Gen 11:1
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech: It's possible that Hebrew was the language spoken of by everyone initially. The names recorded in the earlier writings had Hebrew names.
Gen 11:2
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: At this time there were only a few hundred families. Whether they all journeyed east or west isn't clear. Some translations say that they travelled east but some say that they traveled from the east. Confusingly, the NET translation notes say, "Or perhaps “from the east” (NRSV) or “in the east.” Albert Barnes says “Eastward” is proved to be the meaning of the phrase מקדם mı̂qedem by Gen 13:11, where Lot is said to journey (מקדם mı̂qedem) from Bethel to the plain of the Jordan, which is to the east. Regardless, they settled in Babylon (present day Iraq).
Gen 11:3
Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar: How the people had this technology at this time is thought provoking. Was it in existence before the flood and the technology still in use after? Was it developed after the flood? I haven't found any evidence for it, but I believe the technology was around before the flood, most likely taught by the fallen angels who polluted the human race by having sex with human women and birthing the nephilim (see the book of Enoch chapters 7 to 10).
And the wording of "They had brick for stone," implies that before this usage of brick, they were using stone. Other translations make it clearer. EG: They had brick instead of stone (NET). Teachers such as L.A. Marzulli believe that this is proof that places like Sacsayhuaman were built with pre-flood technology from the fallen angels that was lost during the flood.
Gen 11:4
And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.": Josephus's writings say that Nimrod convinced his people that it wasn't God that made them prosper, but that their prosperity was due to their own ingenuity. Download Antiquities of the Jews from Archive.org. He also went against God's command to populate the earth saying that instead, they need to stay together, and to build a tower to survive another flood if it came.
Gen 11:5
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built: There is no way for man to understand eternity, and we can not understand God. These words we read are an attempt of God to communicate with us humans in a way that we can understand. God is omnipresent, so it's not like He has to come down to see the tower, but He has to speak in a way that we can understand.
Gen 11:6
And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them: In direct opposition to God's command to populate the earth, Nimrod and his people built a tower to survive a flood, so they can stay together in one location. They didn't want to spread out. God can see everything, and He certainly took interest in this rebellion.
Gen 11:7
Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.": The "let Us" usage is the same language used in Gen 1:26 and Gen 3:22. This is the Trinity. God, Son, Holy Spirit. 3 parts in one. Impossible for us to fully understand. Gotquestions.org has a good article including a video about it. Let this be a lesson: When God says to do something, do it. Whether you want it to happen or not, it will happen, and probably not in the way you wanted.
Gen 11:8
So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city: And Nimrod's rebellion was crushed, and God's will was done. The city stopped being built, the people scattered and populated the earth, as God has commanded.
Rebellion against God is never good. God's will will be accomplished no matter what we do, and the only thing that can possibly happen is God has to deal with you in unintended ways to get His will accomplished. In other words, if God can't get you to obey Him willingly, He will make you do it. Nimrod and his people tried to go against God's command to populate the earth, so God had to make them do it.
Gen 11:9
Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth: The word Babel originally didn't mean anything. It was just a sound, sort of how we say babies say, 'ga ga goo goo," ended up as, "He is gaga over her." Ba ba became Babel, and now we say that someone is babbling when speaking incoherently.
Gen 11:10
This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood: Shem is the father of Israel. Through him, we get Abraham. Here's a link to a nice family tree. Not much is known about Arphaxad.
Gen 11:11
After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters: This line of Shem to Arphaxad is important because through them, the nation of Israel is born. Here's a link to a nice family tree.
Gen 11:12
Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah: Not much is known about Salah except that the name means branches.
Gen 11:13
After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters: In other words, the only important offspring in relation to Jesus was Salah. If we follow the line from Salah, we come to Abraham eventually, all the way to Jesus.
Gen 11:14
Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber: Eber is regarded as the probable founder of the Hebrew race.
Gen 11:15
After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters: Again, this is showing that the important child in relation to Jesus was Eber, who is regarded as the father of the Hebrew race.
Gen 11:16
Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg: This is the same Peleg spoken of in Gen 10:25. During his life, the earth was divided, either by language, or the land itself was divided. Either one is possible.
Gen 11:17
After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters: The important child in relation to Jesus was Peleg. We'll now follow Peleg's line.
Gen 11:18
Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu: Not much is known about Reu. Even his age is disputed. The Hebrew and Samaritan Pentateuch says he lived 239 years, but the Septuagint says 339.
Gen 11:19
After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters: So we only hear about Reu because his is the line that's important in relation to the Messiah, Jesus. Now we'll follow Reu's line.
Gen 11:20
Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug: Not much is known about Serug either, although John of Antioch attributes the worship of dead people through images or statues to him.
Gen 11:21
After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters: And now, after establishing that Serug is the child to follow in relation to the coming messiah, Jesus, we can follow Serug's line.
Gen 11:22
Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor: Nahor is the grandfather of Abraham. There's another Nahor who is the brother of Abraham later. Don't get them confused. Funny fact: Nahor means snorer.
Gen 11:23
After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters: Nahor is the important child because the Messiah, Jesus, would come from his line.
Gen 11:24
Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah: The following is taken from Easton's Bible Dictionary: For unknown reasons, Terah emigrated to Mesopotamia and settled in "Ur of the Chaldees." After his son Haran died, Terah migrated from Ur, with Abraham and Lot, intending to move to Canaan, but ended up settling in Haran, where he spent the last of his days, dying at 205 years old.
Gen 11:25
After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters: Terah is the important child in the line to the Messiah, so we will now continue with Terah's line.
Gen 11:26
Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran: We all know who Abram is. This is the father of the Jews. The one that God Himself makes a covenant with. The same Abraham that's called, "the friend of God (James 2:23)." Also the same Abram in the classic song, "Father Abraham." Nahor was Abraham's brother, not to be confused with the grandfather in Gen 11:22. Haran was the father of Lot, of the Sodom and Gomorrah event. He also had Milcah and Iscah (Gen 11:29). Their genealogy is discussed more in the following verses.
Gen 11:27
This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot: This is pretty much the same verse as Gen 11:26, but we also learn that Haran begot Lot. After Haran dies, Abram basically adopts Lot.
Gen 11:28
And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans: After Haran dies, Terah migrates from Ur to Haran, with Abraham and Lot.
Gen 11:29
Then Abram and Nahor took 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: Sarai is the original name of Abraham's wife. Later, in Gen 17:15, God changes her name to Sarah. In Gen 17:5, Abram's name will be changed by God to Abraham. Later, we also find out that Sarai is Abram's niece. We don't know who the other mother was, but Sarai was born from Terah, Abram's father, but from a different mother (Gen 20:12). Milcah was Abraham's niece because Milcah was Haran's daughter. Haran was Abraham's oldest brother. Yes, the bible is filled with what we today would call incest, but up to this point, it hadn't been outlawed by God yet. Incest is outlawed in Leviticus 18.
Gen 11:30
But Sarai was barren; she had no child: Interesting that Sarai was barren. The name Abram means father. Imagine having to explain to everyone you meet that you have no children but your name means father.
Gen 11:31
And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there: The only additional thing we learn from this verse is that the move from Ur was initiated by Terah.
Gen 11:32
So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran: Terah was supposed to come to the promised land, but didn't make it. We should keep this in mind in our own lives. God has a plan for you, and we need to continue the walk to reach the goal that He has set for you. It's very easy to stop where it seems comfortable, and the life circumstances we are in can replace the commandment from God with excuses. Following God is never going to be easy because the world hates God. We will always end up with opposition, and we can't let this opposition get us down and stop us from continuing the path that God has set us on. Otherwise, we'll end up
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