Genesis 11

Genesis · Chapter 11

Genesis 11:1

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 thoroughly. 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.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech.And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and it wasוַֽיְהִ֥יvay-HIH1961
to be

הָיָה (ha.yah) 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) --- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) …

allכָל־khol-H3605
all

כֹּל (kol) 1) all, the whole 1a) all, the whole of 1b) any, each, every, anything 1c) totality, everything Aramaic equivalent: kol (כֹּל "all" H3606)

the earthהָאָ֖רֶץha-'A-retzH0776G
land: country/planet

אֶ֫רֶץ (e.rets) : country/field 1) land, earth 1a) earth 1a1) whole earth (as opposed to a part) 1a2) earth (as opposed to heaven) 1a3) earth (inhabitants) 1b) land 1b1) country, territory 1b2) district, region 1b3) tribal territory 1b4) piece of ground 1b5) land of Canaan, Israel 1b6) inhabitants of land 1b7) Sheol, land without return, (under) world 1b8) city (-state) 1c) ground, surface of the earth 1c1) ground 1c2) soil 1d) (in phrases) 1d1) people of the land 1d2) space or distance of country (in measurements of distance) 1d3) level or plain country 1d4) land of the living 1d5) end(s) of the earth …

languageשָׂפָ֣הsa-FAHH8193K
lips

שָׂפָה (sa.phah) : lips/mouth 1) lip, language, speech, shore, bank, brink, brim, side, edge, border, binding 1a) lip (as body part) 1b) language 1c) edge, shore, bank (of cup, sea, river, etc)

oneאֶחָ֑ת'e-CHATH0259
one

אֶחָד (e.chad) 1) one (number) 1a) one (number) 1b) each, every 1c) a certain 1d) an (indefinite article) 1e) only, once, once for all 1f) one...another, the one...the other, one after another, one by one 1g) first 1h) eleven (in combination), eleventh (ordinal)

and wordsוּדְבָרִ֖יםu-de-va-RIMH1697G
word

דָּבָר (da.var) : word/speech/command 1) speech, word, speaking, thing 1a) speech 1b) saying, utterance 1c) word, words 1d) business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner (by extension)

onesאֲחָדִֽים׃'a-cha-DIMH0259
one

אֶחָד (e.chad) 1) one (number) 1a) one (number) 1b) each, every 1c) a certain 1d) an (indefinite article) 1e) only, once, once for all 1f) one...another, the one...the other, one after another, one by one 1g) first 1h) eleven (in combination), eleventh (ordinal)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.