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parallelVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA PSA AMOS HOS 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH PRO ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL JOB YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1TH 2TH 1COR 2COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1TIM TIT 1PET 2PET 2TIM HEB YUD 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN REV
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 V1 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) and as they migrated from the east, they discovered a plain in the Shinar region and settled there.
OET-LV And_he/it_was on_their_pulling_out from_east and_they_found a_plain in_land of_Shinar and_they_lived there.
UHB וַֽיְהִ֖י בְּנָסְעָ֣ם מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַֽיִּמְצְא֥וּ בִקְעָ֛ה בְּאֶ֥רֶץ שִׁנְעָ֖ר וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ שָֽׁם׃ ‡
(vayəhiy bənāşəˊām miqqedem vayyimʦəʼū ⱱiqˊāh bəʼereʦ shinˊār vayyēshəⱱū shām.)
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 ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ κινῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, εὗρον πεδίον ἐν γῇ Σεναὰρ, καὶ κατῴκησαν ἐκεῖ.
(Kai egeneto en tōi kinaʸsai autous apo anatolōn, heuron pedion en gaʸ Senaʼar, kai katōkaʸsan ekei. )
BrTr And it came to pass as they moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Senaar, and they dwelt there.
ULT And it happened as they migrated from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
UST As time passed, they moved from the eastern regions and eventually came to a wide, flat valley in the region of Shinar and stayed there.
BSB And as people journeyed eastward,[fn] they found a plain in the land of Shinar [fn] and settled there.
OEB and as they travelled westward, they found a broad valley in the land of Shinar, and made their home there.
WEBBE As they travelled east,[fn] they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.
11:2 LXX reads “from the east”.
WMBB (Same as above including footnotes)
NET When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
LSV and it comes to pass, in their journeying from the east, that they find a valley in the land of Shinar and dwell there;
FBV As they moved east they discovered a plain in the land of Shinar so they settled there.
T4T As people moved further east, they arrived at a plain in Babylonia region and began to live there.
LEB And as people migrated[fn] from the east they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
11:2 Or “set out”
BBE And it came about that in their wandering from the east, they came to a stretch of flat country in the land of Shinar, and there they made their living-place.
Moff No Moff GEN book available
JPS And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
ASV And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
DRA And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.
YLT and it cometh to pass, in their journeying from the east, that they find a valley in the land of Shinar, and dwell there;
Drby And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there.
RV And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
Wbstr And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
KJB-1769 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.[fn]
11.2 from…: or, eastward
KJB-1611 And it came to passe as they iourneyed from the East, that they found a plaine in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)
Bshps And when they went foorth from the east, they founde a playne in the lande of Sinar, and there they abode.
(And when they went forth from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sinar, and there they abode.)
Gnva And as they went from the East, they found a plaine in the land of Shinar, and there they abode.
(And as they went from the East, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and there they abode. )
Cvdl Now as they wente towarde the East, they founde a playne in ye londe of Synear, & there they dwelt,
(Now as they went towarde the East, they found a plain in ye/you_all land of Synear, and there they dwelt,)
Wycl And whanne thei yeden forth fro the eest, thei fonden a feeld in the lond of Sennaar, and dwelliden ther ynne.
(And when they went forth from the eest, they fonden a field in the land of Sennaar, and dwelled/dwelt there ynne.)
Luth Da sie nun zogen gen Morgen, fanden sie ein eben Land im Lande Sinear und wohneten daselbst,
(So they/she/them now pulled to/toward Morgen, found they/she/them a eben Land in_the land Sinear and livedn there,)
ClVg Cumque proficiscerentur de oriente, invenerunt campum in terra Sennaar, et habitaverunt in eo.[fn]
(Cumque proficiscerentur about oriente, invenerunt campum in earth/land Sennaar, and habitaverunt in by_him. )
11.2 Cumque proficiscerentur. CHRYSOST., in Gen. Vide quomodo humanum genus non potest subsistere intra suos limites, sed amplius concupiscens, majora semper appetit. Atque hoc est quod humanum genus perdit, quia non vult naturæ suæ mensuram agnoscere, sed semper majora desiderat. Quoniam viderunt, inquit, campum in terra Sennaar, migrantes, et relicto priori loco illic habitaverunt.
11.2 Cumque proficiscerentur. CHRYSOST., in Gen. Vide how humanum genus not/no potest subsistere intra suos limites, but amplius concupiscens, mayora always appetit. Atque this it_is that humanum genus perdit, because not/no vult naturæ suæ mensuram agnoscere, but always mayora desiderat. Quoniam viderunt, inquit, campum in earth/land Sennaar, migrantes, and relicto priori instead illic habitaverunt.
11:2 migrated to the east: See study note on 3:24.
• Babylonia was located in southern Mesopotamia, the region of Nimrod’s later empire and city-building campaign (see 10:10; Isa 11:11; Dan 1:2; Zech 5:11).
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: writing-newevent
וַֽיְהִ֖י
and=he/it_was
The phrase “it happened that” introduces an important event and helps create suspense so that readers will wonder what the outcome will be. Some translations omit this phrase because it is not natural in their language. Do what is best in your language. Alternate translation: “After a while, as” or “When”
Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns
בְּנָסְעָ֣ם
on=their=pulling_out
Consider whether it is better in your language to use a pronoun (they) or a noun phrase (“the people”) here. Alternate translation: “they traveled” or “the people moved”
מִקֶּ֑דֶם
from=east
At first after the flood, people lived in the regions around the mountains of Ararat (where the ark had landed). As they began to migrate and spread out to different places (as God had told them to do), they must have headed south at some point since they ended up at the plain of Shinar, which was south of where the Ararat Mountains were. The reference to the east probably reflects the viewpoint of the author (Moses), since the Ararat mountains and the plain of Shinar were both far to the east of where he was living. Alternate translation: “around in the eastern regions,”
וַֽיִּמְצְא֥וּ
and=they_found
Make sure the way you translate this phrase fits with the way you translated the first half of this verse. Alternate translation: “they discovered” or “they eventually came to”
בִקְעָ֛ה בְּאֶ֥רֶץ שִׁנְעָ֖ר
(a)_plain in=land Shinar
This plain was a wide, flat area between mountains. Also be consistent here with how you translated land of Shinar in Gen 10:10. Alternate translation: “a wide flat area in the land called Shinar”
וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ שָֽׁם
and=they_lived there
Alternate translation: “and lived there.” or “and began to live there.”