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Genesis 11 · a question people ask

What was wrong with building a city and a tower?

Interpretation

The text doesn't name the sin in one word. It gives their reasons, "let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered" (11:4), and God's concern, "nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do" (11:6). Protestants point to two things in the text, and many see both.

How Christians read it

Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.

Pride

They wanted to make a name for themselves, with a tower reaching "to the sky". Later, Isaiah's taunt against the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4) has him say in his heart, "I will ascend into heaven!… I will make myself like the Most High!" (14:13-14).

Genesis 11:4 · Isaiah 14:4 · Isaiah 14:13-14

Refusing to spread out

God had told Noah's family to "replenish the earth" (9:1). The builders' stated reason was "lest we be scattered abroad" (11:4).

Genesis 9:1 · Genesis 11:4

The verses

“They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.””
Genesis 11:4 · World English Bible
“The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.”
Genesis 11:6 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Genesis 11

Genesis 11: A name for ourselves

The builders of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves and not be scattered; God came down, confused their language, and scattered them. Then the story narrows to one family, Shem's line to Abram, and a wife with no child, and it will be God who makes Abram's name great.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions