Kejadian 11:4

11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens ¹  so that ²  we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise ³  we will be scattered ⁴  across the face of the entire earth.”

Kejadian 11:2

11:2 When the people ⁵  moved eastward, ⁶  they found a plain in Shinar ⁷  and settled there.

1 Samuel 18:18

18:18 David said to Saul, “Who am I? Who are my relatives or the clan of my father ⁸  in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?”

Daniel 4:30

4:30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence ⁹  by my own mighty strength ¹⁰  and for my majestic honor?”

[11:4]  ¹ 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.

[11:4]  ² 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.

[11:4]  ³ tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”

[11:4]  ⁴ 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.

[11:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:2]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”

[11:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”

[11:2]  sn Shinar is the region of Babylonia.

[18:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “Who are my relatives, the clan of my father?” The term חַי (khay), traditionally understood as “my life,” is here a rare word meaning “family, kinfolk” (see HALOT 309 s.v. III חַי). The phrase “clan of my father” may be a scribal gloss explaining the referent of this rare word.

[4:30]  ⁹ tn Aram “house.”

[4:30]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”