Genesis — Chapter 11
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1Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech.
2And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3And 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.
4“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”
5Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.
6And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.
7Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
8So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
9That 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.
10This is the account of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.
11And after he had become the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.
13And after he had become the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.
15And after he had become the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg.
17And after he had become the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu.
19And after he had become the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug.
21And after he had become the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor.
23And after he had become the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah.
25And after he had become the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.
28During his father Terah’s lifetime, Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.
30But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
31And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.
32Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.
1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3And 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.
4And 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.
5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6And 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.
7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9Therefore 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.
10These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
11And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
12And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
13And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
14And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
15And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
16And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
17And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
18And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
19And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
20And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
21And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
22And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
23And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
24And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
25And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
26And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
28And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
30But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31And 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 of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
32And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
1And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
2And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3And 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.
4And they said, Come, 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.
5And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do.
7Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another`s speech.
8So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city.
9Therefore 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.
10These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arpachshad two years after the flood.
11and Shem lived after he begat Arpachshad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
12And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years, and begat Shelah.
13and Arpachshad lived after he begat Shelah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
14And Shelah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
15and Shelah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
16And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
17and Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
18And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
19and Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
20And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
21and Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
22And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
23and Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
24And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
25and Nahor lived after he begat Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
26And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran begat Lot.
28And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29And Abram and Nahor took them wives: The name of Abram`s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor`s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
30And Sarai was barren; She had no child.
31And 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 of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
32And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
1The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary.
2When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.)
4Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth.”
5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building.
6And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.
7Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”
8So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city.
9That is why its name was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.
10This is the account of Shem.Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood.
11And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.
13And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.
15And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.
17And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.
19And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.
21And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.
23And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.
25And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27This is the account of Terah.Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.
28Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, while his father Terah was still alive.
29And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai. And the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.
30But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there.
32The lifetime of Terah was 205 years, and he died in Haran.
1The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
2As they traveled from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.
3They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
4They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
5Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
6Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.
7Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.
9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.
10This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.
11Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
12Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah.
13Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
14Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber.
15Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
16Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.
17Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
18Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu.
19Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
20Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.
21Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
22Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.
23Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
24Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah.
25Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
26Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot.
28Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah.
30Sarai was barren. She had no child.
31Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.
32The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.
Summary
The whole earth shares one language, and as people migrate they settle in the plain of Shinar and decide to build a city and a tower reaching toward heaven to make a name for themselves and avoid being scattered (vv. 1-4). God observes their unified rebellion and confuses their language so they cannot understand one another, scattering them across the earth and leaving the city named Babel (vv. 5-9). The chapter then traces the genealogy from Shem down through ten generations to Terah, the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran (vv. 10-26). It closes by introducing Abram's family, noting Sarai's barrenness, and recording their move from Ur toward Canaan, where they settle instead in Haran (vv. 27-32).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Shinar (v.2) — the plain of Babylonia (modern southern Iraq). The people migrate eastward (away from God's presence, the recurring Genesis pattern).
- Babel (v.9) — Babylon, one of the most significant cities in ancient history. Its name means "gate of god" but is linked to "confusion" (balal).
- Ur of the Chaldeans (v.28) — Abram's origin city in southern Mesopotamia (modern Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq). A major Sumerian urban center.
- Haran (v.31) — a city in northwest Mesopotamia (modern Harran, Turkey), a caravan crossroads on the route between Ur and Canaan.
Places on this map
- Babylonnear Hillah, IraqOn the Euphrates about 55 miles south of modern Baghdad. Judah's exiles were marched roughly 900 miles to get here, the long way round the Arabian desert, which is why the journey took months and the return was a genuine undertaking rather than a short trip home. Wikipedia
- HarranHarran, TurkeyA caravan town on the Balikh, a tributary of the Euphrates in northern Mesopotamia. Abraham's family stopped here on the way from Ur, and it stayed the family's home ground: Isaac's and Jacob's wives were both fetched from it. Wikipedia
- CanaanIsrael, West Bank, LebanonThe land bridge between Egypt and Mesopotamia, which is why armies crossed it for three thousand years. Within about 60 miles it goes from coastal plain to hill country to rift valley to desert plateau, so control of it was always local and piecemeal. Wikipedia
- UrTell el-Muqayyar, IraqA Sumerian city near the lower Euphrates, once close to the head of the Persian Gulf before the coastline moved. Leaving it for Canaan meant leaving one of the most developed places on earth for hill country. Wikipedia
- MesopotamiaIraq and eastern SyriaThe land between the Tigris and Euphrates, flat, hot and farmable only by irrigation, which forced early cities into large-scale cooperation. Abraham came from its southern end and Israel's exiles were taken to its middle. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Deep Dive
Setting: Chapter 10 laid out the seventy nations spread across the world "each with his own language" (10:5), and it noted in passing that in Peleg's days "the earth was divided" (10:25). Chapter 11 steps back to tell how that happened. The story of Babel is the last of the great judgments in Genesis 1–11, after the garden, Cain and the flood, and it follows the same pattern: human beings reach for what belongs to God, and God responds with judgment mixed with mercy. Then the camera narrows. A genealogy runs ten generations from Shem to Terah, and the chapter ends with one family, one barren woman and a journey that stops halfway. Babel sets the problem: a scattered, divided humanity. The family of Terah sets up God's answer, which begins in chapter 12 with Abram.
