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Genèse 11
Nouvelle Edition de Genève – NEG1979

La tour de Babel

11 Toute la terre avait une seule langue et les mêmes mots.

2 Comme ils étaient partis de l’orient, ils trouvèrent une plaine au pays de Schinear, et ils y habitèrent. 3 Ils se dirent l’un à l’autre: Allons! faisons des briques, et cuisons-les au feu. Et la brique leur servit de pierre, et le bitume leur servit de ciment. 4 Ils dirent encore: Allons! bâtissons-nous une ville et une tour dont le sommet touche au ciel, et faisons-nous un nom, afin que nous ne soyons pas dispersés sur la face de toute la terre. 5 L’Eternel descendit pour voir la ville et la tour que bâtissaient les fils des hommes. 6 Et l’Eternel dit: Voici, ils forment un seul peuple et ont tous une même langue, et c’est là ce qu’ils ont entrepris; maintenant rien ne les empêcherait de faire tout ce qu’ils auraient projeté. 7 Allons! descendons, et là confondons leur langage, afin qu’ils n’entendent plus la langue les uns des autres. 8 Et l’Eternel les dispersa loin de là sur la face de toute la terre; et ils cessèrent de bâtir la ville. 9 C’est pourquoi on l’appela du nom de Babel[a], car c’est là que l’Eternel confondit le langage de toute la terre, et c’est de là que l’Eternel les dispersa sur la face de toute la terre.

LES ANCETRES DU PEUPLE D’ISRAËL, D’ABRAHAM A JOSEPH, 11:10–50:26

Les ancêtres d’Abram

10 Voici la postérité de Sem. Sem, âgé de cent ans, engendra Arpacschad, deux ans après le déluge. 11 Sem vécut, après la naissance d’Arpacschad, cinq cents ans; et il engendra des fils et des filles. 12 Arpacschad, âgé de trente-cinq ans, engendra Schélach. 13 Arpacschad vécut, après la naissance de Schélach, quatre cent trois ans; et il engendra des fils et des filles.

14 Schélach, âgé de trente ans, engendra Héber. 15 Schélach vécut, après la naissance d’Héber, quatre cent trois ans; et il engendra des fils et des filles.

16 Héber, âgé de trente-quatre ans, engendra Péleg. 17 Héber vécut, après la naissance de Péleg, quatre cent trente ans; et il engendra des fils et des filles.

18 Péleg, âgé de trente ans, engendra Rehu. 19 Péleg vécut, après la naissance de Rehu, deux cent neuf ans; et il engendra des fils et des filles.

20 Rehu, âgé de trente-deux ans, engendra Serug. 21 Rehu vécut, après la naissance de Serug, deux cent sept ans; et il engendra des fils et des filles.

22 Serug, âgé de trente ans, engendra Nachor. 23 Serug vécut, après la naissance de Nachor, deux cents ans; et il engendra des fils et des filles.

24 Nachor, âgé de vingt-neuf ans, engendra Térach. 25 Nachor vécut, après la naissance de Térach, cent dix-neuf ans; et il engendra des fils et des filles.

26 Térach, âgé de soixante-dix ans, engendra Abram, Nachor et Haran.

27 Voici la postérité de Térach. Térach engendra Abram, Nachor et Haran.- Haran engendra Lot. 28 Et Haran mourut en présence de Térach, son père, au pays de sa naissance, à Ur en Chaldée.- 29 Abram et Nachor prirent des femmes: le nom de la femme d’Abram était Saraï, et le nom de la femme de Nachor était Milca, fille d’Haran, père de Milca et père de Jisca. 30 Saraï était stérile: elle n’avait point d’enfants.

31 Térach prit Abram, son fils, et Lot, fils d’Haran, fils de son fils, et Saraï, sa belle-fille, femme d’Abram, son fils. Ils sortirent ensemble d’Ur en Chaldée, pour aller au pays de Canaan. Ils vinrent jusqu’à Charan, et ils y habitèrent.

32 Les jours de Térach furent de deux cent cinq ans; et Térach mourut à Charan.

Footnotes

  1. Genèse 11:9 Babel, de l’héb. balal, confondre, mêler; Babylone a la même origine
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Genesis 11
Common English Bible

Origin of languages and cultures

11 All people[a] on the earth had one language and the same words. 2 When they traveled east,[b] they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them hard.” They used bricks for stones and asphalt for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let’s build for ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t be dispersed over all the earth.”

5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the humans built. 6 And the Lord said, “There is now one people and they all have one language. This is what they have begun to do, and now all that they plan to do will be possible for them. 7 Come, let’s go down and mix up their language there so they won’t understand each other’s language.” 8 Then the Lord dispersed them from there over all of the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore, it is named Babel, because there the Lord mixed up[c] the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord dispersed them over all the earth.

Shem’s descendants

10 These are Shem’s descendants.

When Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood. 11 After Arpachshad was born, Shem lived 500 years; he had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arpachshad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah. 13 After Shelah was born, Arpachshad lived 403 years; he had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber. 15 After Eber was born, Shelah lived 403 years; he had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg. 17 After Peleg was born, Eber lived 430 years; he had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu. 19 After Reu was born, Peleg lived 209 years; he had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. 21 After Serug was born, Reu lived 207 years; he had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor. 23 After Nahor was born, Serug lived 200 years; he had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. 25 After Terah was born, Nahor lived 119 years; he had other sons and daughters.

