GEN 11:3 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. 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) Then they said to each other, “Come on, let’s make bricks and cure them with fire.” So they had bricks instead of stones, and they had tar for mortar.

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 εἶπεν ἄνθρωπος τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ, δεῦτε πλινθεύσωμεν πλίνθους, καὶ ὀπτήσωμεν αὐτὰς πυρί· καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτοῖς ἡ πλίνθος εἰς λίθον, καὶ ἄσφαλτος ἦν αὐτοῖς ὁ πηλός.
(Kai eipen anthrōpos tōi plaʸsion autou, deute plintheusōmen plinthous, kai optaʸsōmen autas puri; kai egeneto autois haʸ plinthos eis lithon, kai asfaltos aʸn autois ho paʸlos. )

BrTr And a man said to his neighbour, Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire. And the brick was to them for stone, and their mortar was bitumen.

ULT Then they said to each other, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire.” And they had bricks for stones, and they had tar for mortar.

UST Then they urged each other, “Come on, let us work together and make bricks from clay and put them in fire to make them hard.” They used bricks to build with instead of stone, and they used tar between the bricks instead of mortar.

BSB § And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.

OEB Then they said one to another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and thoroughly bake them.’ So they had bricks for stone and asphalt for mortar.

WEBBE They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.)

LSV and they each say to his neighbor, “Give help, let us make bricks, and burn [them] thoroughly”: and the brick is to them for stone, and the bitumen has been to them for mortar.

FBV They said to one another, “Come on, let's make some bricks and bake them with fire.” (They used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of cement).[fn]

11:3 This was because in the Babylonian plain there was no stone to use for buildings.

T4T Then they said to each other, “◄Hey/Come on►, let’s form bricks and bake them to make them hard, for building!” So they used bricks instead of stones, and used tar instead of ◄mortar/a mixture of cement, sand and lime► to hold them together.

LEB And they said to each other,[fn] “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.”[fn] And they had brick for stone and they had tar for mortar.

11:3 Literally “each to his companion”

11:3 Literally “burn to burning”

BBE And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks, burning them well. And they had bricks for stone, putting them together with sticky earth.

Moff No Moff GEN book available

JPS And they said one to another: 'Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

ASV And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

DRA And each one said to his neighbour: Come, let us make brick, and bake them with fire. And they had brick instead of stones, and slime instead of mortar.

YLT and they say each one to his neighbour, 'Give help, let us make bricks, and burn [them] thoroughly:' and the brick is to them for stone, and the bitumen hath been to them for mortar.

Drby And they said one to another, Come on, let us make bricks, and burn [them] thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.

RV And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

Wbstr And they said one to another, come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

KJB-1769 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.[fn][fn]

11.3 they said…: Heb. a man said to his neighbour

11.3 burn…: Heb. burn them to a burning

KJB-1611 [fn][fn]And they sayd one to another; Goe to, let vs make bricke, and burne them thorowly. And they had bricke for stone, and slime had they for morter.
(And they said one to another; Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thorowly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.)

11:3 Heb. a man said to his neighbour.

11:3 Heb. burne them to a burning.

Bshps And one sayd to another: Come, let vs prepare brycke, and burne them in the fire. And they had brycke for stones, and slyme had they in steade of morter.
(And one said to another: Come, let us prepare brick, and burn them in the fire. And they had brick for stones, and slime/mud had they in stead of morter.)

Gnva And they said one to another, Come, let vs make bricke, and burne it in the fire. So they had bricke for stone, and slime had they in steade of morter.
(And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn it in the fire. So they had brick for stone, and slime had they in stead of morter. )

Cvdl & saide one to another: Come on, let vs make bryck & burne it. And they toke bryck for stone, & slyme for morter,
(& said one to another: Come on, let us make brick and burn it. And they took brick for stone, and slime/mud for morter,)

Wycl And oon seide to his neiybore, Come ye, and make we tiel stonys, and bake we tho with fier; and thei hadden tiel for stonus, and pitche for morter;
(And one said to his neighbour, Come ye/you_all, and make we tile stonys, and bake we those with fire; and they had tile for stonus, and pitche for morter;)

Luth und sprachen untereinander: Wohlauf, laßt uns Ziegel streichen und brennen! Und nahmen Ziegel zu Stein und Ton zu Kalk
(and said untereinander: Wohlauf, laßt us/to_us/ourselves Ziegel streichen and brennen! And took Ziegel to Stein and Ton to Kalk)

ClVg Dixitque alter ad proximum suum: Venite, faciamus lateres, et coquamus eos igni. Habueruntque lateres pro saxis, et bitumen pro cæmento:[fn]
(And_he_said alter to proximum suum: Come, faciamus lateres, and coquamus them igni. Habueruntque lateres for saxis, and bitumen for cæmento: )

11.3 Venite. Timebant iterum diluvium; ideo auctore Nemrod voluerunt sibi constituere turrem, in qua diluvium non timerent. Stulta et impia audacia, unde secuta vindicta est et linguarum divisio. ISID. in Gen. Turris, mundi superbia, vel hæreticorum dogmata, etc., usque ad unitas confessionis et fidei.

11.3 Come. Timebant again diluvium; ideo auctore Nemrod voluerunt sibi constituere turrem, in which diluvium not/no timerent. Stulta and impia audacia, whence secuta vindicta it_is and linguarum divisio. ISID. in Gen. Turris, mundi superbia, or hæreticorum dogmata, etc., until to unitas confessionis and of_faith.

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: writing-newevent

וַ⁠יֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֗⁠הוּ

and=they_said (a)_man to/towards his/its=neighbour

The events that are described below probably did not happen immediately after they arrived at the plain. Consider what is the best way to begin these events in your language. Alternate translation: “Then one day they urged each other,”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

הָ֚בָ⁠ה

come=now!

Consider whether or not your language has an idiom like this that is used to urge or persuade someone to do something together.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

נִלְבְּנָ֣ה

let_us_make_bricks

The pronoun us is inclusive here and refers to the people who are talking to each other. Alternate translation: “we should work together and make”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

לְבֵנִ֔ים

bricks

Alternate translation: “some mud blocks” or “some blocks from mud”

וְ⁠נִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִ⁠שְׂרֵפָ֑ה

and=let_us_burn to=burning

Alternate translation: “and harden them with fire.” or “and use fire to bake them.” or “and put them over fire to make them hard”

וַ⁠תְּהִ֨י לָ⁠הֶ֤ם

and=it_became to/for=them

Alternate translation: “So they did that, and they had” or “They had”

הַ⁠לְּבֵנָה֙ לְ⁠אָ֔בֶן

the=brick to=stone

Alternate translation: “blocks to build with instead of stone,”

וְ⁠הַ֣⁠חֵמָ֔ר הָיָ֥ה לָ⁠הֶ֖ם

and=the=bitumen it_became to/for=them

Alternate translation: “and they used tar between the blocks”

לַ⁠חֹֽמֶר

to=mortar

Alternate translation: “to hold the blocks together.”

Parallel GEN 11:3