Skip to main content

The Origin of Languages



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 to one another, “Go! Let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and they had slime for mortar. 4 And they said, “Go! Let us build ourselves a city and a tower, whose top may reach to heaven; and let us make ourselves a name, so that we will not be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men had built. 6 And the Lord said,

“Behold, the people are one, and they have all one language, and this they began to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go! Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.”

8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there upon the face of all the earth, and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore, the name of it was called Babel, because there the Lord did confound the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord did scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

10 These are the generations of Shem:

Shem was a hundred (100) years old, and fathered Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11 And Shem lived, after he fathered Arphaxad, five hundred (500) years, and fathered other sons and daughters.

12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty (35) years, and fathered Salah. 13 And Arphaxad lived, after he fathered Salah, four hundred and three (403) years, and fathered other sons and daughters.

14 And Salah lived thirty (30) years, and fathered Eber. 15 And Salah lived, after he fathered Eber, four hundred and three (403) years, and fathered other sons and daughters.

16 And Eber lived four and thirty (34) years, and fathered Peleg. 17 And Eber lived, after he fathered Peleg, four hundred and thirty (430) years, and fathered other sons and daughters.

18 And Peleg lived thirty (30) years, and fathered Reu. 19 And Peleg lived, after he fathered Reu, two hundred and nine (209) years, and fathered other sons and daughters.

20 And Reu lived two and thirty (32) years, and fathered Serug. 21 And Reu lived, after he fathered Serug, two hundred and seven (207) years, and fathered other sons and daughters.

22 And Serug lived thirty (30) years, and fathered Nahor. 23 And Serug lived, after he fathered Nahor, two hundred (200) years, and fathered other sons and daughters.

24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty (29) years, and fathered Terah. 25 And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah a hundred and nineteen (119) years, and fathered other sons and daughters.

26 And Terah lived seventy (70) years, and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 Now these are the generations of Terah:

Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves: 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. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran, and dwelt there.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five (205) years, and Terah died in Haran.

. 

Genesis 11 

The King Version (KING) 

Image by Peter H from Pixabay

*** 

Notes: 

1. v.3,4,7: Go to – yahab H3051 

*Yahab is used some thirty-three times, only in the Qal imperative. In Gen 11, yahab, in verb form, is used as an interjection: "Come! Come now!" (From: http://classic.net.bible.org/strong.php?id=03051) 

*The Qal imperative form expresses commands directed to another person(s) and therefore it always is expressed in the second person singular or plural. Examples would be "Be strong" (spoken to an individual) or "Remember the LORD your God" (spoken to a group). (https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_Ten/Qal_Imperatives/qal_imperatives.html) 

2. there vs. thence  

3. fathered vs. begot (see ngram) 

4. birth vs. nativity (see ngram) 

5. went out vs. went forth (see ngram) 

6. so that…we will not vs. lest

 .

.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Curse of the Thief

I n the middle of audit week, our company accountants decided not to show up. As it turned out, they embezzled some money. What struck me the most was that the people who did it were not strangers; they were like mothers and aunts. We saw them almost every day, smile at them, laugh with them, and made plans together. As part of the management team, we ate out and had a friendly good time. It was heartbreaking to realize that the people in the news for some criminal activity had the same profile as those that I had warm and cuddly relations with. But loyalty goes up. My love for God supersedes any other relationship. I feel sad, yes, but I have no inkling to cover for them. If anything, I am upset because I was this close to them, and yet, clueless. My colleagues and I were mixed emotions. On one hand, we felt betrayed. The suspects were like family. We confided in them and planned activities with them in all sincerity and warmth. But maybe, just maybe, they were truthful and sincere...

Our FATHER Grants Us A Baby To Teach

  I've chosen him so that he will teach his sons and their families to follow the way of the Lord by doing what is right and good, so that I, the Lord, can do for Abraham what I promised. [Genesis 18:19 FBV]   The Lord does more than just fulfill His baby promise, He also plans ahead for these children and the generations afterward to be taught concerning the things of God. There is a proper way to worship Him, and that established structure is needed to be taught. The Sovereign Lord will always have His way. The God-given promise is not just for a baby, but to bless us entirely. The Lord can only accomplish this when we do our part to obey Him. God's wonderful covenant of blessings is a partnership with us; He can only complete His part when we have done our share of the promise. The parent is always God’s choice to teach their own kids. We lead by example. Our words of instruction lose their power when we don’t practice what we preach. God’s promises are condition...

