Genesis 11:4

Genesis 11:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
• New International Version (NIV)Then 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.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."
• New King James Version (NKJV)And 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.”

Context of Genesis 11:4

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. 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and pitch had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5And Yhwh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6And Yhwh said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Genesis 11:4 word by word

וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ הָ֣בָה׀ נִבְנֶה־לָּ֣נוּ עִ֗יר וּמִגְדָּל֙ וְרֹאשׁ֣וֹ בַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנַֽעֲשֶׂה־לָּ֖נוּ שֵׁ֑ם פֶּן־נָפ֖וּץ עַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear

• And they saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Go toיָהַבyâhab · to giveH3051
• let us buildבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• us a cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• and a towerמִגְדָּלmigdâl migdâlâh · towerH4026
• whose topרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: topH7218
• unto heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
• and let us makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• us a nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• lest we be scattered abroadפּוּץpûts · to scatterH6327
• upon the faceפָּנֶהpânîym · face: surfaceH6440
• of the whole earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776

Cross-references for Genesis 11:4

• Deuteronomy 1:28Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
• Deuteronomy 9:1Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,
• Daniel 4:11The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:
• 2 Samuel 8:13And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.
• Psalms 49:11Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
• Proverbs 10:7The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
• Daniel 4:30The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
• John 5:44How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?
• Genesis 11:8So Yhwh scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
• Psalms 92:9For, lo, thine enemies, O Yhwh, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
• Luke 1:51He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

Commentaries on Genesis 11:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Let us build us a city and a tower - On this subject there have been various conjectures. Mr. Hutchinson supposed that the design of the builders was to erect a temple to the host of heaven - the sun, moon, planets, etc.; and, to support this interpretation, he says בשמים וראשו verosho bashshamayim should be translated, not, whose top may reach unto heaven, for there is nothing for may reach in the Hebrew, but its head or summit to the heavens, i.e. to…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. 4Far from the original garden (2:15), the first cities of Genesis represent arrogance (4:17), tyranny (10:8–12), and evil (18:20–21). The city on the Babylonian plain attracted human pride and idol worship. a tower that reaches to the heavens: This was probably a temple-tower (a ziggurat). In ancient Babylonian cities, people considered ziggurats to be sacred mountains where gods came down to earth. Jacob’s dream in 28:12 might indicate this idea. that we…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. a tower whose top may reach unto heaven--a common figurative expression for great height (De 1:28; 9:1-6). lest we be scattered--To build a city and a town was no crime; but to do this to defeat the counsels of heaven by attempting to prevent emigration was foolish, wicked, and justly offensive to God.Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 11:4

• Ambition
• Babel
• Babylon
• Confidence
• Confusion
• Dispersion
• False Confidence
• Language
• Miracles
• Presumption
• Tongue
• Tower

In the dictionaries

• Scattered Abroad
• Babel, tower of
• Begin
• Confound
• Earth
• Mesopotamia
• Noah
• Scatter
• Shinar, The Land of
• Slime

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