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Genesis 11

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Part of The Nations and Babel📖 Genesis introduction

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1Now the whole earth had one language and 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. ✦ 3Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ✦ 4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” ✦ 5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ✦ 6And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. ✦ 7Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ✦ 8So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ✦ 9Therefore its name is called 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. ✦ 10This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. ✦ 11After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. ✦ 12Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. ✦ 13After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 14Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 16Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. ✦ 17After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. 18Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. ✦ 19After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. 20Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. ✦ 21After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. 22Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. ✦ 23After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 24Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. ✦ 25After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 26Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. ✦ 27This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. ✦ 28And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ✦ 29Then Abram and Nahor took 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 his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ✦ 32So the days of Terah were two hundred and five 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 taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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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