Genesis 11
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Summary
All men speak the same language and they build the Tower of Babel in Shinar, which they built in order to reach heaven. Because of their wicked desires, God confounds their language, so none of them can understand each other. They are scattered upon the face of the earth by the Lord. Shem’s descendents are listed, ending with Terah, Abram, Sarai, and Lot. Terah leads Abram, Sarai and Lot from Ur of the Chaldees to the land of Cannan. Terah dies in Haran.
Commentary
Bible Central Commentary
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Historical Commentaries
Many of the commentaries below are in the public domain and were authored over 100 years ago. In many cases, they do not reflect the findings of modern scholarship, but they may be helpful for understanding the history of biblical scholarship.
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Historical Settings
Time
*All Dates Are Approximate, according to the narrative of the Bible. These dates may reflect literary significance as opposed to the precise dates of history.
See Biblical Chronology- Before 2100 BC
Further Reading
Taylor Halverson, “The Lives of Abraham: Seeing Abraham through the Eyes of Second-Temple Jews,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 32 (2019): 253–276.
Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible
Matthew Henry (1706)
Commentary on the Bible
Adam Clarke (1831)
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable
Thomas Constable
Rashi’s Commentary
Rashi (Shlomo Yitzchaki)
Notes on the Bible
Albert Barnes (1834)
Exposition of the Entire Bible
John Gill (1746–63)
Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch (1857–78)
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible
John Wesley (1754–65)