The City of Babel? The Torah Portion Noah

the city? yes, the city. while the “tower of babel” story is referred to as the “tower of babel”, the torah portion also references the “city of babel”. why is the “city of babel” also included? the reason is that cities play a unique role in the torah.

in the “city and tower of babel” story, several elements are present (1) the people of babel spoke one language and uniform words, (2) the people of babel “collectively” decided on the goal of building a city and tower with its top in the heavens so that they could make themselves a name let they be scattered across the face of the earth. genesis 11:4, (3) the master of the universe rejected their goal. genesis 11:6, and (4) the master of the universe created confusion to prevent the goal. genesis 11:7-8.

within this scenario, the babelites’ or babelenos’ violation may have been that they flirted with idolatry. they “collectively” sought to elevate themselves to be gods. with the tower, they would be in the heavens along with the master of the universe. perhaps, they imagined themselves sharing a pantheon with the creator of the universe.

the story’s most interesting aspect is the punishment meted out. the master of the universe merely disbursed the people and created impediments for human understanding. likewise, he created the possibilities of conflict.

the creator of the universe, shortly thereafter in the torah, would later exact judgment on other cities; sodom and gemorrah.

with respect to those cities, the following elements can be gleaned from the text, the city dwellers (1) were “collectively” engaged in wickedness, (2) they “collectively” engaged in the mistreatment of strangers, (3) they “collectively” practiced the imposition of forcible sexual relations upon others, and (4) they were punished by obliteration.

there is a connection between the two stories. one involves a violation against god while the other involves violations against both god and other humans. in some sense, these stories illustrate the two parts of the ten commandments. namely, the the notion of monotheism and the prohibition against idolatry and the imposition of morality between humans. the ten commandments also share another important connection to these past prior events. like babel and sodom & gemorrah, there is the notion of people acting “collectively.” when the ten commandments wre received and committed to, this as well was done as a collective event.

in sum, there is perhaps some towering insight into the master of the universe’s beliefs in righteousness and judgment from the city of babel.

be well!!