THE TOWER OF BABEL If God intervened to renew the world by the water of the great flood, so, instead of responding by love and by leaning on the bosom of God, man leaned on himself, and started to build for himself a tower to resort to it from God’s resolutions against him. That tower actually represents contemporary philosophies - especially Existentialism - that sees God as suppressing and depriving man of his freedom; as though the glory of God is based on the humiliation of man, and His power is on the expense of man’s dignity. They saw it inevitable, in order to get rid of that God, to deify themselves, and to escape, to enjoy complete freedom. 1- The Tower of Babel 1-9. 2- The descendants of Shem 10-26. 3- Abram and Lot 27-33. 1- THE TOWER OF BABEL “The whole earth had one language and one speech” (Gen. 11 1) Having spoken in the previous chapter of the descendants of Noah, and the appearance of nations and peoples, each with its own speech, He is explaining here, how the whole earth had one language and one speech; then how that language was confused, and every nation began to have its own speech or language. It has been natural for all people to speak one language, thought by some scholars to be the Hebrew tongue, basing their view on the fact that the early names like Adam, Eve, Eden, etc. were Hebrew; while others proclaimed that the first language was the Chaldean (the Syrian), on account of that, all the languages of the east were derived from one source; and the Hebrew was just a branch of that language; especially that the early fathers dwelt in the land of the Tigris and Euphrates, seat of the Chaldean people. Anyhow, although it is difficult to decide what language the early world spoke, yet it is safe to say that it was only one language1. We do not know how man started to speak a human language. But we know that the early man used to utter the language of love that knows no division. Adam and Eve communicated by the spirit of love and union, through the meekness of the spirit, thus, man has been a helper of his brother. Through the language of love, the first man knew how to address God, His angels, and all the heavenly, and to discern their heavenly voices. And through the language of love, man was in harmony, even with the dumb creation, all uttering together with the spirit of thanksgiving and praise for God. But now, as man fell into rebellion, he lost the language of love and union. He dissented even over himself, his body speaking a language other than that of his spirit, and entered into a bitter inner schism. He, no longer could talk to God with joy, nor partake of the heavenly in their liturgies, or be in harmony with the dumb creation.. Man lost the one tongue, and the one inner language, even though humanity remained for sometime using one concrete language! Thus, it was inevitable, for that apparent unity of language to collapse, after its inner unity did. It was as though, what occurred after the episode of the Tower of Babel, has been only a natural consequence, and a revelation of the inner depths, that man lost the one tongue and one language. In other words, the confusion of tongues that happened came to expose the inner .١٨٢ ¡ 1 الأرشدياكون نجيب جرجس: سفر التكوين، ١٩٧٣ ، ص ١٨١ 4 confusion, in hope that man would begin to look inside himself, to seek the union of the language of love and spirit, before seeking that of the apparent tongue. “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They had bricks for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Gen. 11:2-4) Following the great flood, after the ark settled down on the Mountain of Ararat, they journeyed eastward to the land of Shinar, that is the plain of Tigris and Euphrates, south-east of that mountain. There, they found the climate suitable to make red bricks, in the way it is still done in Egypt. As to cement, they used a kind of mineral mortar, that when solidified, it is called asphalt, which is common in the plains of Euphrates. Their human plan has been to arrange for building a city and a high tower, so that, in case of another great flood, they would find for themselves a resort against God’s severe chastisements, in the same manner as for the Canaanite cities: “Great and fortified up to heaven” (Deuteronomy 1:28). The evil did not lie in building the city itself, or in the desire to build a high tower, but in the purpose of the work, “To make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth,” as though they had no confidence in God’s covenant with their father Noah, counting God as not honest in keeping His promises. Nonetheless, it would have been proper for them, instead, to return to God with love, in order to find in Him their heavenly city, and a true Tower; and by Him, they would have made for themselves a name, not only over the face of the earth, but even in heaven! By their intention to build an earthly city to protect them from the wrath of God, they rejected the heavenly city, which, in its essence, is resorting to the bosom of their heavenly Father. St. Augustine believes that it was ‘Nimrud’ who built that city called Babel (Gen. 10:9-10), saying: [‘Babel’ means ‘confusion;’ When the Holy Scripture spoke of Nimrud, it said “The beginning of his kingdom was Babel” (Gen. 10:10). Babel had the authority over the rest of cities, having been a capital or a royal seat, although it did not reach the standard put for it by the arrogance and evil of its builder. The plan for the tops of its buildings was to reach heaven. What was the goal of those daring arrogant people? How could