Genesis · King James Version (with Apocrypha)

Genesis 11 King James Version (with Apocrypha)

About KJV

Protestant
OT: Masoretic Hebrew
NT: Textus Receptus
Protestant, with the Apocrypha
Formal (word for word)
1611
Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

KJV King James Version (with Apocrypha)

WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

1 The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

2 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.

2 As they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.

3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

3 They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

4 They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

5 Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.

6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people [is] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

6 Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

7 Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

8 So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

9 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.

10 ◆ ¶ These [are] the generations of Shem: Shem [was] an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

10 This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.

11 ◆ And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

11 Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

12 ◆ And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah.

13 ◆ And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

13 Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

14 ◆ And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

14 Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber.

15 ◆ And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

15 Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

16 ◆ And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.

17 ◆ And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

17 Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

18 ◆ And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

18 Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu.

19 ◆ And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

19 Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

20 ◆ And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.

21 ◆ And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

21 Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

22 ◆ And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

22 Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.

23 ◆ And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

23 Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

24 ◆ And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah.

25 ◆ And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

25 Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.

26 ◆ And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

26 Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 ¶ Now these [are] the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

27 Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot.

28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees, while his father Terah was still alive.

29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife [was] Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

29 Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah.

30 But Sarai was barren; she [had] no child.

30 Sarai was barren. She had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

31 Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

32 The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

Arphaxad
Son of Shem
Born two years after the flood, a link from Shem toward Abraham.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 10:22–24; 11:10–13
See in the family tree
Eber
Namesake of the Hebrews
The name behind the word 'Hebrew,' father of Peleg.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 10:24–25; 11:14–17
See in the family tree
Haran
Father of Lot
Abraham's brother who died young in Ur, leaving his son Lot.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:26–31
See in the family tree
Iscah
Daughter of Haran
A daughter of Haran and the sister of Milcah, named only in the account of Terah's family.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:29
See in the family tree
Lot
Abraham's nephew
Abraham's nephew who chose the plain of Jordan and settled near Sodom.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11–14; 19
See in the family tree
Milcah
Wife of Nahor, daughter of Haran
Haran's daughter and the sister of Iscah, who became the wife of Nahor.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:29; Genesis 22:20; Genesis 22:23
See in the family tree
Nahor
Abraham's grandfather
The grandfather of Abraham, standing just before Terah in the line.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:22–25
See in the family tree
Nahor
Son of Terah, brother of Abram
Terah's son and the brother of Abram and Haran, who took Milcah, the daughter of Haran, as his wife.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:26; Genesis 11:27; Genesis 11:29
See in the family tree
Peleg
Son of Eber
In his days, Scripture says, the earth was divided.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 10:25; 11:16–19
See in the family tree
Reu
Son of Peleg
A link in the generations descending toward Abraham.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:18–21
See in the family tree
Serug
Son of Reu
Great-grandfather of Abraham in the line from Shem.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:20–23
See in the family tree
Shem
Ancestor of the Hebrews
Noah's blessed son, ancestor of the Semitic peoples and of Abraham.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 9:18–10:31; 11:10–26
See in the family tree
Terah
Father of Abraham
He left Ur with his family and journeyed toward Canaan, settling in Haran.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:24–32
See in the family tree

Places

Haran
Today: Southern Turkey (Upper Mesopotamia)
A caravan city in Upper Mesopotamia and the family's waypoint between Ur and Canaan. Abraham departed from here for Canaan; Jacob later sojourned with Laban nearby.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:31; Genesis 12:4; Genesis 28:10
Bible map game · View on OpenStreetMap
Ur
Today: Southern Iraq (near the Euphrates)
Traditionally the southern Sumerian city (Tell el-Muqayyar) with its famous ziggurat, though some scholars argue for a northern Ur (location debated). Abraham set out from here.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 11:31; Genesis 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7
Bible map game · View on OpenStreetMap

Cross references (23)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

Why does my Bible say something different?

Genesis 5 and 11: why the patriarchs’ ages differ
In the Greek Septuagint most patriarchs in Genesis 5 and 11 become fathers about 100 years later than in the Hebrew text, and Genesis 11 adds a second Cainan, whom St Luke also names (Luke 3:36). The result is a world history over a thousand years longer. The Byzantine calendar was built on the Greek numbers. No doctrine depends on either set.

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

Quotes verse 11:1–9 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XVI, Chapters 3–4)
Therefore the name of it is called Confusion; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and the Lord God scattered them thence on the face of all the earth." This city, which was called Confusion, is the same as Babylon, whose wonderful construction Gentile history also notices.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Quotes verse 11:6 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XVI, Chapters 5–8)
The words, "Nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do," are assuredly not meant as an affirmation, but as an interrogation, such as is used by persons threatening, as e.g., when Dido exclaims, "They will not take arms and pursue?" We are to understand the words as if it had been said, Shall nothing be restrained …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Quotes verse 11:27–29 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XVI, Chapters 12–15)
And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah." This Iscah is supposed to be the same as Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)