GEN 11:1 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. This view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation 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.

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).

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;

WEB The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

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 earthhad one language and the same words.

?:? Or “And”

BBE And all the earth had one language and one tongue.

MOF No MOF 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,

DBY And the whole earth had one language, and the same words.

RV And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

WBS And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

KJB And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.[fn][fn]
(And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.)

11.1 language: Heb. lip.

11.1 speech: Heb. words

BB And all the whole earth was of one language and lyke speache.
(And all the whole earth was of one language and like speache.)

GNV Then the whole earth was of one language and one speache.

CB Morouer all the worlde had one tonge & language.
(Moreover/What's_more all the world had one tongue and language.)

WYC Forsothe the lond was of o langage, and of the same speche.
(Forsothe the land was of o langage, and of the same speche.)

LUT Es hatte aber alle Welt einerlei Zunge und Sprache.
(It had but all world einerlei Zunge and Sprache.)

CLV Erat autem terra labii unius, et sermonum eorumdem.[fn]
(Erat however earth/land labii of_one, and sermonum eorumdem.)

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 filiorum his, distributi are per terras after/second linguas suas. But hoc per 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.

BRN And all the earth was one lip, and there was one language to all.

BrLXX Καὶ ἦν πᾶσα ἡ γῆ χεῖλος ἓν, καὶ φωνὴ μία πᾶσι.
(Kai aʸn pasa haʸ gaʸ ⱪeilos hen, kai fōnaʸ mia pasi. )

TTN Tyndale Theme Notes:

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

Gen 11:1-9

UTN uW Translation Notes:

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”

Parallel GEN 11:1