Genesis 11:3

Genesis 11:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.

Context of Genesis 11:3

1Now the whole earth spoke one language and used the same words (vocabulary). 2And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they settled there. They said one to another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly [in a kiln, to harden and strengthen them].” So they used brick for stone [as building material], and they used tar (bitumen, asphalt) for mortar. 4They said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the Lord instructed].” 5Now the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

Genesis 11:3 word by word

וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֗הוּ הָ֚בָה נִלְבְּנָ֣ה לְבֵנִ֔ים וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה וַתְּהִ֨י לָהֶ֤ם הַלְּבֵנָה֙ לְאָ֔בֶן וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ר הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לַחֹֽמֶר׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And they saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• oneאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
• to anotherרֵעַrêa‛ rêya‛ · neighborH7453
• Go toיָהַבyâhab · to giveH3051
• let us makeלָבַןlâban · to make bricksH3835
• brickלְבֵנָהlebênâh · brickH3843
• and burnשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
• them throughlyשְׂרֵפָהώerêphâh · fireH8316
• for stoneאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68
• and slimeחֵמָרchêmâr · bitumenH2564
• hadהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• they for morterחֹ֫מֶרchômer · clayH2563

Cross-references for Genesis 11:3

• Genesis 11:4They said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the Lord instructed].”
• Psalms 64:5They encourage themselves in [their pursuit of] an evil agenda; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who will discover us?”
• Proverbs 1:11If they say, “Come with us; Let us lie in wait to shed blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause;
• Ecclesiastes 2:1I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time.” But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness).
• Isaiah 5:5So now let me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will take away its thorn-hedge, and it will be burned up; I will break down its stone wall and it will be trampled down [by enemies].
• Isaiah 41:6They each help his neighbor And say to his brother [as he fashions his idols], “Be of good courage!”
• James 4:13Come now [and pay attention to this], you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and carry on our business and make a profit.”
• James 5:1Come [quickly] now, you rich [who lack true faith and hoard and misuse your resources], weep and howl over the miseries [the woes, the judgments] that are coming upon you.
• Hebrews 3:13But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication].
• Hebrews 10:24and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds,
• Exodus 1:14They made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar, brick, and all kinds of field work. All their labor was harsh and severe.
• Exodus 5:7“You will no longer give the people straw to make brick as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves.
• 2 Samuel 12:31He also brought out the people who were there, and put them to [work with] the saws and sharp iron instruments and iron axes, and made them work at the brickkiln. And he did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the men returned to Jerusalem.
• Isaiah 9:10“The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild [all the better] with ashlar (hewed stones); The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with [expensive] cedars.”
• Isaiah 65:3The people who continually provoke Me to My face, Sacrificing [to idols] in gardens and making offerings with incense on bricks [instead of at the designated altar];
• Nahum 3:14Draw water for a [long, continued] siege! Strengthen your fortresses! Go down to the clay pits, trample the mortar! Prepare the brick kiln [to burn bricks for the rampart]!

Commentaries on Genesis 11:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Let us make brick - It appears they were obliged to make use of brick, as there was an utter scarcity of stones in that district; and on the same account they were obliged to use slime, that is, bitumen, (Vulg). , (Septuagint) for mortar: so it appears they had neither common stone nor lime-stone; hence they had brick for stone, and asphaltus or bitumen instead of mortar.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-9Verses 1-9 - The Confusion of Tongues 1. נסע nāsa‛ “pluck out, break up, journey.” מקדם mı̂qedem “eastward, or on the east side” as in Genesis 2:14; Genesis 13:11; Isaiah 9:11 (12). 6. החלם hachı̂lām “their beginning”, for החלם hăchı̂lām the regular form of this infinitive with a suffix. יזמוּ yāzmû as if from יזם yāzam = זמם zāmam נבלה nābelâh usually said to be for נבלה nābolâh from בלל bālal but evidently designed by the punctuator to be…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3Stone was plentiful in Canaan. In Mesopotamia, stone was rare, so they developed brick-making technology. They made tar from bitumen, a natural, waterproof asphalt similar to cement (see 6:14; Exodus 2:3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. brick--There being no stone in that quarter, brick is, and was, the only material used for building, as appears in the mass of ruins which at the Birs Nimroud may have been the very town formed by those ancient rebels. Some of these are sun-dried--others burnt in the kiln and of different colors. slime--bitumen, a mineral pitch, which, when hardened, forms a strong cement, commonly used in Assyria to this day, and forming the mortar found on the burnt…Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 11:3

• Art
• Babel
• Babylon
• Bitumen
• Brick
• Confusion
• Dispersion
• House
• Language
• Miracles
• Mortar
• Slime
• Tongue
• Tower

In the dictionaries

• Babel, tower of
• Begin
• Bitumen
• Bricks
• Building
• Clay
• Confound
• Dwellings
• Earth
• Mesopotamia

Commentaries on Genesis 11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings