The Tower of Babel, The Origin of Languages, and the Creation Model: Genesis 11 (KJV)
by Owen Borville
November 19, 2018
Bible, History, Archaeology
2100 B.C.
The Tower of Babel Account: Genesis 11:1-9
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
4 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.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 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.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:1-9
The Tower of Babel language barrier incident of Genesis 11 was a significant event in human history according to the Biblical text. After the Flood of Genesis 7 and before the building of the tower, the descendants of Noah and all humans spoke the same language, as mentioned in the Book of Genesis and most people were living in the same region of the Earth. Genesis 11 describes the people moving eastward and settling at the Plain of Shinar. The people 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.” (Genesis 11:3)
The people made bricks by baking them and using tar for mortar (Genesis 11:3). The scripture implies that God was not pleased with what the people were doing and decided to scatter them across the earth. Why was God not pleased with the building of the city? The scripture continues:
"But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 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. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” (Genesis 11:5-7)
At the Tower of Babel incident, God created language barriers so that the people could not speak to each other in the same language and therefore they were forced to spread out from the area and populate other parts of the world. The Tower of Babel incident also could have represented the beginning of pyramid building around the world. Man spread throughout the world after the Tower of Babel incident, both by land travel and by sea travel. Noah and his sons likely spread the skill of shipbuilding after the Flood and sea travel likely increased dramatically.
The evolutionists must answer the question of the origin of languages in the world if they do not accept the Tower of Babel account. Specifically, the evolutionists must answer how different languages originated if man had a common ancestor. What would cause man to develop significantly different languages with different symbols and alphabets. This origin would be difficult to explain without the Book of Genesis story of the Tower of Babel. In addition, there are distinct language groups in the world today in which all languages spoken today can be traced back to a handful of parent languages that originated at the Tower of Babel, according to the Biblical account. Also, the evolutionist would need to explain how and why man traveled so far around the earth so quickly if they originated in East Africa. What would cause man to want to travel so far across the earth? These are questions that evolutionists must answer if they reject the Tower of Babel account. The evolutionist doctrine cannot explain the origin of different languages and why man spread out so quickly within 4,500 years.
by Owen Borville
November 19, 2018
Bible, History, Archaeology
2100 B.C.
The Tower of Babel Account: Genesis 11:1-9
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
4 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.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 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.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:1-9
The Tower of Babel language barrier incident of Genesis 11 was a significant event in human history according to the Biblical text. After the Flood of Genesis 7 and before the building of the tower, the descendants of Noah and all humans spoke the same language, as mentioned in the Book of Genesis and most people were living in the same region of the Earth. Genesis 11 describes the people moving eastward and settling at the Plain of Shinar. The people 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.” (Genesis 11:3)
The people made bricks by baking them and using tar for mortar (Genesis 11:3). The scripture implies that God was not pleased with what the people were doing and decided to scatter them across the earth. Why was God not pleased with the building of the city? The scripture continues:
"But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 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. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” (Genesis 11:5-7)
At the Tower of Babel incident, God created language barriers so that the people could not speak to each other in the same language and therefore they were forced to spread out from the area and populate other parts of the world. The Tower of Babel incident also could have represented the beginning of pyramid building around the world. Man spread throughout the world after the Tower of Babel incident, both by land travel and by sea travel. Noah and his sons likely spread the skill of shipbuilding after the Flood and sea travel likely increased dramatically.
The evolutionists must answer the question of the origin of languages in the world if they do not accept the Tower of Babel account. Specifically, the evolutionists must answer how different languages originated if man had a common ancestor. What would cause man to develop significantly different languages with different symbols and alphabets. This origin would be difficult to explain without the Book of Genesis story of the Tower of Babel. In addition, there are distinct language groups in the world today in which all languages spoken today can be traced back to a handful of parent languages that originated at the Tower of Babel, according to the Biblical account. Also, the evolutionist would need to explain how and why man traveled so far around the earth so quickly if they originated in East Africa. What would cause man to want to travel so far across the earth? These are questions that evolutionists must answer if they reject the Tower of Babel account. The evolutionist doctrine cannot explain the origin of different languages and why man spread out so quickly within 4,500 years.