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Genesis 11

1The whole earth had one language and the same words. 2As they traveled from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” Brick served them for stone, and bitumen served them for mortar. 4They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered over the surface of all the earth.” 5Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of humankind had built. 6Yahweh said, “Look, they are one people, and they all have one language. This is what they have begun to do; now nothing they plan to do will be beyond their reach. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they cannot understand one another's language.” 8Yahweh scattered them from there over the surface of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9That is why it was named Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there Yahweh scattered them over the surface of all the earth.

10These are Shem's generations. Shem was 100 years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood. 11After fathering Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered sons and daughters. 12Arpachshad lived 35 years and fathered Shelah. 13After fathering Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered sons and daughters. 14Shelah lived 30 years and fathered Eber. 15After fathering Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered sons and daughters. 16Eber lived 34 years and fathered Peleg. 17After fathering Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered sons and daughters. 18Peleg lived 30 years and fathered Reu. 19After fathering Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered sons and daughters. 20Reu lived 32 years and fathered Serug. 21After fathering Serug, Reu lived 207 years and fathered sons and daughters. 22Serug lived 30 years and fathered Nahor. 23After fathering Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and fathered sons and daughters. 24Nahor lived 29 years and fathered Terah. 25After fathering Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and fathered sons and daughters. 26Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27These are Terah's generations. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in the presence of Terah his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29Abram and Nahor took wives. Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son. They went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. They came as far as Haran and settled there. 32Terah's days were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

Translation notes 4

11:1–2 — Language; east. “Language” is literally “lip,” a conventional expression rather than a claim about anatomy. The direction can also mean eastward or in the east. The draft takes the preposition in its ordinary “from” sense without locating the travelers' departure point beyond the text.

11:4–9 — Tower; Babel. A top in heaven is the narrative's height expression; it does not explicitly describe a plan to enter God's dwelling. Yahweh's descent and the plural “let us” are retained. Babel is the Hebrew name of Babylon, linked here by wordplay with confusing, balal.

11:10–26 — Genealogical numbers. The ages follow the Masoretic base and are not converted into another ancient chronology. The list has Shelah directly after Arpachshad; an additional Cainan in some ancient traditions is not inserted. The notice of three sons at Terah's seventieth year does not explicitly date all three births to that year.

11:28–32 — Death; departure. Haran dies while his father is still alive. The departure's Hebrew plural pronouns are retained as “they went out with them,” although the exact distribution of actors is awkward. The narrative names Terah as the one who takes the family. The place Haran and the man's name Haran are spelled differently in Hebrew.