This chapter gives an account of the inhabitants of the earth before the confusion of tongues at Babel, of their speech and language, which was one and the same, and of the place where they dwelt, Gen. 11:1, Gen.

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech, &c.] Or had been [[21]], before the flood, and from that time to this, and still was, until the confusion took place; the account of which, and the occasion of it, are given in this chapter: by the whole earth is meant the inhabitants of…

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east That is, the inhabitants of the whole earth; not Ham and his posterity only, or Nimrod and his company; but as all the sons of Noah and his posterity for a while dwelt together, or at least very near each other, and finding the place where they…

And they said one to another, go to Advising, exhorting, stirring up, and encouraging one another to the work proposed, of building a city and tower for their habitation and protection; saying, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly; they knew the nature of bricks, and how to make them before:…

And they said, go to, let us build us a city and a tower, &c.] Some Jewish writers [[16]] say, these are the words of Nimrod to his people; but it is a question whether he was now born, or if he was, must be too young to be at the head of such a body of people; but they are spoken to one another,…

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower Not locally or visibly, being immense, omnipresent, and invisible; nor in order to see and take notice of what he otherwise could not see from heaven, for he is omniscient; but this is spoken after the manner of men, and is to be understood of…

And the Lord said Not to the angels, as Aben Ezra, but rather to the Son and Spirit, or within himself: behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; which some think is spoken ironically; but I see no reason why it may not be understood seriously, that the people who were concerned in…

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, &c.] These words are not spoken to the angels, as the Targum and Aben Ezra; for, as Philo the Jew observes [[7]], they are said to some as co-workers with God, which angels could not be in this work of confounding the language of men; it…

So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence, upon the face of all the earth Hence that which they feared came upon them, and what they were so careful to guard against befell them, occasioned by those measures they took to secure themselves from it; for not being able to understand one another,…

Therefore is the name of it called Babel The name of the city mentioned, and the tower also, which signifies “confusion”, as the Septuagint version renders it; and so Josephus [[21]] says the Hebrews call confusion “Babel”: perhaps this name was given it by the sons of Eber, or it might be a common…

These are the generations of Shem Or a genealogy of the posterity of Shem; not of all of them, only of those of the line which led to Abraham, by which might appear the true line in which the Messiah from Adam through Abraham sprung: Shem was one hundred years old, and begat Arphexad two years…

And Shem lived, after he begat Arphaxad, five hundred years, &c.] So that his whole age was six hundred years, and therefore must live to the times of Abraham, and even throughout the life of that patriarch, or near the end of it; and if he was the same with Melchizedek, as is the general opinion…

And Arphaxad lived thirty five years, and begat Salah. ] Arphaxad is the first on record that had a son born to him so early; of Salah, (See Gill on Gen. 10:24).

And Arphaxad lived, after he begat Salah, four hundred and three years In all four hundred and thirty eight; the Vulgate Latin wrongly reads, three hundred and three: and begat sons and daughters; not mentioned by name: he died, as the above Arabic writer [[24]] says, in the month Nisan, A. M.

And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber. ] He had a son born to him five years sooner than his father had; of Eber, (See Gill on Gen. 10:25).

And Salah lived, after he begat Eber, four hundred and three years In all four hundred and thirty three: and begat sons and daughters; of whom also there is no other account: the same Arabic writer [[2]] says, he died in the month, Adar, which is called Barhamath, at the close of A. M.

And Eber lived thirty four years, and begat Peleg. ] Of Peleg, (See Gill on Gen. 10:25).

And Eber lived, after he begat Peleg, four hundred and thirty] years All the years of his life were four hundred and sixty four: and he begat sons and daughters; one of which is elsewhere mentioned, whose name is Joktan, according to the above Jewish writer [[4]], he died in the seventy ninth year…

And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu. ] Or Ragau, as he is called in the Septuagint version, the letter (ע) being pronounced as a “G”, as in Gaza and Gomorrah: he is supposed to give name to a large plain called Ragau, near Assyria, about Tigris and Euphrates, “Even in those days king…

And Peleg lived, after he begat Reu, two hundred and nine years In all two hundred and thirty nine, little more than half the age of his father: and begat sons and daughters; but not named the Arabic writers [[6]] say he begat Melchizedek the priest, and that he died in the month Elul, A. M.

And Reu lived thirty two years, and begat Serug. ] He is thought to give name to a city called Sarug, which, according to the Arabic geographer [[8]], was near Charrae, or Haran, in Chaldea; and another Arabic writer F10 speaks of a city called to this day “Sarug”, which he places in Mesopotamia.

And Reu lived, after he begat Sarug, two hundred and seven years So that the whole of his life was two hundred and thirty nine years, the exact age of his father: in his days various kingdoms arose; according to the Arabic writer [[9]], in the one hundred and thirtieth year of his life began Nimrod…

And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor. ] The grandfather of Abraham, one of the same name was Abraham’s brother, .

And Serug lived, after he begat Nahor, two hundred years, &c.] The years of his life were two hundred and thirty: and he begat sons and daughters; nowhere else mentioned: he died, according to the above Jewish writer [[13]], in the one hundredth year of Abraham, and in his days, according to the…

And Nahor lived twenty nine years, and begat Terah. ] The father of Abraham, and the first of the patriarchs of this line of Shem that fell off from the true religion to idolatry.

And Nahor lived, after he begat Terah, one hundred and ninteen years In all one hundred and forty eight years; so sensibly did the lives of the patriarchs decrease: in the days of Nahor, the Arabic writers [[18]] say, was a great earthquake, which had never been observed before; idolaters…

And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. ] Abram, though named first, does not appear to be the eldest, but rather Haran; nay, it seems pretty plain that Abram was not born until the one hundred and thirtieth year of his father’s life, for Terah was two hundred and five…

Now these are the generations of Terah Or the genealogy of his posterity, which is a very short one; for it only gives an account of his three sons as before, Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran: and of three grand children, Lot, Milcah, and Iscah, the children of Haran; and chiefly for the sake of…

And Haran died before his father Terah In his father’s presence, before his face, in his life time, as Jarchi; he seeing him, as Aben Ezra: it does not so much respect the time of his death, that it was before his father, though that is true, as the place where he died, his father being present…

And Abram and Nahor took them wives Very probably after the death of their elder brother Haran, whose daughters they married, at least one of them did, and some think both; the name of Abraham’s wife was Sarai: it is not said whose daughter she was, unless she is the same with Iscah, the daughter…

But Sarai was barren; she had no child. ] Aben Ezra observes, there are some that say that Abraham was impotent, and not Sarai barren; the very reverse of the Scriptures; but as he rightly adds, his son Ishmael and his sons by Keturah show the contrary, see .

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife, &c.] Many words are made use of in describing Lot and Sarai, and yet still we are left pretty much in the dark who Sarai was; for, as Aben Ezra observes, if she was the sister…

And the days of Terah were two hundred years His days are summed up as none of the rest are in this genealogy, that it might be observed; his death being the time of Abram’s leaving Chaldea and coming into the land of Canaan, given to him and his seed for an inheritance; see (Acts 7:4, Acts 7:5)…