The Tower of Babel (vv1–9)
- "The whole earth had one language and the same words" (v1). Literally "one lip and the same words." The story begins where chapter 10 ended, with the whole earth, but it goes back in time to before the nations separated. The account is carefully built as a mirror: the people speak and build (vv1–4), the LORD comes down (v5), the LORD speaks and acts (vv6–9). Many of the words in the first half come back reversed in the second: "one language," "let us," "build," "name," "dispersed."
- "As people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar" (v2). Shinar is southern Mesopotamia, the heart of Babylonia, where Nimrod's kingdom began (10:10). Movement "east" in Genesis often means movement away from God: Adam and Eve were driven east of Eden (3:24), Cain settled east of Eden (4:16), and Lot will choose the east (13:11).
- "Come, let us make bricks… brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar" (v3). Mesopotamia had little stone, so its builders invented fired brick set in bitumen, a natural tar. The Hebrew has a sound-play: nilbenah lebenim, "let us brick bricks." The note "brick for stone" is written for readers in Canaan, a land of stone, and it carries a quiet irony: Babel's great works were made of baked mud. Later, Israel in Egypt is forced to make bricks for Pharaoh's cities (Exod 1:14).
- "A city and a tower with its top in the heavens" (v4). The tower was most likely a ziggurat, a stepped temple-mountain of brick. Babylon had a famous one called Etemenanki, "house of the foundation of heaven and earth," and Mesopotamian cities treated these towers as stairways where the gods came down to meet people. "Top in the heavens" is a common ancient way of saying "very tall" (Deut 1:28 speaks of cities "fortified up to heaven"). The point is not that they hoped to climb into God's home with bricks, but that they wanted to bring heaven within reach on their own terms.
- "Let us make a name for ourselves" (v4). Here is the heart of the matter. "Name" is shem, the same word as the name of Noah's son Shem. The builders want fame, security and identity they have made for themselves. In the very next chapter God tells Abram, "I will make your name great" (12:2). A name grasped at becomes Babel. A name received from God becomes blessing. The same pattern appears with David (2 Sam 7:9).
- "Lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth" (v4). God had told Noah's family to "fill the earth" (9:1). The builders resist. They want to stay together, in one place, under one tower. The word for "dispersed" (puts) comes back in vv8–9 when the LORD does exactly what they feared. What they built to prevent came about because of what they built.
- "The LORD came down to see the city and the tower" (v5). This is gentle irony. The tower that was meant to reach the heavens is so small that God has to "come down" to see it. The phrase doesn't mean God lacked information. It is the language of a judge who investigates before he acts, as with Sodom later (18:21). "The children of man," literally "sons of Adam," reminds the reader that the builders are creatures of dust.
- "This is only the beginning of what they will do" (v6). God sees where unchecked, united human pride leads. "Nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them" is not praise for human potential but a warning about what sinful people united in rebellion can do. Scattering them is a restraint, much as barring the way to the tree of life was a mercy after the fall (3:22–24).
- "Come, let us go down and there confuse their language" (v7). God answers their "Come, let us" with his own "Come, let us." The plural has been read in several ways, as in 1:26 and 3:22. The Tyndale notes take it as God speaking to his heavenly court of angels. Many Christian readers, including Guzik, hear a hint of the Trinity. Others take it as a plural of majesty or of self-encouragement. The text doesn't settle it. "Confuse" is balal, to mix or mingle, a word used elsewhere for flour mixed with oil (Lev 2:5).
- "So the LORD dispersed them… and they left off building the city" (v8). The judgment is quiet. No fire, no flood, no one killed. God simply takes away their ability to understand one another, and the great project stops. Notice it is the city they stop building. A unity based on pride cannot survive when people cannot understand each other.
