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| 1 And the whole earth had one language, and the same words. |
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| 2 And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. |
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| 3 And they said one to another, Come on, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. |
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| 4 And they said, Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which may reach to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole 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 Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built. |
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| 6 And Jehovah said, Behold, the people is one, and have all one language; and this have they begun to do. And now will they be hindered in nothing that they meditate doing. |
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| 7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. |
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 And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole earth. And they left off building the city. |
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| 9 Therefore was its name called Babel; because Jehovah there confounded the language of the whole earth. And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole 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 generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad 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 had begotten Arphaxad five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. |
500 years – Longevity immediately shortened after the flood. R534:5
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| 12 And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Shelah. |
Lived 35 years – Link No.12 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 13 And Arphaxad lived after he had begotten Shelah four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. |
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| 14 And Shelah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. |
Lived 30 years – Link No.13 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 15 And Shelah lived after he had begotten Eber four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. |
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| 16 And Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. |
Lived 34 years – Link No.14 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 17 And Eber lived after he had begotten Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. |
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| 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. |
Lived 30 years – Link No.15 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 19 And Peleg lived after he had begotten Reu two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. |
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| 20 And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. |
Lived 32 years – Link No.16 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 21 And Reu lived after he had begotten Serug two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. |
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| 22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. |
Lived 30 years – Link No.17 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 23 And Serug lived after he had begotten Nahor two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. |
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| 24 And Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. |
Lived 29 years – Link No.18 in the true Bible chronology. B44
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| 25 And Nahor lived after he had begotten Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. |
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| 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begot 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 And these are the generations of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot. |
Abram – Terah's youngest son. Q709:5
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| 28 And Haran died before the face of his father Terah in the land of his nativity at Ur of the Chaldeans. |
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| 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, a daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and the 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 was 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 the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth together out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land of Canaan, and came 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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