesis 10. The preceding verses, Genesis 11:1 and Genesis 11:2, establish the unified language of all humanity and their eastward migration to the plain of Shinar. Verse 3 then sets the stage for their collective decision to build a city and a tower, a project explicitly articulated in Genesis 11:4 as an attempt to "make us a name" and prevent their scattering, directly contrasting God's earlier command to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" found in Genesis 9:1. This verse, therefore, highlights the practical means by which their rebellious ambition began to take physical form.
Historical & Cultural Context: The setting for this narrative, the plain of Shinar, corresponds to ancient Mesopotamia, a region renowned for its alluvial plains formed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This geographical reality meant a scarcity of natural stone, which was abundant in other regions like Canaan. Consequently, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia became masters of brick-making and the use of natural bitumen (asphalt or tar), which was readily available from seeps in the region. The description of "make brick, and burn them throughly" points to the advanced technology of firing bricks in kilns, a process that produced far more durable, water-resistant, and structurally sound building materials than sun-dried bricks. This technique, along with the use of bitumen as a strong, waterproof mortar, was characteristic of monumental architecture in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly in the construction of ziggurats—massive stepped towers that served as religious and administrative centers. The verse thus reflects a historically accurate portrayal of sophisticated building practices of the era.
Key Themes: Genesis 11:3 contributes significantly to several overarching themes within the Babel narrative and the broader book of Genesis. First, it underscores the theme of human ingenuity and technological advancement, demonstrating humanity's capacity for innovation, even when misdirected. Second, it highlights the theme of human autonomy and self-sufficiency, as the people choose to create their own building materials and solutions rather than relying on natural provisions or divine guidance. This leads directly to the theme of collective pride and ambition, where human effort is channeled towards "making a name for themselves" (Genesis 11:4) rather than honoring God. Implicitly, it also foreshadows the futility of human efforts when they stand in opposition to divine will, as the meticulous and advanced building methods described ultimately fail to achieve their intended goal of unified self-exaltation, leading instead to God's intervention and the scattering of humanity, as detailed in Genesis 11:8-9.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The verse employs several significant literary devices. Substitution is evident in the direct exchange of "brick for stone" and "slime for morter," highlighting humanity's ingenuity in adapting to their environment while also subtly hinting at their self-reliance and desire to create their own solutions apart from what God might naturally provide. This also sets up an implicit contrast between God's natural provisions (stone, traditionally used in divine construction, e.g., altars) and humanity's manufactured alternatives, which, while technologically advanced, are employed in a project of self-exaltation. The very act of building with such durable materials, intended for permanence and unity, also contains a profound irony, as these efforts ultimately lead to God's intervention and the scattering of humanity, demonstrating the ultimate futility of human endeavors when they oppose divine will. Furthermore, the meticulous description of these materials serves as a form of foreshadowing, hinting at the grand scale and ambitious nature of the tower that is to be built, a structure meant to reach the heavens and make a name for its builders.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Genesis 11:3 offers a profound theological insight into the nature of human ambition and the misdirection of God-given ingenuity. While the ability to innovate and create is a reflection of humanity being made in God's image, the people of Babel chose to employ these gifts not for God's glory or in obedience to His command to fill the earth, but for their own collective pride and self-preservation. Their substitution of "brick for stone" and "slime for morter" can be seen as symbolic of humanity's attempt to establish its own foundations and create its own security, independent of divine provision and direction. This act of self-sufficiency, building a monument to human achievement, stands in stark contrast to a life lived in humble dependence on God. The verse thus sets the stage for a narrative that exposes the inherent futility and spiritual danger of human endeavors when they are rooted in a desire for self-exaltation rather than God's glory.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Genesis 11:3 serves as a timeless reminder that while human ingenuity and resourcefulness are valuable traits, their true worth is determined by the motivations and ultimate goals behind their application. When our talents, advancements, and even our collective efforts are divorced from divine purpose, they can easily become tools for pride and self-exaltation, leading to endeavors that seek to build our own empires and legacies rather than honoring God. This verse challenges us to critically examine the foundations of our own ambitions, projects, and even our communities, ensuring that our efforts align with God's will and contribute to His glory, rather than merely establishing our own name or lasting legacy apart from Him. The eventual scattering of the people (Genesis 11:9) underscores that human attempts to circumvent God's plan are ultimately vain, reminding us that true and lasting success is found only in alignment with His divine blueprint.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "slime" refer to in this context?
Answer: In Genesis 11:3, the King James Version's "slime" translates the Hebrew word chêmâr (חֵמָר). This refers to bitumen or asphalt, a natural tar-like substance, a form of petroleum, that was abundant in ancient Mesopotamia. It was extensively used as a strong, waterproof adhesive in ancient construction, proving far superior to traditional mud or clay-based mortars, especially for large and durable projects like the Tower of Babel.
Why did the builders use brick and bitumen instead of stone and traditional mortar?
Answer: The plain of Shinar, where Babel was located, was an alluvial plain, meaning it was formed by river deposits and lacked natural stone quarries. Consequently, the builders adapted to their environment by utilizing readily available clay to make bricks and natural bitumen as mortar. This choice was not a sign of inferiority or lack of resources, but rather an innovative and practical solution. Fired bricks, produced by "burning them throughly," combined with bitumen, created a highly durable, water-resistant, and structurally sound edifice, well-suited for the region's conditions and their ambitious project to build a monumental tower. This demonstrates their advanced understanding of materials and construction techniques for their time.
Does this verse suggest the people of Babel possessed advanced building technology?
Answer: Yes, Genesis 11:3 strongly suggests that the people of Babel possessed advanced building technology for their era. The instruction to "burn them throughly" indicates the use of kilns to fire bricks, a process that transforms raw clay into vitrified, much stronger, and more durable building units than simple sun-dried bricks. Furthermore, the use of bitumen (slime) as mortar points to a sophisticated understanding of materials. Bitumen was a superior, waterproof adhesive, essential for constructing massive and long-lasting structures. These techniques were hallmarks of advanced Mesopotamian civilization, capable of erecting monumental buildings like ziggurats, which the Tower of Babel likely resembled.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The narrative of Babel, initiated by the ambitious building efforts described in Genesis 11:3, represents humanity's collective attempt to achieve unity and self-glory apart from God, resulting in confusion and scattering. This stands in stark contrast to the redemptive work of Christ, who came not to build a monument to human pride, but to reconcile humanity to God and to each other. While Babel sought to establish a "name" for humanity through human ingenuity and a physical tower, Christ came to build God's spiritual temple, the Church, through His ultimate sacrifice and resurrection (Ephesians 2:20-22). At Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11), the curse of Babel's linguistic confusion and division was miraculously reversed, not by human effort, but by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, enabling diverse peoples to understand the gospel in their own languages, thereby uniting them in Christ. The "one name" that humanity sought to make for itself at Babel is ultimately found in the "one name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12), the name of Jesus Christ, who is the true cornerstone of God's eternal building (1 Peter 2:4-5), gathering all nations into one new humanity under His headship.