Genesis 11:4

Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens ¹  so that ²  we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise ³  we will be scattered ⁴  across the face of the entire earth.”

Ge 11:8,9; De 1:28; De 9:1; 2Sa 8:13; Ps 49:11-13; Ps 92:9; Pr 10:7; Da 4:11,22; Da 4:30; Lu 1:51; Joh 5:44

¹ tn A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.

² tn The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (vÿna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make…”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.

³ tn The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”

⁴ sn The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.