- "Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused" (v9). In Babylon's own language the name Bab-ili meant "gate of god," a proud claim. Genesis answers with a pun: it sounds like balal, "confused." The city the Babylonians called the gate of heaven is, in God's eyes, the place of confusion. It is a mocking wordplay, not a claim about the name's origin. Babylon remains the Bible's picture of proud human power set against God, all the way to "Babylon the great" in Revelation 17–18.
- Babel and Pentecost. At Pentecost, the Spirit enabled the apostles to speak so that people "from every nation under heaven" heard "each one in his own language" (Acts 2:5–6). Babel's confusion was answered, not by a return to one language but by one gospel heard in many. The prophets looked toward it: "I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD" (Zeph 3:9).
- Commentators: Henry sums up the builders' attitude: "They would do something to be talked of now," and about God's command to disperse, "we will not, we will live and die together." He says God came down "not merely as a spectator, but as a judge," and that "God has various means, and effectual ones, to baffle and defeat the projects of proud men." He also reflects on the scattering as a mercy, since in this life God's judgments on sinners "are little more than restraints." Guzik also stresses the mercy in the scattering, which limits how far sinful human unity can go. He suggests the tower was built for watching the heavens and ties astrology back to Babel, a link the text doesn't make. He also points out that the tar-sealed brick might have been meant as protection from another flood, which would show distrust of God's promise in 9:11. JFB reads "unto heaven" as "a common figurative expression for great height," and sees the plan "to prevent emigration" as "foolish, wicked, and justly offensive to God." JFB has no comment on vv5, 8 and 9.
Shem's Descendants (vv10–26)
- "These are the generations of Shem" (v10). This is a new section heading (toledot). Chapter 10 followed Shem's line out through Joktan into Arabia. This list follows the other branch, through Peleg, straight to Abram. Like Genesis 5, it gives ten generations, from Shem to Terah, using the same pattern: age at the son's birth, years lived afterward, "other sons and daughters." It leaves out the refrain "and he died" that marked chapter 5. Here the focus is less on death and more on the line moving forward.
- "Two years after the flood" (v10). The list is tied to the flood as its starting point. A new world, but the same steady line of promise.
- Shrinking lifespans. Shem lives 600 years, Arpachshad 438, Eber 464, then the numbers drop sharply after Peleg: 239, 239, 230, 148. The drop after Peleg, the man "in whose days the earth was divided" (10:25), is striking. By Abraham's time 175 years is a full life (25:7), and by Moses' time it's 120 (Deut 34:7). Genesis seems to show that life is winding down after the flood, as human nature drifts further from Eden.
- Is every generation listed? Hebrew genealogies sometimes skip generations, and "fathered" can mean "became the ancestor of." The Tyndale notes allow for this. Two facts point that way here. The list is shaped into a neat ten, like Genesis 5. And the ancient Greek translation adds a name, Cainan, between Arpachshad and Shelah, a name Luke also includes in Jesus' genealogy (Luke 3:36). The Greek translation also has different numbers in places. Some Christians read the list as a complete chronology, while others see a selected one. Both agree on its purpose: to connect the promise given to Shem (9:26) with Abram.
- "When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran" (v26). Like Noah's three sons (5:32), Terah's three sons are named together, and the one through whom God works comes first, not necessarily because he was born first. This matters for the dates (see v32).
- Commentators: Guzik and JFB both pass over the list with little comment. Guzik treats it mainly as the bridge from Shem to Abram, the man through whom God would begin his remedy for Babel. JFB has no comment on any verse from v10 to v27.
Terah's Descendants (vv27–32)
- "These are the generations of Terah" (v27). This heading begins the whole story of Abraham, which runs to 25:11. It is named after Terah, the father, though Abram is its real subject.
- "Haran died in the presence of his father Terah… in Ur of the Chaldeans" (v28). A son dies before his father, a grief made worse in an ancient family. His son Lot is left fatherless and later travels with his uncle Abram. Ur was a great city of southern Mesopotamia near the Persian Gulf, famous for its wealth and its temple to the moon god. "Of the Chaldeans" uses the name of a people who controlled the region much later, updating the place name for later readers.
- Terah's family and idolatry. Joshua tells Israel, "Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods" (Josh 24:2). Several names in the family may be connected to moon worship. Terah's name may be related to the Hebrew word for moon, and Milcah's name was a title of a moon goddess's daughter. Both Ur and Haran were centers of moon worship. These links are suggestive, not certain. What is certain is that God didn't call Abram because his family was already devoted to him. The call was pure grace.
