Have you ever heard of the Tower of Babel in the Bible? It is common knowledge that God destroyed it, but did God destroy the Tower? If yes, why?
Hold on a second! I know some people already have more questions about Babel: the what, the where, the who, the how, and the why. So let us talk about it.
In this message, we will study the story and give answers to the above questions and more. But to start with, let me answer a question about where the story of Babel is in the Bible. It is in Genesis 11:1–9.
Meanwhile, have you seen the message, YHWH And The 7 Redemptive Names Of God In The Bible? You should give it a read!
What Is The Tower Of Babel In The Bible?
The word Tower is often used synonymously with the city, and it refers to a high or tall building that can be attached to another or a standalone.
Babel is a translation from the Hebrew term bā-ḇel (בָּבֶ֔ל). The same term was translated as Babylon. It means to confuse or be confounded (balal) and was the name given to the tower in Genesis 11. We will see that in a bit.
The Tower of Babel refers to a very tall building or an ancient skyscraper called Confusion. The phrase Tower of Babel is not in the scriptures, but the definition of Babel is a product of the scripture.
Where Was The Tower Of Babel Located?
The location of the Tower of Babel in the Bible was in Shinar. According to the scriptures:
“The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
As they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.
They said one to another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
They said, ‘Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.’” Genesis 11:1–4 WEB.
I know you may be wondering what Shinar means. It comes from the Hebrew word šin-‘ār (שנער), interpreted in English as shake out, be young, roar, hair, or horror. I cannot say what the term meant in Genesis 11:2, but it could refer to the land of the horrible or the land that was young.
Shinar was used to describe Mesopotamia (the land between rivers, Tigris, and Euphrates), where the travelers settled to build Babel and other cities, a location now known as Babylonia or Babylonish.
Therefore, the land of Shinar refers to the land of Babylonia, and today, we can point to the location of Babel as in Iraq, which occupies most of the land.
Who Built The Tower Of Babel?
The building of the Tower of Babel took place after the flood in the time of Noah. Genesis 9 gives details of how the Lord blessed Noah and his sons.
In Genesis 10, a detailed historical report of the genealogies of the three sons of Noah was given, beginning with Japheth, Ham, and Shem.
Then, In Genesis 11, the narration of how life after the flood started was told with the knowledge that the people spoke the same language.
The people spoken of were the sons of Noah and (or) their sons and daughters. They were the ones who traveled to Shinar. Therefore, the people who built the Tower of Babel would be the children or descendants of Noah.
To be more specific, it is acceptable that Nimrod, the son of Cush (the son of Ham), was the one who cheered the building of the Tower.
According to Genesis 10:8–10 WEB:
“Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth.
He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it is said, ‘like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh’.
The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”
How Tall Was The Tower Of Babel?
Regarding how tall the tower of Babel was, the Bible did not give any details or information about it. Instead, it presented a possible meeting of people, proposing to build a city and a tower with the top reaching the sky.
Ideal reasoning of how the tower would be (with the top reaching the sky) is suggestively a figurative expression. The point would be that the tower was supposed to be high above the Earth, tall enough to accommodate the people.
However, research data from The Book Of Jubilees gave information about how tall the Tower of Babel was around the height: 5,433 cubits and two palms. That is 2,484 meters high or eight thousand one hundred and fifty feet tall.
Why Did God Destroy The Tower Of Babel?
There are different narratives of the destruction of Babel. Some people suggest that God consumed Babel with fire, while others said it was with wind, and so on. But which is true?
Many asked a question, Why did God destroy the Tower of Babel in the Bible? I had to take a while to look at the scripture again to realize that God did not destroy Babel, to begin with.
According to the scriptures, the people had proposed their plans and started the building project before the Lord showed up. Having seen what they did, He decided to give them different languages, which led to a halt in their cooperative activities.
The scripture says in Genesis 11:5–9 WEB:
“Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
Yahweh said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.
Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’
So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.
Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.”
Notice: the Bible did not say anything about God destroying the Tower. The narration was about confusing their language and the scattering abroad. That led to the stoppage of the building, and it was named Babel.
Let us look at the big picture:
- God commanded the people to multiply and replenish the Earth. (See Genesis 9:1.)
- These people journeyed Eastward, settled down in Babylonia, and decided to build a city and a very tall tower so that they would remain there and not spread across the Earth.
- The Lord saw that, gave them different languages, and made them spread abroad, across the Earth.
