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Genesis 11

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Part of The Nations and Babel📖 Genesis introduction

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1Now all the earth used the same language and the same words. ✦ 2And it came about, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ✦ 3Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ✦ 4And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” ✦ 5Now the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the men had built. ✦ 6And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be impossible for them. ✦ 7Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ✦ 8So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. ✦ 9Therefore it was named Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. ✦ 10These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood; ✦ 11and Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered other sons and daughters. ✦ 12Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah; ✦ 13and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 14Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber; 15and Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 16Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg; ✦ 17and Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 18Peleg lived thirty years, and fathered Reu; ✦ 19and Peleg lived 209 years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 20Reu lived thirty-two years, and fathered Serug; ✦ 21and Reu lived 207 years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 22Serug lived thirty years, and fathered Nahor; ✦ 23and Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 24Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and fathered Terah; ✦ 25and Nahor lived 119 years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 26Terah lived seventy years, and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. ✦ 27Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. ✦ 28Haran died during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ✦ 29Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. ✦ 30Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child. ✦ 31Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and settled there. ✦ 32The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.

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

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

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

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