Genesis 11:9: How are
we to understand the Lord’s confounding the language of the builders of the
Tower of Babel in light of historical linguistics?
If we take the “one
language” of Genesis 11:1 as being Sumerian, Akkadian, or even (as a long shot)
Aramaic rather than a supposed universal proto-language, some of the puzzling
aspects of the biblical account become more intelligible. For example, “Genesis
10 and 11 would make linguistic sense in their current sequence. In addition to
the local languages of each nation, there existed ‘one language’ which made
communication possible throughout the world”—or, perhaps more accurately,
throughout the land. Strictly speaking, the biblical text does not refer to a
plurality of languages but to the ‘destruction of language as an instrument of
communication.’”
Hamilton (V.P.
Hamilton, Genesis 1-17, p. 358) presents a reasonable view when he
writes that it “is unlikely that Genesis 11:1-9 can contribute much, if
anything, to the origin of languages. . . . [T]he diversification of languages
is a slow process, not something catastrophic as Genesis 11 might indicate.” The
common received interpretation of Genesis 11 provides “a most incredible and naïve
explanation of language diversification. If, however, the narrative refers to
the dissolution of a Babylonian lingua franca, or something like that, the need
to see Genesis 11:1-9 as a highly imaginative explanation of language diffusion
becomes unnecessary” (V.P. Hamilton, Genesis 1-17, p. 358).
Brant Gardner summarizes
the take-home lesson of the Tower of Babel story (B.A. Gardner, Second
Witnesses, 6:165): “[T]he confounding of languages is related to the mixing
(confounding) of different peoples in creating this great tower of Babylon.
From such a mixing of people who were attempting to build a temple to the
heavens, Yahweh removed some of His believers [e.g., the Jaredites] for His own
purposes.” (Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “Frequently Asked Questions About Science and
Genesis,” in David H. Bailey, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, John S. Lewis, Gregory L.
Smith, and Michael R. Stark, eds., Cosmos, Earth, and Man [Science &
Mormonism Series 1; Salt Lake City: The Interpreter Foundation and Eborn Books,
2016], 193-257, here, p. 227)
