Limitless Word

Genesis 11

WEBKJVBSBESVNKJVNASBNLT

Part of The Nations and Babel📖 Genesis introduction

Read the chapter

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.

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Gen 10 ·15Gen 11 ·13Luke 3 ·6Luke 1 ·5Josh 24 ·4Dan 4 ·3Gen 24 ·31 Chr 1 ·3

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical

    On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereVideoOverview: Genesis 1–11BibleProject · 9 min · Free

    The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.

  • VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical

    Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.

  • ReferenceBook of Genesis — Visual GuideBibleProject · Free

    A free structured guide to the whole book — outline, themes, and links to each video.

  • DocumentaryIs Genesis History?Del Tackett · Free · evangelical

    A young-earth-creationist case for a literal Genesis, free on YouTube. (YEC is one view held by faithful Christians; others read Genesis differently — see the genre guide on how to read it.)

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Seminary

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryGenesis (Word Biblical Commentary)Gordon J. Wenham · Paid · evangelical

    For decades the gold-standard commentary on Genesis — technical but rich. (See the ranked list for alternatives like Hamilton, NICOT.)

  • BookThe Pentateuch as NarrativeJohn H. Sailhamer · ~560 pp · Library · evangelical

    A literary-theological reading that makes Genesis's design visible.

Commentaries & study tools

← Genesis 10Genesis 12 →