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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 So it came to pass that, all the earth, was of one manner of speech,–and of one stock of words. |
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| 2 And it came to pass, as they brake away onwards, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. |
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| 3 Then said they, each man to his friend, Come on! let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly,–So, the bricks, served them, for stone, and, bitumen, served them for mortar. |
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| 4 And they said, Come on! let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower with its head in the heavens, so let us make for ourselves a name,–lest we be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth. |
And a tower – As a protection against further disasters similar to the flood. R2846:2
Losing confidence in God, the people began the construction of the tower of Babel. PD22/33
A name – Such as Catholic, Methodist, Episcopal, etc. R718:2
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| 5 And Yahweh came down, to behold the city, and the tower,–which the sons of men had built. |
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| 6 Then said Yahweh: Lo! one people, and, one manner of speech, have they all, this, then is what they have begun to do,–now, therefore, nothing will be withholden from them, which they may plan to do. |
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| 7 Come on! let us go down, and there confuse their speech,–that they may not understand, each man the speech of his friend. |
Confound their language – The diversity of language is an effectual barrier to prevent mankind from combining for the accomplishment of his own selfish or sinful purposes. PD22/33
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| 8 So Yahweh scattered them from thence, over the face of all the earth,–and so they left off building the city. |
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| 9 For this cause, was the name thereof called Babel [="Confusion"]; because, there, did Yahweh confuse the speech of all the earth,–and, from thence, did Yahweh scatter them abroad, over the face of all the earth. |
Called Babel – Confusion, type of Babylon, Christendom. D26
Called by the natives Babil, the gate of God. D24
Picture of a religious "tower of Babel," primarily Papacy. SM405:1
Confound the language – This corresponds well with the Protestant Reformation movement. SM405:2
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| 10 These, are the genealogies of Shem, Shem, was a hundred years old when he begat Arpachshad, two years after the flood; |
Two years after the flood – Link No.11 in the true Bible chronology. B44
Therefore Shem was not the oldest son of Noah. HG104:2
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| 11 and Shem lived, after he begat Arpachshad, five hundred years,–and begat sons and daughters. |
500 years – Longevity immediately shortened after the flood. R534:5
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| 12 And, Arpachshad, lived thirty-five years,–and begat Shelah; |
Lived 35 years – Link No.12 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 13 and Arpachshad lived, after he begat Shelah, four hundred and three years,–and begat sons and daughters. |
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| 14 And, Shelah, lived thirty years,–and begat Eber; |
Lived 30 years – Link No.13 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 15 and Shelah lived, after he begat Eber, four hundred and three years,–and begat sons and daughters. |
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| 16 And Eber lived, thirty-four years,–and begat Peleg; |
Lived 34 years – Link No.14 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 17 and Eber lived, after he begat Peleg, four hundred and thirty years,–and begat sons and daughters. |
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| 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: |
Lived 30 years – Link No.15 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 19 and Peleg lived, after he begat Reu, two hundred and nine years,–and begat sons and daughters. |
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| 20 And Reu lived thirty-two years,–and begat Serug; |
Lived 32 years – Link No.16 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 21 and Reu lived, after he begat Serug, two hundred and seven years,–and begat sons and daughters. |
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| 22 And Serug lived thirty years,–and begat Nahor; |
Lived 30 years – Link No.17 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 23 and Serug lived, after he begat Nahor, two hundred years,–and begat sons and daughters. |
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| 24 And Nahor lived twenty-nine years,–and begat Terah; |
Lived 29 years – Link No.18 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 25 and Nahor lived, after he begat Terah, a hundred and nineteen years,–and begat sons and daughters. |
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| 26 And Terah lived seventy years,–and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. |
And begat Abram – Haran, the eldest, was born when Terah was 70; while Abram, the youngest, was not born until Terah was 130. Abram is mentioned first because of his greater prominence. R2855:1, R5177:3, R1595:2
Lot and Abraham were probably nearly the same age. R5177:5
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| 27 These, then are the generations of Terah, Terah, begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran,–and, Haran, begat Lot; |
Abram – Terah's youngest son. Q709:5
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| 28 and Haran died, in the presence of Terah his father,–in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. |
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| 29 And Abram and Nahor took to themselves wives; the name of Abram's wife, was Sarai; and, the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, daughter of Haran, father of Milcah, and father of Iscah. |
Took them wives – Nahor's wife, Milcah, was the daughter of his brother Haran; and Milcah's granddaughter, Rebekah, was the wife of Isaac, Abraham's son; showing that Haran and Nahor were both much older than Abraham. R2855:4, R5177:6
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| 30 And, Sarai, remained, barren,–she had no child. |
Sarai was barren – Corresponding to the long deferred coming of Christ. PD23/34
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| 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, wife of Abram his son,–and came forth with them out of Ur of the Chaldees, that they might go their way towards the land of Canaan, and they came in as far as Haran, and dwelt there. |
And Lot – About Abram's own age. Lot had "sons-in-law which married his daughters" (Gen. 19:14) before Isaac was born. R2855:4, R5177:5
And Sarai – Probably the daughter of Haran, sister of Lot. R2846:5
And they went forth – Probably influenced by the gross idolatry about them. R3936:1
He did not stop to argue that he could do more good by remaining among his idolatrous and wicked neighbors. R3936:4
Ur of the Chaldees – Now called Mugheir, at which place the name "Abu Ramu " (Abram) has been found on tablets recently unearthed. R3935:3
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| 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years,–and Terah died in Haran. |
Were 205 years – Link No.19 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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