Genesis 11

This is one of the most fascinating stories in the Old Testament, to me anyway, and I wish there was more that was told about it. Following the Flood there was just one language, and perhaps that was also the case before it, and with the combined efforts of mankind at that point they tried to build a tower that would reach up to the heavens. Part of the reasoning given is that they wanted to avoid being spread across the whole earth, which was actually what God wanted (based on his commands to Adam and Eve, which are reiterated to Noah and his family). What I find most intriguing, though, is that God says that having done this with one language "now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them" (NAS). If it were anyone other than God saying that I would think they were worried, especially given the reaction in the following verses. It must be something else, though, since obviously man is no threat to God.

It rather reminds me of Genesis 6:6, where "the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart" (NAS). I'm not sure if this is just the author of Genesis personifying God with fallible human emotions (regret, in Gen 6:6, or fear in this passage) or if maybe the translation of those words and phrases into English looses something - but I do find it very curious. Maybe it is more than that, maybe God can feel regret or sorrow about something He created even if he knew it would be that way before it happened. I honestly don't know, but it is something to ponder.

The rest of the chapter is a simple genealogy, though again with ages that allow us to count time. In this case, we can see that there were 292 years from the Flood to the birth of Abram (soon to be Abraham). Combine that with the number from Adam to Noah (1056), Noah's age when the Flood came (600), and a year for the duration of the Flood itself and we have a total of 1949 years from Adam to to Abram. Combine that with the estimates we can make of when Abram lived, and a rough age for the world can be found :)

This chapter in:
New America Standard, New King James, New International