So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
Parallel translations
- WEB So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.
- KJV So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
- NKJV So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
- NASB So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city.
- NLT In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
So Yahweh scattered the people over the earth, and they stopped building the city. God's judgment accomplishes the dispersion they had feared.
Overview
The scattering the builders dreaded becomes God's means of fulfilling His command to fill the earth. Their unfinished city stands as a monument to the failure of pride. Yet this scattering also spreads humanity across the world that God will later reach with the good news of Christ, gathering a people from every nation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Luke 1:51He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
- Gen 10:32All these are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their generations and nations. From these the nations of the earth spread out after the flood.
- Gen 10:25Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan.
- Deut 32:8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
- Gen 11:9That 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.
- Gen 11:4“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.”
- Gen 49:7Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 11:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.