The Tower of Babel (by H.A. Guerber) (2024)

The Tower of BabelbyPieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)

FromTheStory of the Chosen People (1896)

Written by H.A. Guerber

The Bible tells us that the descendants of Noah’s sons spread, in thecourse of time, all over the face of the earth. In a few words it says thatJapheth’s race included all the Gentiles (people who were not Jews). One of thedescendants of Ham was Nimrod, a mighty hunter and king, and the founder of agreat city called Babylon. Some of Nimrod’s descendants built the city of Ninevehalso, and formed the great Assyrian Empire.

The only one of Noah’s sons whose story is given at length in theBible, is Shem, the ancestor of the Jewish race. In his days “the whole earthwas of one language, and of one speech,” and we are told that the peoplegenerally wandered about in search of good pasture for their large flocks, whichwere their chief possession.

Journeying thus from place to place, Shem’s descendants came at last tothe plain of Shinar, where Nimrod lived. Here the soil was mostly clay, so thepeople soon learned to make bricks, and to use them for building houses.

There were plenty of building materials on the plain of Shinar, so thepeople soon fancied that it would be a fine thing to join Nimrod and found aworld-wide empire, with a great city as its capital. Nimrod, it seems, was atthe head of this plan, and greatly encouraged them. He hoped that if all thepeople were banded together, he would be able to prevent them from beingscattered all over the face of the world, as God had said he intended to havethem.

The work of building was therefore begun, and by Nimrod’s orders a hugetower was erected near the new city. But “the Lord came down to see the cityand the tower, which the children of men builded;” and it did not please him.To defeat their plans, God confused the tongues of the builders, so that theyspoke different languages; and then, as they could no longer understand oneanother’s speech, the men left off working together.

People who do not understand one another are sure to quarrel, andbefore long the builders went off in different directions, in search of newhomes, where they could speak their own language in peace. Thus Nimrod’s planto found a great empire came to an end, and the Tower of Babel (confusion) wasnever completed.

Terah, the father of Abraham, was the eighth in direct descent fromShem, son of Noah. Besides Abraham, he had two other sons, Nahor and Haran, whowere probably much older than Abraham. The brothers all married, and for sometime dwelt in the ancient city of Ur; but before long God called to Abraham,and bade him go into a new land which would be given to him. In obedience tothis call, the whole family set out, and made their home east of the EuphratesRiver, where Terah died when Abraham was seventy-five years old.

Nahor, the oldest living son of Terah, claimed the land where they hadsettled as his inheritance; and, after a second call from God, Abrahamcontinued his journey, traveling southward with his wife Sarah, and his nephewLot. They were going in search of the land promised by God, for Abraham fullytrusted in these words which the Lord had spoken: “I will make of thee a greatnation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be ablessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseththee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

These last words, as you see, contained a new promise of a Redeemer,like the one made to Adam, and God now added the information that this Redeemerwould bless even the Gentiles, that is to say, the people who did not belong tothe Chosen Race.

Abraham now crossed the Euphrates River, and hence received the name ofHebrew, which is borne by his descendants, and which means “the man who hascrossed the river.” He passed through the desert, crossed the river Jordan, andentered the Holy Land, where he rested for a while.

From there Abraham wandered on in search of pasture, until he came atlast to the rich land of Egypt. Here he was in a strange country, among astrange people. He was afraid they would kill him to obtain possession ofSarah, his wife, so he coaxed her to say that she was only his sister.

The people, thinking that Sarah was an unmarried woman, carried her offto the king’s palace to be his wife; but, as soon as she arrived there, aterrible disease visited all the family of the king. At first no one knew thecause of this sickness, but finally the king found out that it had been sent topunish him for trying to take another man’s wife.

He had no intention of doing so wicked a thing, so he at once sentSarah back to her husband, and reproved Abraham for deceiving him. He also badeAbraham leave the country, saying that he did not wish to keep a man who hadbrought him nothing but harm.

Thus forced to wander on, Abraham traveled northward until he came toBethel, in the Holy Land, where he had once rested, and where he rebuilt thealtar to worship God.

His cattle had now become so numerous that it was very hard indeed tofind pasture enough for all his flocks. One day a quarrel arose between theshepherds of Abraham and those of Lot; and, to prevent a renewal of it, theuncle and nephew decided to part. As Lot was the son of an elder brother,Abraham gave him the first choice; and he passed down the valley to theeastward, where the pasture seemed the best. Then Abraham, still trusting inthe promises of God, moved a little way towards the south, where he againrested and built another altar.