Passage
Genesis 11.7-9
Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV (ASV)
"5. And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6. And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do."
"7. Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8. So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city. 9. Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."
"10. These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arpachshad two years after the flood: 11. and Shem lived after he begat Arpachshad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:5-11, ASV)
WEB (WEB)
"5. Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. 6. Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do."
"7. Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8. So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. 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. 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. Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:5-11, WEB)
KJV (KJV)
"5. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 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."
"7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound 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. 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. Babel: that is, Confusion"
"10. These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: 11. And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:5-11, KJV)
YLT (YLT)
"5. And Jehovah cometh down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men have builded; 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."
"7. Give help, let us go down, and mingle there their pronunciation, so that a man doth not understand the pronunciation of his companion.' 8. And Jehovah doth scatter them from thence over the face of all the earth, and they cease to build 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."
"10. These [are] births of Shem: Shem [is] a son of an hundred years, and begetteth Arphaxad two years after the deluge. 11. And Shem liveth after his begetting Arphaxad five hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:5-11, YLT)
Setting
- Speaker: Moses (traditional authorship) / narrator
- Audience: Israelite congregation post-Exodus
- Location: various ANE settings (Eden → Mesopotamia → Canaan → Egypt)
- Time period: events c. creation-c. 1800 BC; composed c. 1446-1406 BC
Theological reading
Key words
- H3068 - YHWH, YHWH (Strong's H3068). Also appears in: Genesis 2.4, Genesis 2.7, Genesis 2.16-17.
- H8034 - shem, shem (Strong's H8034). Also appears in: Genesis 3, Genesis 4.26, Genesis 6.4.
Quoted in
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.