Genesis 11.1-9

1. Genesis 11.1-9 Be Fruitful! Multiply! Fill the Earth & Conquer it

2. Milgram's Obedience to Authority Experiments "Ultimately 65% of all of the "teachers" punished the "learners" to the maximum 450 volts. No subject stopped before reaching 300 volts!" 25 year period - 1961-1985

3. Asch - Peer Pressure Experiments Asch asked his subjects which line was longer, while planted "confederates" would provide peer pressure. 99% picked the correct line when alone, but in a the group setting 76% chose wrongly following the plants.

4. Genesis 11.1-2 * The whole earth had the same language and the same words. * As they were migrating eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they settled there.

5. Shinar

6. Genesis 11.3-4 * Each said to his friend, "Come, let us make bricks, burning them hard!" - Now bricks for stone and bitumen for mortar. * They said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, so that we make a name for ourselves or else we shall be scattered all over the whole earth."

7. Genesis 11.5 * And Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower which the humans had built.

8. Genesis 11.6-7 * Yahweh said, "(hen) One people, One language for all of them and this is the beginning of their doings. Now nothing will be withheld from them from which they purpose to do." * "Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that each will not hear his friend's speech!"

9. Genesis 11.8-9 * So Yahweh scattered them from there over the whole earth and they stopped building the city. * Therefore its name was called Babel, because there, Yahweh confused the language of all the earth and from there Yahweh scattered them over the whole earth.

10. Genesis 1-12: A Bird's-Eye View Gen 1 � God creates by commanding and blessing all that God made. Gen 2 � Humankind's creation is recapitulated. Gen 3, 4, 6-9 � A Series of failures on the part of humankind argues that "sin" is pervasive. Gen 12 � Abram is called by God so that all nations will be blessed via him.

11. Genesis 10 & 11.1-9 The "Table of Nations" focuses on human diversity � ethnic, linguistic, territorial. (Sarna)? Note especially 10.5, 20, 31: ". . . in their lands, each with his own language, their families and their nations." Gen 10.10 has Nimrod ruling over Babel, etc. in Shinar!

12. Genesis 10 & 11.1-9 Some scholars have therefore argued that Gen 11.1-9 is a "flashback," which sets the stage for the blessings of the nations via Abraham in Gen 12. (Rogerson & Gowan)?

13. Traditional Christian Interpretation Focusing on phrases like "head in the heavens" or "make a name for ourselves" as indications of human sin � "will to power" Focusing on the scattering as judgment from Yahweh A message of the futility of human works!

14. Traditional Jewish Interpretation Focusing on phrases like "one language," "one people and one language" and "Yahweh confused the language" The message of the story is the origins of multiple languages in the world.

15. Negatively Speaking . . . . 1. No Sin Mentioned In Genesis 3, 4, 6-9 the sin is clearly indicated and the "punishment" is meant to be appropriate to the "crime." Usually a pre- & post- discussion occurs

16. Positively Speaking . . . . 2. Language, Speech & Naming are positive: God creates by verbal command. Humankind as created in the "image of God" are invited to "name" the animals, all in the context of the problem of being "alone." [Gen 2.18ff.]

17. Man gave names to all the Animals! Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, in the beginning. Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, long time ago. He saw an animal that liked to growl, Big furry paws and he liked to howl, Great big furry back and furry hair. "Ah, think I'll call it a bear."

18. Man gave names to all the Animals! Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, in the beginning. Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, long time ago. He saw an animal up on a hill Chewing up so much grass until she was filled. He saw milk comin' out but he didn't know how. "Ah, think I'll call it a cow."

19. Man gave names to all the Animals! Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, in the beginning. Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, long time ago. He saw an animal that liked to snort, Horns on his head and they weren't too short. It looked like there wasn't nothin' that he couldn't pull. "Ah, think I'll call it a bull."

20. Man gave names to all the Animals! Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, in the beginning. Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, long time ago. He saw an animal leavin' a muddy trail, Real dirty face and a curly tail. He wasn't too small and he wasn't too big. "Ah, think I'll call it a pig."

21. Man gave names to all the Animals! Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, in the beginning. Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, long time ago. Next animal that he did meet Had wool on his back and hooves on his feet, Eating grass on a mountainside so steep. "Ah, think I'll call it a sheep."

22. Man gave names to all the Animals! Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, in the beginning. Man gave names to all the animals In the beginning, long time ago. He saw an animal as smooth as glass Slithering his way through the grass. Saw him disappear by a tree near a lake . . .

23. Negatively Speaking . . . . 3. As Positive as it was to "name" the animals, making "a name for ourselves" smells negative God is the one that "changes" the names of Abram, Sarai, Jacob, etc. "Doing" for others as primary

24. Negatively Speaking . . . . 4. Cities, nations, people in unity are not generally viewed as negative. Violence and those things that separate people are, with few exceptions, viewed as bad. However, "fear" or "anxiety" is depicted in "lest we be scattered

25. Positively Speaking . . . . 5. Scattering as God's Blessing: God's words/language that created and blessed the creation implies that being fruitful, multiplying, filling the earth and conquering it implies being scattered throughout the "whole earth."

26. Be Fruitful! Multiply! Fill the Earth & Conquer it