And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach to heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth.
whose.
Deuteronomy 1:28 Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
Deuteronomy 9:1 Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,
Daniel 4:11,22 The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: …
and let.
2 Samuel 8:13 And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.
Psalm 49:11-13 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names…
Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
lest.
Genesis 11:8,9 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city…
Psalm 92:9 For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
Luke 1:51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
“let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens,”
The desire to build a city and a tower signifies humanity's ambition and desire for permanence and security. The city represents human civilization and organization, while the tower symbolizes human pride and technological advancement. The phrase "reaches to the heavens" indicates an attempt to assert human autonomy and challenge divine authority, echoing the prideful rebellion seen in Isaiah 14:13-14. This ambition can be seen as a precursor to later human endeavors to reach or rival the divine, such as in the story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4.
“that we may make a name for ourselves”
The motivation to make a name for themselves reveals a desire for self-glorification and legacy, contrasting with the biblical theme of glorifying God. This pursuit of fame and recognition is a recurring theme in Scripture, often leading to downfall, as seen in the stories of Saul and Absalom. It reflects a departure from the humility and obedience exemplified by figures like Abraham, who was promised a great name by God (Genesis 12:2) rather than seeking it himself.
“and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”
This fear of being scattered contradicts God's command to "fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28, 9:1). The desire for centralization and control reflects a lack of trust in God's provision and plan. The scattering that eventually occurs (Genesis 11:8-9) fulfills God's original intent for humanity to spread across the earth, demonstrating that human plans cannot thwart divine purposes. This scattering also sets the stage for the diversity of nations and languages, which is later redeemed at Pentecost (Acts 2) when the Holy Spirit enables the apostles to speak in various tongues, symbolizing the reunification of humanity under God's kingdom.
• The single word signals an intentional rallying cry. Rather than seeking God’s direction, humanity calls itself to action.
• Earlier, God had called Noah’s family out of the ark (Genesis 8:15-17). Here people replace God’s summons with their own.
• This illustrates how quickly post-Flood generations drift from gratitude to self-determination, echoing later examples of self-initiated schemes without divine approval (Joshua 9:14).
• The plan arises from collective human counsel; no one pauses to pray or consult the Lord.
• Psalm 2:2-3 portrays rulers who “take their stand” against the LORD—mirroring the attitude here.
• When advice excludes God, it leads to confusion and judgment (Proverbs 14:12).
• God had promised safety through His covenant (Genesis 9:11-17). Building a fortified city suggests distrust of that promise.
• The phrase “for ourselves” highlights self-sufficiency. Contrast Abraham, who “was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
• Scripture repeatedly warns against trusting in human structures (Psalm 127:1; Jeremiah 17:5).
• A literal, sky-piercing ziggurat symbolized humanity’s attempt to invade realms reserved for God.
• Isaiah 14:13-14 records a similar boast: “I will ascend to the heavens… I will make myself like the Most High.”
• Obadiah 1:4 notes God’s verdict on such arrogance: “Though you soar like the eagle… from there I will bring you down.”
• The driving motive is personal glory. Yet God alone deserves renown (Isaiah 42:8).
• Whenever people pursue fame apart from God, downfall follows (Daniel 4:30-37; Acts 12:21-23).
• 1 John 2:16 labels this attitude “the pride of life,” a hallmark of worldliness.
• God had clearly commanded, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). The builders choose the opposite.
• Their fear of dispersion shows insecurity; true security rests in obedience (Deuteronomy 28:1-7).
• Ironically, the Lord will accomplish His purpose anyway by confusing their language (Genesis 11:8-9), a prelude to His later scattering of Israel for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:64) and the global spread of the church in Acts 8:1, 4.
Genesis 11:4 reveals a historical moment when humanity, united in language but divided from God, pursued security, significance, and supremacy on its own terms. Each phrase exposes self-reliance, pride, and direct defiance of God’s clear commands. The subsequent divine intervention affirms that the Lord alone directs human destiny, receives all glory, and ensures His purposes prevail—no matter how lofty human towers may rise.
