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巴別塔事件

11 那時,全世界只有一種語言,大家說同樣的話語。 他們向東遷移的時候,在示拿地發現一塊平原,就住在那裡。 他們彼此說:“來,我們做磚,把磚燒透吧!”他們就把磚當作石頭,又把石漆當作灰泥。 他們又說:“來,我們建一座城,造一座塔,塔頂要通天。我們要為自己立名,免得分散在全地上。” 耶和華下來,要看看世人建造的城和塔。 耶和華說:“看哪,他們同是一個民族,有一樣的語言,他們一開始就作這事,以後他們所要作的一切,就沒有可以攔阻他們的了。 來,我們下去,在那裡混亂他們的語言,使他們聽不懂對方的話。” 於是,耶和華把他們從那裡分散到全地上,他們就停止建造那城。 因此,那城的名就叫巴別,因為耶和華在那裡混亂了全地所有的人的語言,又從那裡把他們分散在全地上。

閃的後代(A)

10 以下是閃的後代。洪水以後兩年,閃一百歲的時候,生了亞法撒。 11 閃生亞法撒以後,又活了五百年,並且生了其他的兒女。

12 亞法撒活到三十五歲,就生了沙拉。 13 亞法撒生沙拉以後,又活了四百零三年,並且生了其他的兒女。

14 沙拉活到三十歲,就生了希伯。 15 沙拉生希伯以後,又活了四百零三年,並且生了其他的兒女。

16 希伯活到三十四歲,就生了法勒。 17 希伯生法勒以後,又活了四百三十年,並且生了其他的兒女。

18 法勒活到三十歲,就生了拉吳。 19 法勒生拉吳以後,又活了二百零九年,並且生了其他的兒女。

20 拉吳活到三十二歲,就生了西鹿。 21 拉吳生西鹿以後,又活了二百零七年,並且生了其他的兒女。

22 西鹿活到三十歲,就生了拿鶴。 23 西鹿生拿鶴以後,又活了二百年,並且生了其他的兒女。

24 拿鶴活到二十九歲,就生了他拉。 25 拿鶴生他拉以後,又活了一百一十九年,並且生了其他的兒女。

26 他拉活到七十歲,就生了亞伯蘭、拿鶴和哈蘭。

他拉的後代

27 以下是他拉的後代:他拉生亞伯蘭、拿鶴和哈蘭;哈蘭生羅得。 28 哈蘭在他父親他拉之前,死在他出生之地,就是迦勒底的吾珥。 29 亞伯蘭和拿鶴都娶了妻子;亞伯蘭的妻子名叫撒萊;拿鶴的妻子名叫密迦,是哈蘭的女兒;哈蘭是密迦和亦迦的父親。 30 撒萊不能生育,沒有孩子。 31 他拉帶著他的兒子亞伯蘭和他的孫子,就是哈蘭的兒子羅得,以及他的媳婦亞伯蘭的妻子撒萊,一同出了迦勒底的吾珥,要到迦南地去;他們到了哈蘭,就住在那裡。 32 他拉死在哈蘭;他的壽數共二百零五歲。

11 And the whole earth was of one language and of one accent and mode of expression.

And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.

And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.

And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have [a]all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.

Come, let Us go down and there confound (mix up, confuse) their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

So the Lord scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of the whole earth, and they gave up building the city.

Therefore the name of it was called Babel—because there the Lord confounded the language of all the earth; and from that place the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

10 This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood.

11 And Shem lived after Arpachshad was born 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.

13 Arpachshad lived after Shelah was born 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.

15 Shelah lived after Eber was born 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.

17 And Eber lived after Peleg was born 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.

19 And Peleg lived after Reu was born 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.

21 And Reu lived after Serug was born 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.

23 And Serug lived after Nahor was born 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.

25 And Nahor lived after Terah was born 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of [at different times], [b]Abram and Nahor and Haran, [his firstborn].

27 Now this is the history of the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.

28 Haran died before his father Terah [died] in the land of his birth, in [c]Ur of the Chaldees.

29 And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah.

30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together to go from Ur of the Chaldees into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.

32 And Terah lived 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 11:6 Some noted philologists have declared that a common origin of all languages cannot be denied. One, Max Mueller (The Science of Language), said “We have examined all possible forms which language can assume, and now we ask, can we reconcile with these three distinct forms, the radical, the terminational, the inflectional, the admission of one common origin of human speech? I answer decidedly, ‘Yes’.” The New Bible Commentary says, “The original unity of human language, though still far from demonstrable, becomes increasingly probable.”
  2. Genesis 11:26 Abram is only mentioned first by way of dignity. Noah’s sons also are given as “Shem, Ham, and Japheth” in Gen. 5:32, although Shem was not the oldest, but for dignity is named first, as is Abram here (Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with A Commentary).
  3. Genesis 11:28 Abram’s home town was Ur of the Chaldees. As the result of extensive archaeological excavations there by C. Leonard Woolley in 1922-34, a great deal is known about Abram’s background. Space will not permit more than a glimpse at excavated Ur, but a few items will show the high state of civilization. The entire house of the average middle-class person had from ten to twenty rooms and measured forty to fifty-two feet; the lower floor was for servants, the upper floor for the family, with five rooms for their use; additionally, there was a guest chamber and a lavatory reserved for visitors, and a private chapel. A school was found and what the students studied was shown by the clay tablets discovered there. In the days of Abram the pupils had reading, writing, and arithmetic as today. They learned the multiplication and division tables and even worked at square and cube root. A bill of lading of about 2040 b.c. (about the era in which Abram is believed to have lived) showed that the commerce of that time was far-reaching. Even the name “Abraham” has been found on the excavated clay tablets (J.P. Free, Archaeology and Bible History).

The Tower of Babel

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

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. 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)

But the Lord came down(J) to see the city and the tower the people were building. 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. Come, let us(L) go down(M) and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”(N)

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,(O) and they stopped building the city. 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