Darby Bible
Genesis 11:3
3And 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.
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
1And the whole earth had one language, and the same words. 2And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. 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. 4And they said, Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which [may reach] to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth. 5And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built.
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
Cross-references for Genesis 11:3
- Genesis 11:4And they said, Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which [may reach] to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.
- Psalms 64:5They encourage themselves in an evil matter, they concert to hide snares; they say, Who will see them?
- Proverbs 1:11If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
- Ecclesiastes 2:1I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.
- Isaiah 5:5And now, let me tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trodden under foot;
- Isaiah 41:6They helped every one his neighbour, and [each] said to his brother, Take courage.
- James 4:13Go to now, ye who say, To-day or to-morrow will we go into such a city and spend a year there, and traffic and make gain,
- James 5:1Go to now, ye rich, weep, howling over your miseries that [are] coming upon [you].
- Hebrews 3:13But encourage yourselves each day, as long as it is called To-day, that none of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
- Hebrews 10:24and let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works;
- Exodus 1:14and they embittered their life with hard labour in clay and bricks, and in all manner of labour in the field: all their labour with which they made them serve was with harshness.
- Exodus 5:7Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
- 2 Samuel 12:31And he brought out the people that were in it, and put them under the saw, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkilns. And so did he to all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 9:10The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamore trees are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.
- Isaiah 65:3the people that provoke me to anger continually to my face, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense upon the bricks;
- Nahum 3:14Draw thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar, make strong 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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