Kejadian 11:2

11:2 When the people ¹  moved eastward, ²  they found a plain in Shinar ³  and settled there.

Kejadian 11:4

11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens ⁴  so that ⁵  we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise ⁶  we will be scattered ⁷  across the face of the entire earth.”

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”

³ tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”

sn Shinar is the region of Babylonia.

⁴ tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.

⁵ tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (vÿna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.

⁶ tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”

⁷ sn The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.