Genesis 11:6

Genesis 11:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the Lord 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.
• New International Version (NIV)The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

Context of Genesis 11:6

4And they said, come, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach to heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we should be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men were building. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be withheld from them, which they have imagined to do. 7Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8So the LORD scattered them abroad from there upon the face of all the earth: and they stopped building the city.

Genesis 11:6 word by word

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה הֵ֣ן עַ֤ם אֶחָד֙ וְשָׂפָ֤ה אַחַת֙ לְכֻלָּ֔ם וְזֶ֖ה הַחִלָּ֣ם לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת וְעַתָּה֙ לֹֽא־יִבָּצֵ֣ר מֵהֶ֔ם כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָזְמ֖וּ לַֽעֲשֽׂוֹת׃Read the interlinear

• LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• languageשָׂפָהώâphâh ώepheth · lip: languageH8193
• beginחָלַלchâlal · to profane/begin: beginH2490
• doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• nothingלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• nothingכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• withheldבָּצַרbâtsar · to gather/restrain/fortifyH1219
• imaginedזָמַםzâmam · to planH2161

Cross-references for Genesis 11:6

• Genesis 3:22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man hath become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
• Judges 10:14Go and cry to the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
• 1 Kings 18:27And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he sleepeth, and must be awakened.
• Ecclesiastes 11:9Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thy eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
• Genesis 11:1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
• Genesis 9:19These three were the sons of Noah: and from them was the whole earth overspread.
• Acts 17:26And hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
• Genesis 6:5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
• Genesis 8:21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every living thing, as I have done.
• Psalms 2:1Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
• Luke 1:51He hath shown strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

Commentaries on Genesis 11:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6The people is one, etc. - From this, as before observed, we may infer, that as the people had the same language, so they had a unity of design and sentiment. It is very likely that the original language was composed of monosyllables, that each had a distinct ideal meaning, and only one meaning; as different acceptations of the same word would undoubtedly arise, either from compounding terms, or, when there were but few words in a language, using them by a…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
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-9Verses 5-9 Here is an expression after the manner of men; The Lord came down to see the city. God is just and fair in all he does against sin and sinners, and condemns none unheard. Pious Eber is not found among this ungodly crew; for he and his are called the children of God; their souls joined not themselves to the assembly of these children of men. God suffered them to go on some way, that the works of their hands, from which they promised themselves…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6If no one stopped them, the tower builders would become united and ambitious. This would allow human evil to grow in ways that cannot be imagined.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. and now nothing will be restrained from them--an apparent admission that the design was practicable, and would have been executed but for the divine interposition.Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 11:6

• Babel
• Babylon
• Confusion
• Dispersion
• Language
• Miracles
• Tongue
• Tower

In the dictionaries

• Babel, tower of
• Begin
• Confound
• Earth
• Mesopotamia
• Noah
• Scatter
• Shinar, The Land of
• Slime
• Tongues, Confusion of

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