Genesis 11:11 T 11
Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached
from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah,
Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.
20 These are the sons of Ham by t heir c lans and languages, in their territo
ries and nations.
The Semites
21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was a Japheth; Shem
was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
22 The sons of Shem:
Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
23 The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek. b
24 Arphaxad was the father of c Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.
25 Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg, d because in his time the e
arth was divided; his
brother was named Joktan.
26 Joktan was the father of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were
sons of Joktan.
30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the
eastern hill country.
31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territo
ries and nations.
32 These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent,
within their nations. From t hese the nations spread out over the e
arth after
the flood.
The Tower of Babel
11
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As peo
ple moved eastward, e they found a plain in Shinar f and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thor
oughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said,
“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,
so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered
over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were
building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they
have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for
them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not un
derstand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from t here over all the e
arth, and they s topped
building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel g — because there the Lord
confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered
them over the face of the whole earth.
From Shem to Abram
10 This is the account of Shem’s fami l y line.
Two years after the f lood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the fa
ther h of Arphaxad. 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem l ived
500 years and had other sons and daughters.
a 21 Or
Shem, the older brother of b 23 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 1:17; Hebrew Mash.
Hebrew; Septuagint father of Cainan, and Cainan was the father of d 25 Peleg
means division. e 2 Or from the east ; or in the east f 2 That is, Babylonia g 9 That
is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused. h 10 Father may mean
ancestor; also in verses 11-25.
c 24