Joel Hendon

The Many Implications Of The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11)


Posted: Monday, August 22, 2011

by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html

Did you ever wonder where all the different global languages came from? And I do mean different. There are variations of many, perhaps all, languages…even English here in the U.S. and else where. We are not talking about dialects which develop within a language, but full blown different languages. The answer, as are the other answers not known to man, is given to us in the eleventh chapter of Genesis.

After the flood, there was only one family left. Noah, his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and all four of their wives. We can know of course, that all of these spoke the same language. In fact, there was but one language on the earth before the flood. There had been no reason, or cause, to develop different languages. After the flood and the population of the earth grew larger once more, we come to the story of the tower of Babel.

As the people multiplied, all speaking the same language, they migrated to the west and settled in an area called Shinar. They decided to combine their efforts and would build a tower which would reach into the heavens. This endeavor was nothing more than a symbol of pride. They wanted to make a name for themselves.

God had instructed Noah and his sons to go forth and replenish the earth. Scatter out, or spread and grow a new population which should follow after his teachings. But this had left their minds and they, instead, wanted to do something big and be known for that. For this reason, God determined to confound their speech in order to end their collaborating.

Considering the fact that Moses wrote the bible via inspiration from God approximately 3,500 years ago and about 1,000 years after the flood, an no other solution has been forthcoming to contradict him, he seems to have gotten it straight. Also considering the fact that some languages bear little or no similarity to another, it is beyond imagination to think that one would reach such difference by gradual change. This all took place about 250 years after the flood and some 750 years before Moses recorded it by inspiration.

These miraculously formed languages forced them to form groups according to their linguistics in order to function and survive. It also caused them to separate and spread out in a manner that God had requested in the first place.

The city where this occurred was then called Babel because of the many languages which had their beginning at that time. This is found in Genesis 11:5-8. 
Author Biography: Joel Hendon was born near Gadsden Alabama. He attended public schools in Cherokee County, Alabama and after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Jacksonville State University, majoring in Business Administration. He became a Christian in 1948, and although he followed secular work as a career and retired from Allied Signal Aerospace, he is an avid student of the Holy Bible and related works as well as biblical history. He has an extensive website of conservative religious and political articles.http://hebronics.org/index.html

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Christofer French 269 days 14 hours ago.
74 fans.
Keep up the good fight, Joel. Excellent accounting of the Genesis story.
» left by Joel Hendon 269 days ago.
127 fans.
Thank you Christopher, for reading and commenting. I appreciate it.
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