they fancy doing something higher than God, when they build it on the top of all mountains or even over the clouds of heavens? What, materially or spiritually, could harm God? The true and safe way to heaven is to be established by humility, that lifts the heart up to God, and not against Him, as was said of that mighty man, who was “a mighty hunter before God” (Gen. 10:9). This verse was misinterpreted by some, owing to the obscurity of the Greek word that was not translated as “against God” but “before God.” This word can carry both meanings: “against” and “before.” In the Psalm, it was used as “before,” in: “Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Psalm 95:6); and in Job, as “Against” in: “That you turn your spirit against God” (Job 15:13).So it is to be understood here, that that hunter was “against God.” What does the word “hunter” designate, but the deceiver, the opponent, and killer of animals? He and his people built that tower against God, as an expression of their evil arrogance, and were justly punished, although their plan failed. What was the nature of their punishment? As the tongue was the instrument of their authority, it became the object of punishment, so that the man who did not wish 5 to understand God who gives the commandments, He would not, himself, become understood as he issues orders2.] Because of pride, man lost his binding unity; and as St. Augustine says: [Through pride, tongues were divided; and through the humble apostles, tongues were united3.] Because of pride, man lost his inner unity; so if he, in his pride, did not understand the language of God, full of love, in consequence, the body would not understand the language of the Spirit; and the Spirit would have a language against that of the body. Here the apostle Paul says about man who is outside the circle of the Holy Spirit, Grantor of unity: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17). St. Augustine comments on the verse, “The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built” (Gen. 11:5) saying that those who were building were the sons of men: [They were not the sons of God; they were living in an earthly way, in what we call “an earthly city.”] As to saying: “The Lord came down to see,” this does not mean the literal concept of this phrase, [God is, in his wholeness everywhere, and does not need to move from one place to another; but it is said that He comes down, when He does something extraordinary on earth, as though by that His presence could be felt. In the same way, saying “to see” does not mean that He would learn something new, as there is nothing that he does not know, but it is said, “to see,” or to “know,” in a sense, to let others see and know4.] And as we previously said, that He, in His love, talks to us in our human language, so that we can understand His ordinances and secrets as much as we can. St. Augustine5 believes that God descends to us through the coming down of His angels, being His dwelling place, and His “fellow-workers” (1 Corinthians 3 9). 2- DESCENDANTS OF SHEM St. Augustine presents us with an interpretation of mentioning the descendants of Shem, directly after the talk about the great flood and the building of the city of Babel, saying that, as from the descendants of Ham came he, who built Babel, the symbol of the earthly city, so also, from the descendants of Shem came He Who builds the city of God: [It was necessary to keep the genealogy of the generations descending from Shem, to reveal the city of God after the great flood, as it was already paraded, the genealogy of generations that descended from him before the flood. And now, after the Holy Scripture revealed the earthly city, ‘Babel or confusion,’ it gets back to father Shem to save the generations descending from him down to Abram, recording the age of each father when he begot the son mentioned in the genealogy, as well as all the years of his life6.] St. Augustine7 believes that the whole world was speaking one language, that was later called ‘Hebrew;’ and that in the days of ‘Peleg,’ the earth was divided, and other languages appeared beside the Hebrew. Yet the line connecting between Shem and Abram, kept speaking the Hebrew, while the other branches adopted other languages, those about whom is said: “begot sons and daughters” (Gen. 11:17, 19, 21, 2 City of God 16:4. 3 On Ps. 55. 4 City of God 16:5. 5 City of God 16:5. 6 City of God 16:10. 7 City of God 16:11. 6 23, 25); the son every father begot, was handed the inheritance including hope in God’s promise, and the language, while the rest of sons and daughters behaved according to a different spirit, and talked another language different from that of their father. 3- ABRAM AND LOT After parading the descendants of Shem, He reached to Abram and his nephew Lot, who were dwelling in Ur of the Chaldeans. And by the appearance of Abram, appeared the Patriarch to gain a promise and a covenant from God, that in him, “All the families of the earth shall be blessed,” that will be dealt with in the following chapters. Abram appeared in Ur of the Chaldeans; and it seems that his family worshipped other gods, only Abram worshipped the living God, as it is said: “Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the river in the old times; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river, led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac” (Joshua 24:2-3). The topic of the immigration of Abraham, Sarah, Lot, and Nahor, to Haran (Gen. 11:31), will be dealt with in the next chapter.
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