Genesis 11: Let Us Make a Name for Ourselves

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." (Gen 11:4 ESV)

"Let us make a name for ourselves." The people of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted to be famous, and they were not the first with this designation. Back in Genesis 6:4, in the verses leading up to the Noah story, Scripture tells us of "the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown." Literally, "renown" is "men of the name." They were men who had made a name for themselves. This was in the era where things had gotten so bad that God determined that the earth was so corrupt that he would destroy the whole world. Now here, again, after the flood, people were saying, let's make a name for ourselves. Let's be like the men of old who had been famous. 

But God had made a covenant with Noah. The people at the time of Babel were among the seed of Noah and they were within that covenant relationship. God would not destroy them. He would be faithful to his covenant. Yet he would bring about a judgment mingled with grace. He knew that it would be bad for humanity if they were able to do anything they purposed in their hearts. He came down and confused the language of the people to prevent them from becoming self sufficient. If they remained unified in their plans they would not have seen their need for Him, and the line of the "seed of the woman" would have become indistinguishable from those around. They had to divide into nations so that the messianic seed would be preserved. 

And what is ironic is that God gave them what they wanted. They wanted to make a name for themselves, and God gave them a name--Babel--Confusion. Forever they would be famous. They would be remembered as the place where God confused the languages. God made a name for them.

Yet the story is not over here. In the very next chapter, Genesis 12:2 contains a promise to Abraham about a name. "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." There is a contrast here. the people of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves so they worked in their own effort, and God made a name for Abraham because of his faith and apart from works. 

Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. (Gen 11:9 ESV)

Genesis 10: Another Genealogy?

“These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.” Genesis 10:32

Genealogies! Why is it that the Bible has so many genealogies? As modern western people they drive us crazy. Nothing could be more boring than a genealogy. It’s like reading through names of a phonebook. Or is it? We’ve already looked at Genesis 5 and the genealogy of Seth, and we saw some very significant truths embedded within the passage. Will Genesis 10 be a repeat of the same? No. Genesis 10 is a different kind of genealogy, and it has some similar but substantively different lessons to teach us. 

Genesis 5 was a very formulaic genealogy. It repeated the same pattern over and over again, and there were three significant breaks from the pattern that we looked at. Genesis  was also a linear genealogy in which it passed from one generation to the next following one family line from father to son. Genesis 10 is different. This chapter is not linear in progression. It first traces the line of Japheth; however, instead of just listing one son, it lists all of them and traces each of their lineages. Then, comes the lineage of Ham—again tracing through each of his sons. The chapter ends with a genealogy of Shem. There are two significant facts about this genealogy which help us to grasp its meaning. First, at the end of each section of the genealogy it mentions that they were listed by their land, language, clan, and nation. Also, the chapter ends by giving the main point. Each of the sons represented in this genealogy was the father of a nation as humanity spread out from Noah’s sons. In fact, many of the names represented are actual names of nations. For example, Egypt is listed as one of the sons of Ham. While some translations just transliterate the name as Mitzraim, this is the word used for Egypt throughout the rest of the Bible. Cush is another nation and we know it as Ethiopia. Canaan, of course is a nation that had many interactions with Israel. Not only are character names equivalent with the names of nations, but the text also explains that these men were fathers of specific nations that we read about throughout the Bible. We know that Israel had many dealings with peoples like the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites. We see that Nimrod built cities like Babylon, and Niniveh. Elam and Ashur are also listed as sons of Shem. From these names we get the Elamites and the Assyrians. Probably one of the most significant, but maybe not the most recognizable is the name of Eber. The name Eber is formed with the same letters as the word Hebrew, and that is the line which Abraham came from. It is likely that the Hebrews derive their name from this ancestor.

There are other names that could be linked to peoples known from within the Bible, but my aim isn't to meticulously point each of them out. Rather, I think we should see that the point the author is making is that "all the families of the earth" come from Noah and his sons. We are connected in a biological solidarity. This becomes even more significant just 2 chapters later. In Genesis 12:3, God promises Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." The families that are listed in Genesis 10 are the families that will be blessed in the seed of Abraham.

Cain and the Seed of the Woman

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD." (Gen 4:1 ESV)

From Genesis 3 to the end of the Old Testament, the entire story centers around the promise of a coming Messiah who would crush the serpent's head. Chapter three ends with the punishment upon Adam and Eve for their sin in the Garden of Eden. Yet mingled in the curse upon the Serpent there is a promise of a seed. There would be enmity between the seed of the Serpent and the seed of the woman which would one day be culminated when a specific descendant of Eve would defeat the Serpent of old. Chapter three ends with the grace of God when he made coverings for Adam and Eve out of animal skins, and the discipline of God as Adam and Eve were exiled from Paradise--East of Eden.

The next passage in the narrative picks up with a birth. The curse foretold that Eve would have seed, and that there would be difficulty in childbearing, so it is important to see a connection between these stories. The announcement of Cains birth was in answer to the promise of God. Yet the words used suggest that there is a problem before Cain and Abel ever bring their sacrifice. Eve names Cain with a word based on the verb for what she says she has done. She says, "I have "Cained" a man, with the LORD." The word means to acquire or to get, and while the ESV says "with the help of the LORD," the Hebrew text is more ambiguous. When she says this, is she meaning with God's help? Or is she meaning alongside him? Did Eve mean to take credit as though she had acquired Cain in her own effort--in a manner equal with what God can do? Ultimately, it is too ambiguous to be dogmatic about, but it would fit with a repeated theme within Genesis if she does claim to do it on her own. It would fit with the Tower of Babel when the people sought to make a name for themselves, and it would fit with Abraham and Sarah, when Sarah gave Hagar to her husband to acquire a seed through the work of man. Either way, there is reason to think that Eve saw Cain as a fulfillment of the promised seed. The question in an attentive reader's mind must be, "Is Cain the one? Is he the seed that was promised in 3:15?"

As the narrative continues it becomes clear that this expectation is wrong. Instead of destroying the seed of the Serpent, Cain appears to BE the seed of the Serpent who had enmity with his brother. This brings a tension to the story. Up to that point, the only sons of Adam and Eve that we had read about were Cain and Able. The first born was a murderer, and the second was dead, and the question remains, "how will God's promise of a seed be answered?" 

The last verses of chapter four answer the question. After tracing the line of Cain's descendants, the narrator returns to Adam and Eve and tells us that they had another son--Seth. It also tells us that in the days of Seth's son, men began to call upon the name of the LORD. Chapter 5 consists of Seth's genealogy and it comes to an end in Noah, another seed who was expected to bring the people rest and who saved all of mankind. The last verses of this story tell us that the LORD provided a seed who though whom the promise would ultimately come to fruition. As Genesis continues, the seed promise is narrowed down to the line of Abraham, and even to the line of Judah. And as New Testament believers, we know that the seed was ultimately fulfilled by Jesus the Son of David. 

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." (Gen 4:25 ESV)