New International Version
Genesis 11:3
3They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar 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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.)
Context of Genesis 11:3
1Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people 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
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 11:4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
- Psalms 64:5They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares; they say, “Who will see it?”
- Proverbs 1:11If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul;
- Ecclesiastes 2:1I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless.
- Isaiah 5:5Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
- Isaiah 41:6they help each other and say to their companions, “Be strong!”
- James 4:13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”
- James 5:1Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.
- Hebrews 3:13But encourage 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 we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,
- Exodus 1:14They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
- Exodus 5:7“You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw.
- 2 Samuel 12:31and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 9:10“The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”
- Isaiah 65:3a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick;
- Nahum 3:14Draw water for the siege, strengthen your defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork!
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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries