Genesis 11:4

They 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.”

World English Bible
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Other translations

WEBBE

They 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.”

BSB

“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.”

KJV

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.

ASV

And 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.

BBE

And they said, Come, let us make a town, and a tower whose top will go up as high as heaven; and let us make a great name for ourselves, so that we may not be wanderers over the face of the earth.

Original Hebrew

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וַיֹּאמְרוּ vai·yo·me·ru and they said H559 הָבָה ha·vah give H3051 נִבְנֶה־ niv·neh- let us build H1129 לָּנוּ la·nu for (the) ourselves H9035 עִיר 'ir a city H5892 וּמִגְדָּל u·mig·dal and a tower H4026 וְרֹאשׁוֹ ve·ro·sho and top its H7218 בַשָּׁמַיִם va·sha·ma·yim [will be] in the heavens H8064 וְנַעֲשֶׂה־ ve·na·'a·seh- and we may make H6213 לָּנוּ la·nu for (the) ourselves H9035 שֵׁם shem a name H8034 פֶּן־ pen- lest H6435 נָפוּץ na·futz we should be scattered H6327 עַל־ 'al- over H5921 פְּנֵי pe·nei [the] surface of H6440 כָל־ khol- all H3605 הָאָרֶץ ha·'a·retz the earth H776

The early church

This city named "Confusion" was none other than Babylon, to whose marvelous construction pagan history brings testimonies. For Babylon means "confusion." It would seem that the founder of the city was the giant Nimrod, as was noticed above. In mentioning him, the Scripture tells us that Babylon was the head of his kingdom, meaning at the head of all the other cities, the capital where the government of the kingdom had its seat. However, the city never reached the kind of completion that the pride of impious men had dreamed. The actual plan called for an immense height—it was meant to reach the sky. This perhaps refers to one of its towers, which was to be higher than all the others, or perhaps the word tower may mean all the towers much as "horse" can mean thousands of horsemen.
Augustine of Hippo · d. 430City of God

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 1–4

How soon men forget the most tremendous judgments, and go back to their former crimes! Though the desolations of the deluge were before their eyes, though they sprang from the stock of righteous Noah, yet even during his life-time, wickedness increases exceedingly. Nothing but the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit can remove the sinful lusts of the human will, and the depravity of the human heart. God's purpose was, that mankind should form many nations, and people all lands. In contempt of the Divine will, and against the counsel of Noah, the bulk of mankind united to build a city and a tower to prevent their separating. Idolatry was begun, and Babel became one of its chief seats. They made one another more daring and resolute. Let us learn to provoke one another to love and to good works, as sinners stir up and encourage one another to wicked works.

Read Matthew Henry on Genesis 11 →

Cross-references

15

Topics

ConfidencePresumptionAmbitionFalse Confidence

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.