Genesis 11:7

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
to	הָ֚בָה Ha.vah	H3051	to give (whether literal or figurative) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
down	נֵֽרְדָ֔ה ne.re.Dah	H3381	to descend (literally · verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
confound	וְנָבְלָ֥ה ve.na.ve.Lah	H1101	to overflow (specifically with oil.) · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
language	שְׂפָתָ֑ם se.fa.Tam	H8193	the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
that	אֲשֶׁר֙ 'a.Sher	H834	who · relative particle
understand	יִשְׁמְע֔וּ yish.me.'U	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
one	אִ֖ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
another’s	רֵעֵֽהוּ re.'E.hu	H7453	an associate (more or less close) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
speech	שְׂפַ֥ת se.Fat	H8193	the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common feminine singular construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 33:10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of th…
Job 5:12-13 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
Psalms 55:9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
1 Corinthians 14:2-11 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speake…
Genesis 42:23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
Acts 2:4-11 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
1 Corinthians 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or un…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 11:5-9

We have here the quashing of the project of the Babel-builders, and the turning of the counsel of those froward men headlong, that God's counsel might stand in spite of them. Here is, I. The cognizance God took of the design that was on foot: The Lord came down to see the city, Gen 11:5. It is an expression after the manner of men; he knew it as clearly and fully as men know that which they come to the place to view. Observe, 1. Before he gave judgment upon their cause, he enquired into it; for God is incontestably just and fair in all his proceedings against sin and sinners, and condemns none unheard. 2. It is spoken of an act of condescension in God to take notice even of this building, wh…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 11:7

confound their language--literally, "their lip"; it was a failure in utterance, occasioning a difference in dialect which was intelligible only to those of the same tribe. Thus easily by God their purpose was defeated, and they were compelled to the dispersion they had combined to prevent. It is only from the Scriptures we learn the true origin of the different nations and languages of the world. By one miracle of tongues men were dispersed and gradually fell from true religion. By another, national barriers were broken down--that all men might be brought back to the family of God.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 11:7

Go to - A form of speech which, whatever it might have signified formerly, now means nothing. The Hebrew העה habah signifies come, make preparation, as it were for a journey, the execution of a purpose, etc. Almost all the versions understand the word in this way; the Septuagint have δευτε, the Vulgate venite, both signifying come, or come ye. This makes a very good sense, Come, let its go down, etc. For the meaning of these latter words see Gen 1:26, and Gen 18:21.

John Gill on Genesis 11:7

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language,.... These words are not spoken to the angels, as the Targum and Aben Ezra; for, as Philo the Jew observes (h), they are said to some as co-workers with God, which angels could not be in this work of confounding the language of men; it being above the power of creatures so to work upon the mind, and on the faculty of speech, as to make such an alteration as was at the confusion of tongues, when men were made to forget their former language, and had another put into their minds, and a faculty of speaking it given; or, however, the first language was so differently inflected and pronounced, that it seemed another, and various; all which…

The Church Fathers

But after some time had elapsed, He is again found using an expression more distinctly plural when He says: Come, let us go down and confound their language—an expression which can no longer be thought applicable to two only, but to three or more.
— Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5

For the writers of Chaldaean history as being more ancient, and living farther east, have mentioned in their works both the deluge and the building of the Tower, since they saw that Tower with their own eyes under the process of construction, being no doubt well aware that the men of that time, in fear of another flood, erected it for themselves as a place of refuge and safety.
— Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 12

He says, let us confuse their language there, so that everyone may not hear the voice of his neighbor. Justly is the evil intent punished, even to which the effect does not succeed; because indeed the dominion of command is in the language, pride is condemned there, so that he who did not wish to understand to obey the command of God was not understood by a man giving commands.
— Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Architecture — The book of (Genesis 4:17,20,22) appears to divide mankind into two great characteristic sections, viz., the “dwellers in tents” and the “dwellers in cities.” To the race of Shem is attributed…
Babel, tower of — The name given to the tower which the primitive fathers of our race built in the land of Shinar after the Deluge (Gen. 11:1-9). Their object in building this tower was probably that it might be seen…
Mesopotamia — The country between the two rivers (Heb. Aram-naharaim; i.e., “Syria of the two rivers”), the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the region between the Euphrates and the Tigris (Gen. 24:10; Deut.…
Tongues, Confusion of — At Babel, the cause of the early separation of mankind and their division into nations. The descendants of Noah built a tower to prevent their dispersion; but God “confounded their language” (Gen.…
Ambition · God condemns — God condemns
Anthropomorphisms · MISCELLANEOUS FIGURES — MISCELLANEOUS FIGURES
Babel · at — at
Babylon · .Tower of — .Tower of
Confusion · Of tongues — Of tongues
Dispersion · After building the tower of Babel — After building the tower of Babel
Language · Confusion of — Confusion of
Miracles · .The confusion of languages — .The confusion of languages

Genesis 11:7

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 11:5-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 11:7

Adam Clarke on Genesis 11:7

John Gill on Genesis 11:7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 11:7

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 11:5-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 11:7

Adam Clarke on Genesis 11:7

John Gill on Genesis 11:7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 11:7

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 11:5-9

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 11:7

Rashi on Genesis 11:7