![]() ![]() ![]() They will build a great monumental city with a great tower that will make their name great. “Shem” is Hebrew for “name.” They want to have the “great name” (cf. Ham is a cursed name but they want to reverse that–they want to become “Shem” (a name!). These settlers in Shinar are themselves descendants of “Ham” rather than “Shem” (cf. They want to make a “name” for themselves. The human agenda in Genesis 11 is self-aggrandizement, arrogance and pride. The “let us” of Genesis 11:3-4 stands in stark contrast with the “let us” of Genesis 1:26-28. What is the human agenda in Genesis 11:1-9?Īt one level, it is clear that it is the opposite of the divine agenda. But it is a corrective it is judgment against the human project or agenda in this text. God’s judgment here is a gracious corrective. Instead, he moves them toward the divine project as he scatters them to fill the earth. God does not wipe out humanity in this text (as he did in the flood). It is not a wholly gracious encounter, though grace is present. It is more important–and perhaps will help us with that problem–to focus on the divine-human encounter in this text. ![]() Let’s hold that problem to the side for a moment and we’ll come back to it at the end of the post. So, how can this story–located no earlier than the fourth millennium BCE–function as an etiology for all the languages around the globe? Multiple languages existed before cultures began to erect monumental buildings with fire-baked bricks and bitumen mortar. We also know that cultures in the Australia, Asia and the Americas had their own indigenous languages prior to 3500 BCE. These factors date the story of Genesis 11:1-9 no earlier than 3500 BCE.īut this creates a problem. They were, however, expensive since fire-baked bricks required fuel that was scarce in that region of the world. This enabled the Mesopotamian culture to begin monumental building projects. We also know that the ancients began using bitumen (natural asphalt) as mortar in this same time period. We know that Mesopotamians began using sun-dried bricks around 8000 BCE and that they began using fire-baked bricks between 3500-3100 BCE. I prefer a different emphasis than these though some parts of each might have a point. Some read it as an assault on technology. Others read it as a judgment against the human refusal to scatter throughout the earth and fill it. Some read the Tower of Babel story as a polemic against conformity where individuality is lost. In fact, “we” are even now completing one in New York City to replace the Twin Towers. What’s wrong with a tower? “We” build them all the time. ![]()
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