GEN 11:5 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.)

Key: khaki:verbs, green:YHWH.
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 κατέβη Κύριος ἰδεῖν τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν πύργον, ὃν ᾠκοδόμησαν οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
(Kai katebaʸ Kurios idein taʸn polin kai ton purgon, hon ōkodomaʸsan hoi huioi tōn anthrōpōn. )

BrTr And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men built.

ULT Then Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of mankind had built.

UST But one day Yahweh came down from heaven and looked at the city and the very tall building that the people were building.

BSB § Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.

OEB But when the Lord came down to see the city and tower that people had built,

WEBBE The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building.

LSV And YHWH comes down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men have built;

FBV But the Lord came down to take a look at the city and the tower that the people were building.

T4T So they began to build the city and the tower. Then Yahweh looked down and saw the city and the tower that those puny men were building.

LEB Then[fn] Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that humankind[fn] was building.

11:5 Or “And”

11:5 Literally “sons of Adam” or “sons of humankind”

BBE And the Lord came down to see the town and the tower which the children of men were building.

Moff No Moff GEN book available

JPS And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

ASV And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

DRA And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of Adam were building.

YLT And Jehovah cometh down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men have builded;

Drby And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built.

RV And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

Wbstr And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men were building.

KJB-1769 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

KJB-1611 And the LORD came downe to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps But the Lorde came downe to see the citie and towre whiche the chyldren of men buylded.
(But the Lord came down to see the city and tower which the children of men builded/built.)

Gnva But the Lord came downe, to see the citie and towre, which the sonnes of men builded.
(But the Lord came downe, to see the city and tower, which the sons of men builded. )

Cvdl Then came ye LORDE downe, to se ye cite & tower, yt ye childre of me had buylded.
(Then came ye/you_all LORD downe, to see ye/you_all cite and tower, it ye/you_all children of me had builded/built.)

Wycl Forsothe the Lord cam down to se the citee and tour, which the sones of Adam bildiden.
(Forsothe the Lord came down to see the city and tour, which the sons of Adam builded/builtn.)

Luth Da fuhr der HErr hernieder, daß er sähe die Stadt und Turm, die die Menschenkinder baueten.
(So fuhr the/of_the LORD hernieder, that he sähe the city and Turm, the die Menschenkinder baueten.)

ClVg Descendit autem Dominus ut videret civitatem et turrim, quam ædificabant filii Adam,
(Descendit however Master as videret civitatem and turrim, how ædificabant children Adam, )

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: figures-of-speech / explicit

וַ⁠יֵּ֣רֶד יְהוָ֔ה

and=he/it_descended YHWH

Alternate translation: “Then one day Yahweh came down from heaven”

לִ⁠רְאֹ֥ת אֶת הָ⁠עִ֖יר

for=seeing DOM the=city

The text implies that Yahweh actually looked at the city. Consider whether or not it is better in your language to make that explicit here. Alternate translation: “and inspected the city”

וְ⁠אֶת הַ⁠מִּגְדָּ֑ל

and=DOM the=tower

See how you translated this word in verse 4.

בָּנ֖וּ

they_had_built

Make sure the way you translate this verb fits with the fact that the people had not yet finished building the city (verse 8). Alternate translation: “had started building.”

Parallel GEN 11:5