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Gen Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50
Gen 11 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) Now the whole world had a single language and the same words,
OET-LV and_he/it_was all the_earth/land language one and_words one(s).
UHB וַֽיְהִ֥י כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ שָׂפָ֣ה אֶחָ֑ת וּדְבָרִ֖ים אֲחָדִֽים׃ ‡
(vayəhiy kāl-hāʼāreʦ sāfāh ʼeḩāt ūdəⱱārim ʼₐḩādim.)
Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXX Καὶ ἦν πᾶσα ἡ γῆ χεῖλος ἓν, καὶ φωνὴ μία πᾶσι.
(Kai aʸn pasa haʸ gaʸ ⱪeilos hen, kai fōnaʸ mia pasi. )
BrTr And all the earth was one lip, and there was one language to all.
ULT Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
UST Now at first, all the people on the earth spoke the same language, so that everyone understood each other.
BSB § Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech.
OEB All the inhabitants of the earth had one language and vocabulary;
WEBBE The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary.
LSV And the whole earth is of one language, and of the same words,
FBV At that time the whole world spoke just one language and used words with the same meaning.
T4T At first, all the people in [MTY] the world spoke the same language [DOU].
LEB Now[fn] the whole earth had one language and the same words.
11:1 Or “And”
BBE And all the earth had one language and one tongue.
Moff No Moff GEN book available
JPS And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
ASV And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
DRA And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.
YLT And the whole earth is of one pronunciation, and of the same words,
Drby And the whole earth had one language, and the same words.
RV And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
Wbstr And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
KJB-1769 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.[fn][fn]
KJB-1611 ¶ [fn][fn][fn]And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speach.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)
Bshps And all the whole earth was of one language and lyke speache.
(And all the whole earth was of one language and like speeche.)
Gnva Then the whole earth was of one language and one speache.
(Then the whole earth was of one language and one speeche. )
Cvdl Morouer all the worlde had one tonge & language.
(Moreover/What's_more all the world had one tongue and language.)
Wycl Forsothe the lond was of o langage, and of the same speche.
(Forsothe the land was of o langage, and of the same speche.)
Luth Es hatte aber alle Welt einerlei Zunge und Sprache.
(It had but all world einerlei Zunge and Sprache.)
ClVg Erat autem terra labii unius, et sermonum eorumdem.[fn]
(Erat however earth/land labii of_one, and sermonum theirdem. )
11.1 Erat autem terra labii unius, etc. AUG., in Gen. Dictum est superius quod filii Nœ, vel filiorum ejus, distributi sunt per terras secundum linguas suas. Sed hoc per recapitulationem postea commemorat quod prius erat. Sed obscuritatem facit, quod eo genere locutionis ita contexit, quasi de his narratio quæ postea facta sunt consequatur.
11.1 Erat however earth/land labii of_one, etc. AUG., in Gen. Dictum it_is superius that children Nœ, or of_children his, distributi are through terras after/second linguas suas. But this through recapitulationem postea commemorat that first/before was. But obscuritatem facit, that eo in_general locutionis ita contexit, as_if about his narratio which postea facts are consequatur.
11:1 At one time: The events described in 11:1-9 led to the scattering of nations that is reflected in the genealogies of 10:2-30. The reversal of order has a theological purpose (see study note on 10:1–11:9).
Babel: The Dispersion of Nations
The story of the tower of Babel, whose peak was to reach to heaven, explains how nations and ethnic groups were separated by language barriers and scattered geographically. After the Flood, when God had judged an exceedingly wicked human race, humans again rebelled against their Creator by constructing a tower “that reaches into the sky” (Gen 11:4). Instead of worshiping the Lord, their intention was to exalt themselves and unify themselves apart from the Lord. God saw the danger that this posed: Their independence and arrogance would set them right back into a whirlpool of wickedness and, ultimately, destruction. So God intervened to “confuse the people with different languages” (11:7) and “[scatter] them all over the world” (11:9). Babel thus begins the history of differences and misunderstandings between peoples and nations who cannot understand one another’s languages and cultures—a separation that only begins to be reversed with the coming of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2).
After the dispersion of the nations at Babel, God renewed his relationship with humanity in Abraham and his descendants (Gen 12:1-9). In contrast with the people at Babel, Abraham was righteous because he “believed the Lord” and lived by faith in God rather than pride in his accomplishments (15:6; 17:1; 18:19; 26:5).
Passages for Further Study
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-time-background
וַֽיְהִ֥י כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ שָׂפָ֣ה אֶחָ֑ת
and=he/it_was all the=earth/land language one
The events in chapter 11:1-9 happened before the people listed in chapter 10 had their own languages and before they spread out over the earth (Gen 10:5, 19-20, 30-32). You could include some of that information in a footnote. Alternate translation: “Now at first, everyone on the earth shared the same language” or “Now for a while, all the people on the earth spoke one language”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet
וּדְבָרִ֖ים אֲחָדִֽים
and=words same
The phrases one language and the same words are very similar in meaning and emphasize the fact that everyone spoke the same language. Consider what is the best way to communicate that in your language. Alternate translation: “and shared the same vocabulary.” or “and spoke words everyone knew”