{"id":36123,"date":"2018-07-29T01:54:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-28T22:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=36123"},"modified":"2022-02-19T22:29:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-19T20:29:11","slug":"chapter-summary-gen11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/chapter-summary-gen11\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Summary – Gen11"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chapter 11: \u00a0This is how you build a tower and this is how it falls<\/span><\/p>\n

The chapter is the watershed between the universal stories of the Book of Genesis, i.e. those dealing with humanity as a whole, and between the stories that relate \u00a0the story of our family – the family of Abraham.<\/span><\/p>\n

The revolution that humanity undergoes in this chapter is the transition from a world where everyone speaks \u201cthe same language\u201d (11:1) to the world which we are familiar with –a world of many languages, cultures, nationalities, and identities.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did it happen?<\/span><\/p>\n

According to this chapter, the culprit is a megalomaniac construction project – “a city and a tower with its top in the sky” (11: 4) or perhaps the motives of the entrepreneurs “to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered over all the world” (ibid.). Why is this bad? It is a good question.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is shared language that is man\u2019s source of strength in this common enterprise, and therefore the way God deals with the problem is by \u201cconfusing\u201d languages, so that “they shall not understand one another\u2019s speech” (verse 7). In fact, to this very \u00a0day…<\/span><\/p>\n

The second part of the chapter is a sequence of generations connecting Noah, the hero of the previous story, and Abraham – the hero of the next story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Points to Ponder:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0<\/span> The story takes place in Babylon, Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization and culture in biblical times. What does the story want to say about this culture, its strengths and weaknesses?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0<\/span> \u201cLet us make a name for ourselves\u201d (verse 4) – how do we “make a name for ourselves\u201d in the days of the Bible? Usually, it is done by erecting a memorial monument. Perhaps the Tower of Babel was humanity’s first project to perpetuate itself. But not the last one.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0<\/span> As with any construction site – alongside the vision and architectural plans, there is also manual labor that gives us a glimpse of the conventional construction technique. Here is how to build a tower: “Let us make bricks and burn them in fire ” (11:3), that is, one makes bricks of clay, burn them with fire, and then “brick will serve them as stone” (ibid.). Try it at home.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. \u00a0<\/span> At the end of the chapter, not only the story of Abraham (Avram at this stage) begins but also his journey from Ur of the Chaldeans to Canaan (verse 31). Note that the initiator of the journey from Ur of the Chaldeans is Terah, Avram’s father.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","image":{"ID":86314,"id":86314,"title":"Points to ponder","filename":"Points-to-ponder.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-psalm-84\/points-to-ponder\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"points-to-ponder","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":86166,"date":"2021-01-09 20:56:58","modified":"2023-12-28 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