Our FATHER Can Easily Bless Us With A Baby

  Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”   [ Genesis 18:10, 12-14 BSB]   Nothing Is Too Hard For The Lord   This is the first time that God declared the statement “Nothing is too hard for the Lord,” and it involved having a baby. The Lord repeated Himself in this same way to Mary concerning Elizabeth’s pregnancy, and it was also about having a baby. (see Luke 1:36-38) It’s amazing to know that God measured His ability in this way – in the manner of granting babies. The Lord does not treat it lightly when we laugh at what He is able to do. For God ...

Our FATHER Heals Us Of Infertility

  Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. For God had made every woman infertile in the household of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. [Genesis 20:17-18 NHEB] The Lord God is the True Healer of the Womb.   In this chapter, it was wrong for Abraham to make his wife a shield to protect his own life by saying they're just siblings, and not as married couples. With this lie and outright deceit, the king of the land, Abimelech, took Sarah into his harem. As it was, God’s judgment had fallen over the land, affecting a lot of innocent people. For that period of time, the Lord's judgment was about infertility. The king wanted to increase his royal family, but the Lord did the opposite; He opposed it – all the women stopped getting pregnant. This was all because Abimelech took a married woman, and he was about to violate a marriage covenant sealed by God.   But God is faithful; He didn’...

Our FATHER Confirms His Baby Promise

  But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”   Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” [ Genesis 15:2-4 BSB]   Right here and now, we remind ourselves again that having a baby is all dependent on God's grace and mercy. We cannot make any of this happen on our own. In this stage of Abram's life, he has no child, and no parental obligation. His nephew, Lot, had just parted ways from him. It could have been Lot as an heir apparent. But with Lot gone, Abram was then left with a non-relative, who was next in line to be an heir prospect.   Abram was willing to adopt Eliezer (or his son) and treat him as his own. Adoption, in itself, is good and godly. The whole Bible is ...

Being On God’s Side: The Nonpartisan Obedience And Submission of The Elect

  My choice of candidate is only as good as when I vote. My vote is only as good as when it is counted. But when the tally comes, my choice is irrelevant – God  decides  who is king.   Every person is to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. (Romans 13: 1 NASB)   Our future does not depend on the person who gets elected, but on the One who sits on the Throne. If God has already decided, then why do I need to vote? This sounds like the clay who talks back to the Potter, “Why did you make me this way?” [see Romans 9:19-20] Let’s admit it: Though we vote according to our conscience, our conscience is formed by information made available to us. We can only know so much about a candidate, but God knows all things. In choosing, our sense of compatibility and personal preference are at work. We like a certain candidate because we feel that we like something about them, or w...

My Top 3 Life Principles

Once, a scholar asked, “Mentor, which is the greatest principle of life?” The Master replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest principle. And the second is like it: 'Love others as yourself.' All life-giving principles are based on these two.”   (see Matthew 22:36-40)   Love God, Love self and others, and Obey God.  This metonymy was derived from the Lifebook, the Book of Principles – the Holy Bible . Who has a better say on life principles than the Author of life Himself?   King Solomon’s take was this: Fear God and keep His commands, for this is the whole duty of man . (see Ecclesiastes 12:13)   So now, my Top 3 List of Life Principles is complete:  Love God,  Love myself and others, and Obey God.   Life begins and ends with God.   My life principle #1: Love God with all that I am.  How do I love God? By spending time with Him. I have le...

Our FATHER Prevents Infertility And Miscarriages

You are to worship the Lord your God, and He will bless your food and water. I will make sure none of you fall sick. No woman will have a miscarriage or be without children. I will make sure you live long lives. [ Exodus 23:25-26 FBV] A wonder of Worship: a God-given baby!   What incredible promises! God commits to doing the following: - Bless our food and water to abundance - Remove sicknesses - Prevent miscarriages - Every married woman to have their own baby   But these vows come with a call to action: To be in service to God. The word ‘worship’ in this text means ‘work’ and ‘serve.’ * So this is not your mediocre once-a-week, go-to-church Sunday worship. This is toiling for righteousness. It’s being a love slave to our kind and benevolent Master, Christ Jesus.   In what capacity did the Lord ask you to serve Him? It’s not our own terms or personal preferences, but God’s choice. [see 2 Kings 17:25-28] How do you express your love to the Lord ...

Acts 5

the king version     But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2  and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.    3  But Peter said, “Ananias, why has [1] Satan filled your [2] heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4  While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own power? Why have [3] you [4] conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied unto men, but unto God.”    5  And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the spirit [5] , and great fear came on all those who [6] heard these things. 6  And the young men arose, wrapped [7] him up, and carried him out, and buried him.    7  And it was about after [8] three hours later [9] when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 8  An...