Through their own might, they attempted to become powerful. The people of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves and make themselves great, in disobedience to the commands of God. What Was the Sin That Condemened the Tower of Babel? God had told the people to multiply and spread out over the earth, but instead, the people deliberately contrived to keep from doing so.Īs was noted above in the works of Josephus, it is often interpreted that the city and tower were constructed not only to make a show of greatness and power but also to spite God. Second, and perhaps more importantly, they were directly disobeying God. They were trying to prove how great they were, in a show of arrogance. The explanation given by the people is telling what was so wrong with the tower: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth” ( Genesis 11:4).įirst, the people wanted to make a name for themselves.

Notably, construction was never finished. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers ( Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 4). The ancient historian Josephus states of Nimrod, This is accepted in many Jewish writings. Since in Genesis 11:4, the people say, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heaven,” if Nimrod founded the city of Babel, it is likely he would have been part of this plan. In fact, some Bible translations actually list this city as Babel rather than Babylon. The builders of Babel evidently moved eastward after the Flood into the land of Shinar ( Genesis 11:1-2), usually understood to be the land of Babylon, and settled there.īabel is often thought to be the same city as Babylon, which Nimrod is recorded as founding in Genesis 10:10. Many people believe this tower was a ziggurat, or step pyramid, a type of structure often used in ancient times for worship, to get closer to the gods in the sky. The people planned to include a tower in the city they were building. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”īabel was not the name of the tower. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”īut the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. (The chapter headings were added later and weren’t included in the original text). Interestingly, you won’t find the phrase “Tower of Babel” in the Bible. We find the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9.

The story of Babel gives insight into the true path to good things. However, the more important part of this record concerns the reasons why this step was necessary.

He confused their languages so they couldn’t communicate, and they were forced to scatter. A group of people got together to build a city with a great tower - the Tower of Babel.īut God saw this and put an end to it. In Genesis 11, the Bible explains how we ended up with so many languages.

Who doesn’t love an origin story of how things came to be?

The tower of babel in the bible