26 When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 These are Terah’s descendants. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died while with his father Terah in his native land,[d] in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and Nahor both married; Abram’s wife was Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was Milcah the daughter of Haran, father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 Sarai was unable to have children. 31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (son of Haran), and his son Abram’s wife, Sarai his daughter-in-law. They left Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan, and arriving at Haran, they settled there. 32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 11:1 Heb lacks people.
  2. Genesis 11:2 Or from the east
  3. Genesis 11:9 Heb balal, wordplay on Babel
  4. Genesis 11:28 Or birthplace
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Genesis 11
New English Translation

The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel

11 The whole earth[a] had a common language and a common vocabulary.[b] 2 When the people[c] moved eastward,[d] they found a plain in Shinar[e] and settled there. 3 Then they said to one another,[f] “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.”[g] (They had brick instead of stone and tar[h] instead of mortar.)[i] 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens[j] so that[k] we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise[l] we will be scattered[m] across the face of the entire earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people[n] had started[o] building. 6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language[p] they have begun to do this, then[q] nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.[r] 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse[s] their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”[t]

8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building[u] the city. 9 That is why its name was called[v] Babel[w]—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

The Genealogy of Shem

10 This is the account of Shem.

Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other[x] sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other[y] sons and daughters.[z]

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Record of Terah

27 This is the account of Terah.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans,[aa] while his father Terah was still alive.[ab] 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai.[ac] And the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah;[ad] she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The lifetime[ae] of Terah was 205 years, and he[af] died in Haran.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 11:1 sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9, ” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.
  2. Genesis 11:1 tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.
  3. Genesis 11:2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. Genesis 11:2 tn Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.”
  5. Genesis 11:2 tn Heb “in the land of Shinar.”sn Shinar is the region of Babylonia.
  6. Genesis 11:3 tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”
  7. Genesis 11:3 tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbenah levenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrefah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 75-76).
  8. Genesis 11:3 tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).
  9. Genesis 11:3 tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
  10. Genesis 11:4 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.
  11. Genesis 11:4 tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (venaʿaseh, from the verb עָשָׁה [ʿasah], “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.
  12. Genesis 11:4 tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”
  13. Genesis 11:4 sn The Hebrew verb פּוּץ (puts, “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.
  14. Genesis 11:5 tn Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.
  15. Genesis 11:5 tn The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.
  16. Genesis 11:6 tn Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
  17. Genesis 11:6 tn Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this…then now.”
  18. Genesis 11:6 tn Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
  19. Genesis 11:7 tn The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in 1:26 and “know” in 3:5, as well as Jub. 10:22-23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the Lord our God said to us…. And the Lord went down and we went down with him. And we saw the city and the tower which the sons of men built.” On the chiastic structure of the story, see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:235.
  20. Genesis 11:7 tn Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”
  21. Genesis 11:8 tn The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.
  22. Genesis 11:9 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.
  23. Genesis 11:9 sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).
  24. Genesis 11:11 tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
  25. Genesis 11:13 tn Here and in vv. 15, 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
  26. Genesis 11:13 tc The reading of the MT is followed in vv. 11-12; the LXX reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived 35 years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived 430 years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived 130 years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived 330 years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in Gen 10:24; the LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.
  27. Genesis 11:28 sn The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium b.c.
  28. Genesis 11:28 tn Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”
  29. Genesis 11:29 sn The name Sarai (a variant spelling of “Sarah”) means “princess” (or “lady”). Sharratu was the name of the wife of the moon god Sin. The original name may reflect the culture out of which the patriarch was called, for the family did worship other gods in Mesopotamia.
  30. Genesis 11:29 sn The name Milcah means “Queen.” But more to the point here is the fact that Malkatu was a title for Ishtar, the daughter of the moon god. If the women were named after such titles (and there is no evidence that this was the motivation for naming the girls “Princess” or “Queen”), that would not necessarily imply anything about the faith of the two women themselves.
  31. Genesis 11:32 tn Heb “And the days of Terah were.”
  32. Genesis 11:32 tn Heb “Terah”; the pronoun has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.
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Genesis 11
New International Version

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole world had one language(A) and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b](B) and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks(C) and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone,(D) and tar(E) for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,(F) so that we may make a name(G) for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered(H) over the face of the whole earth.”(I)

5 But the Lord came down(J) to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language(K) they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us(L) go down(M) and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”(N)

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,(O) and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c](P)—because there the Lord confused the language(Q) of the whole world.(R) From there the Lord scattered(S) them over the face of the whole earth.

From Shem to Abram(T)

10 This is the account(U) of Shem’s family line.

Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father[d] of Arphaxad.(V) 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.(W) 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.[e]

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.(X) 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.(Y) 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.(Z) 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.(AA) 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.(AB) 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.(AC) 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram,(AD) Nahor(AE) and Haran.(AF)

Abram’s Family

27 This is the account(AG) of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor(AH) and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.(AI) 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,(AJ) in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor(AK) both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,(AL) and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah;(AM) she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. 30 Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.(AN)

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot(AO) son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law(AP) Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans(AQ) to go to Canaan.(AR) But when they came to Harran,(AS) they settled there.

32 Terah(AT) lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 11:2 Or from the east; or in the east
  2. Genesis 11:2 That is, Babylonia
  3. Genesis 11:9 That is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused.
  4. Genesis 11:10 Father may mean ancestor; also in verses 11-25.
  5. Genesis 11:13 Hebrew; Septuagint (see also Luke 3:35, 36 and note at Gen. 10:24) 35 years, he became the father of Cainan. 13 And after he became the father of Cainan, Arphaxad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan had lived 130 years, he became the father of Shelah. And after he became the father of Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters
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