Berean Standard Bible
Genesis 11:3
3And 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.
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 world had one language and a common form of speech. 2And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 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. 4“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.” 5Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.
Read all of Genesis 11Genesis 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
- And they saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- toאֶל'êl 'el · to(wards)H413
- oneאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
- anotherרֵעַrêa‛ rêya‛ · neighborH7453
- Comeיָהַבyâhab · to giveH3051
- let us makeלָבַןlâban · to make bricksH3835
- bricksלְבֵנָהlebênâh · brickH3843
- and bake themשָׂרַףώâraph · to burnH8313
- thoroughlyשְׂרֵפָהώerêphâh · fireH8316
- So they usedהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
- instead of stoneאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68
- and tarחֵמָרchêmâr · bitumenH2564
- instead of mortarחֹ֫מֶרchômer · clayH2563
Cross-references for Genesis 11:3
- Genesis 11:4“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”
- Psalms 64:5They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say.
- Proverbs 1:11If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,
- Ecclesiastes 2:1I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.
- Isaiah 5:5Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.
- Isaiah 41:6Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
- James 4:13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
- James 5:1Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
- Hebrews 3:13But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
- Hebrews 10:24And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.
- Exodus 1:14and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
- Exodus 5:7“You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw.
- 2 Samuel 12:31David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 9:10“The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with finished stone; the sycamores have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”
- Isaiah 65:3to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick,
- Nahum 3:14Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!
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
In the dictionaries
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
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