Genesis 11 Young's Literal Translation

About YLT

Individual translator
OT: Masoretic Hebrew
NT: Textus Receptus
Protestant (66 books)
Very literal
1898
Public domain

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

YLT Young's Literal Translation

WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)

1 And the whole earth is of one pronunciation, and of the same words,

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

2 and it cometh to pass, in their journeying from the east, that they find a valley in the land of Shinar, and dwell there;

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

3 and they say each one to his neighbour, 'Give help, let us make bricks, and burn [them] thoroughly:' and the brick is to them for stone, and the bitumen hath been to them for mortar.

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 say, 'Give help, let us build for ourselves a city and tower, and its head in the heavens, and make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of all the 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 Jehovah cometh down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men have builded;

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

6 and Jehovah saith, 'Lo, the people [is] one, and one pronunciation [is] to them all, and this it hath dreamed of doing; and now, nothing is restrained from them of that which they have purposed 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 Give help, let us go down, and mingle there their pronunciation, so that a man doth not understand the pronunciation of his companion.'

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

8 And Jehovah doth scatter them from thence over the face of all the earth, and they cease 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 hath [one] called its name Babel, for there hath Jehovah mingled the pronunciation of all the earth, and from thence hath Jehovah scattered them over 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] births of Shem: Shem [is] a son of an hundred years, and begetteth Arphaxad two years after the deluge.

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 liveth after his begetting Arphaxad five hundred years, and begetteth 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 hath lived five and thirty years, and begetteth Salah.

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

13 ◆ And Arphaxad liveth after his begetting Salah four hundred and three years, and begetteth 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 hath lived thirty years, and begetteth Eber.

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

15 ◆ And Salah liveth after his begetting Eber four hundred and three years, and begetteth 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 liveth four and thirty years, and begetteth Peleg.

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

17 ◆ And Eber liveth after his begetting Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begetteth 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 liveth thirty years, and begetteth Reu.

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

19 ◆ And Peleg liveth after his begetting Reu two hundred and nine years, and begetteth 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 liveth two and thirty years, and begetteth Serug.

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

21 ◆ And Reu liveth after his begetting Serug two hundred and seven years, and begetteth 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 liveth thirty years, and begetteth Nahor.

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

23 ◆ And Serug liveth after his begetting Nahor two hundred years, and begetteth 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 liveth nine and twenty years, and begetteth Terah.

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

25 ◆ And Nahor liveth after his begetting Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begetteth 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 liveth seventy years, and begetteth Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

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

27 And these [are] births of Terah: Terah hath begotten Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran hath begotten 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 dieth in the presence of Terah his father, in the land of his birth, 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 take to themselves wives; the name of Abram's wife [is] Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife [is] Milcah, daughter of Haran, father of Milcah, and 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 And Sarai is barren — she hath no child.

30 Sarai was barren. She had no child.

31 And Terah taketh Abram his son, and Lot, son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, wife of Abram his son, and they go out with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go towards the land of Canaan; and they come unto Charan, and dwell 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 are two hundred and five years, and Terah dieth in Charan.

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)

Old Testament

New Testament

People & places in this chapter

People

Places

Why does my Bible say something different?

What the Fathers said