(4) A tower, whose top may reach unto heaven.--The Hebrew is far less hyperbolical: namely, whose head (or top) is in the heavens, or skies, like the walls of the Canaanite cities (Deuteronomy 1:28). The object of the builders was twofold: first, they wished to have some central beacon which might guide them in their return from their wanderings; and secondly, they had a distinctly ambitious object, for by remaining as one nation they would be able to reduce to obedience all the tribes now perpetually wandering away from them, and so would "make them a name." We may, indeed, dismiss the silly stories of Josephus about their defiance of God and Nimrod's impiety, and the purpose of escaping a second deluge, for all which there is not the least vestige of authority in the sacred record; but we undoubtedly find a political purpose of preventing that dispersion of mankind which God had commanded (Genesis 1:28), and of using the consequent aggregation of population for the attaining to empire. There was probably some one able and ambitious mind at the bottom of this purpose, and doubtless it had very many advantages: for it is what is now called centralisation, by which the individual sacrifices his rights to the nation, the provinces to the capital, and small nations are bound together in one empire, that the force of the whole body may be brought to bear more rapidly and effectually in carrying out the will of the nation or of the ruler, as the case may be. Nimrod's efforts at a later date were successful (Genesis 10:10-12); and when we remember the blood-stained course of some of his cities, we may well doubt whether, with all its present advantages, this centralisation really promotes human happiness.Verse 4. - And they said. Being impelled by their success in making bricks for their dwellings (Lange), though the resolution to be mentioned may have been the cause of their brick-making (Bush). Go to, let us build us a city. Cf. Genesis 4:17, which represents Cain as the first city builder. And a tower. Not as a distinct erection, but as forming a part, as it were the Acre-polls, of the city (Bochart). Whose top may reach unto heaven. Literally, and his head in the heavens, a hyperbolical expression for a tower of great height, as in Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 9:1 (cf. Homer, 'Odys,' 5:239, ἐλάτη τ η΅ν οὐρανομήκης). This tower is commonly identified with the temple of Belus, which Herodotus describes (1. 181) as being quadrangular (two stadia each way), and having gates of brass, with a solid tower in the middle, consisting of eight sections, each a stadium in height, placed one above another, ascended by a spiral staircase, and having in the top section a spacious temple with a golden table and a well-furnished bed. Partially destroyed by Xerxes ( B.C. 490), it was attempted unsuccessfully to be rebuilt by Alexander the Great; but the remaining portion of the edifice was known to be in existence five centuries later, and was sufficiently imposing to be recognized as the temple of Belus (Pliny, 6:30). The site of this ancient tower is supposed by George Smith to be covered by the ruin "Babil," a square mound about 200 yards each way, in the north of the city; and that of the tower of Babel to be occupied by the ruin Birs-Nimrod (situated six miles south-west of Hillah, which is about forty miles west of Bagdad), a tower consisting of seven stages, said by inscriptions on cylinders extracted from the ruin to have been "the Temple of the Seven Planets, which had been partially built by a former king of Babylon, and, having fallen into decay, was restored and completed by Nebuchadnezzar" ('Assyrian Discoveries,' 12. p. 59; 'Chaldaean Genesis,' p. 163; cf. Layard's 'Nineveh and Babylon,' chap. 22. p. 496). It is, however, prima facie, unlikely that either Babil or Birs-Nimrod is the exact site of Babel. The original building was never finished, and may not have attained any great dimensions. Perhaps the most that can be said is that these existing mounds enable us to picture what sort of erection the tower of Babel was to be. And let us make a name, שֵׁם; neither an idol temple, ֵשם being = God, which it never is without the article, הַשֵׁם - cf. Leviticus 24:11 (Jewish writers); nor a monument, as in 2 Samuel 8:13 (Clericus); nor a metropolis, reading אֵם instead of שֵׁם, as in 2 Samuel 20:19 (Clericus); nor a tower that might serve as a sign to guide the wandering nomads and guard them against getting lost when spread abroad with their flocks, as in 2 Samuel 8:13; Isaiah 55:13 (Perizonius, Dathe, Ilgen); but a name, a reputation, as in 2 Samuel 8:13; Isaiah 63:12, 14; Jeremiah 32:20; Daniel 9:15 (Luther, Calvin, Rosenmüller, Keil, Lange, Murphy, Wordsworth, Kalisch). This was the first impelling motive to the erection of the city and tower. The offspring of ambition, it was designed to spread abroad their fame usque ad ultimos terrarum fines (Calvin). According to Philo, each man wrote his name upon a brick before he built it in. The second was to establish a rallying point that might serve to maintain their unity. Lest we be scattered abroad. Lest - antequam, πρὸ, before that, as if anticipating that the continuous increase of population would necessitate their dispersion (LXX., Vulgute), or as if determined to distinguish themselves before surrendering to the Divine command to spread themselves abroad (Luther); but the more exact rendering of פֵן is μή, ne, lest, introducing an apodosis expressive of something to be avoided by a preceding action (cf. Gesenius, ' Hebrews Gram.,' § 152, and Furst, 'Lex.,' sub voce. What the builders dreaded was not the recurrence of a flood (Josephus, Lyra), but the execution of the Divine purpose intimated in Genesis 9:1, and perhaps recalled to their remembrance by Noah (Usher), or by Sham (Wordsworth), or by Eber (Candlish); and what the builders aimed at was resistance to the Divine will. Upon the face of the whole earth. Over the entire surface of the globe, and not simply over the land of Shiner (Inglis), or over the immediate region in which they dwelt (Clericus,. Dathe, et alii, ut supra).