- "The name of Abram's wife was Sarai… Milcah, the daughter of Haran" (v29). Nahor marries his niece Milcah, and their family will matter later: their granddaughter is Rebekah, Isaac's wife (24:15). Sarai's parents aren't named here. Later Abram says she is "the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother" (20:12), so she was his half-sister. Such marriages were common then, though Moses' law later forbade them (Lev 18:9). The name Sarai is an older form of Sarah, both meaning "princess." Jewish tradition and JFB identify Sarai with Iscah (v29), but 20:12 makes her Terah's daughter, not his granddaughter, so most interpreters set that idea aside.
- "Now Sarai was barren; she had no child" (v30). The Hebrew says it twice, once with a word and once with a phrase, so the reader feels the weight of it. This one short line is the most important sentence in the paragraph. The next chapter promises Abram a great nation (12:2), and here, before the promise is even spoken, the reader knows it is humanly impossible. The pattern continues with Rebekah (25:21), Rachel (29:31), Hannah (1 Sam 1:2) and Elizabeth (Luke 1:7): God builds his people through births only he can give.
- "They went forth together from Ur… to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there" (v31). Haran was about 550 miles northwest of Ur, in what is now southern Turkey, a caravan town on the great trade routes. The route from Ur to Canaan curves north along the rivers, so Haran was on the way. Stephen says God appeared to Abram while he was still in Ur (Acts 7:2–4), and Genesis 15:7 agrees ("I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur"). So the journey began with God's call, but Terah leads it and it stalls halfway. Many readers see a lesson in partial obedience. Others note simply that in that culture the father led the family, and Abram moves on only after Terah's death.
- "The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran" (v32). Here is a well-known puzzle. If Terah was 70 at Abram's birth (v26) and Abram left Haran at 75 (12:4), Terah would still have had 60 years to live. Yet Stephen says Abram left "after his father died" (Acts 7:4). Two answers are common. Abram may not have been Terah's firstborn, but named first because of his importance, born when Terah was 130. Or the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch, which gives Terah's age at death as 145, may preserve the number Stephen knew. Either way, Genesis tells Terah's death before Abram's departure, so Terah's story closes before Abram's story opens.
- Commentators: Guzik reads the stop at Haran as Abram's half-obedience, bringing his father along instead of leaving his family as God told him. He also finds meaning in the names, suggesting Sarai means "contentious." The lexicon treats Sarai as an older form of Sarah, "princess," and the Tyndale notes agree, so that reading should be set aside. JFB identifies Ur with Orfa (modern Urfa, in southern Turkey) and says Terah's family "were equally infected" with the idolatry of the place. Most scholars today place Ur in the far south of Iraq, though a minority still argue for a northern Ur near Haran. JFB skips vv29–30 and 32. Guzik and JFB agree with the Tyndale notes that the family worshiped other gods, so Abram's call was grace from start to finish.
Pointing to Christ
Babel is humanity's best attempt to reach heaven, make a name and hold itself together, and it ends in confusion. God's answer begins with a barren woman and a family that has stopped halfway on the road. The name the builders tried to make for themselves, God gives to Abram, and through Abram's line, to the one who is given "the name that is above every name" (Phil 2:9). Babel tried to build a stairway to heaven. Jesus says he is the true ladder between heaven and earth (John 1:51). At Babel the LORD came down to scatter; in Christ he came down to gather, and at Pentecost the scattered languages heard one message about him. One day people "from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages" will stand together before the Lamb (Rev 7:9), united not by a tower of their own but by the name of the Lamb.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik covers Babel's rebellion, God's response, the genealogy, and the transition to Abram.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- BibleProject: bibleproject.com On the whole book: how its opening chapters work as literature and how they set up everything that follows.
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Genesis -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- Building for Self Instead of God (v.4) — The builders' stated motive is to make a name for themselves and avoid being scattered, directly defying God's command to fill the earth. Where are you building your own reputation, achievement, or sense of control rather than pursuing what God has actually called you to?
- A Tower Too Small to Notice (v.5) — God has to "come down" to see the tower, an ironic detail showing how small humanity's greatest achievement looks from His perspective. Does recognizing how small your accomplishments look to God humble you and free you from the pressure to impress others?
- Scattered in Judgment (v.8) — God confuses the builders' language and scatters them across the earth, undoing their united rebellion. Where has God interrupted a plan you were pursuing apart from Him, and how did you respond?
- Barrenness Before the Promise (v.30) — The genealogy pauses to note that Sarai was barren, setting up the seeming impossibility God will work through in the next chapter. Where in your life does the situation look impossible, and could that be exactly where God intends to work?
- Stopping Short of the Destination (v.31) — Terah sets out for Canaan but settles partway, in Haran, and never completes the journey. Are you settling for a halfway obedience instead of following God's call all the way through?