New King James Version
Genesis 11:3
3Then 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.
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 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 earth had one language and one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 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. 4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had 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
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 11:4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
- Psalms 64:5They encourage themselves in an evil matter; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who will see them?”
- Proverbs 1:11If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
- Ecclesiastes 2:1I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity.
- Isaiah 5:5And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
- Isaiah 41:6Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, “Be of good courage!”
- James 4:13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;
- James 5:1Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!
- Hebrews 3:13but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
- Hebrews 10:24And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
- Exodus 1:14And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
- Exodus 5:7“You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
- 2 Samuel 12:31And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works. So he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 9:10“The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.”
- Isaiah 65:3A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick;
- Nahum 3:14Draw your water for the siege! Fortify your strongholds! 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries