3 Noah (Genesis 6, 9 – 11, 32) – the Biblical account of the tower of Babel

The obvious question that arises in relation to the Biblical account of the tower of Babel is – what is the sin or wrongdoing that the builders of the tower committed? On the face of it, they are not guilty of any sin or wrongdoing.

 

According to the story, the whole earth is of one language – “And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech” (Genesis 11, 1). The people of the earth journey eastward to Shinar, which is evidently an area in ancient Babylonia, where they build a city and tower – “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11, 4). On the face of it, there is no sin or wrongdoing here in any way – the people of the earth build a city and tower evidently to remain together as a people so that they should not be scattered to different places on earth.

 

However, God (speaking in the “royal we”) decides to confound their speech – “Come, let us go down, and there confound their language” (Genesis 11, 7). After confounding their speech, God indeed scatters the people across the earth (exactly what they were afraid of happening) – “So the Lord scattered them abroad from there upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11, 8).

 

From an academic, historical point of view, this story is considered an origin myth – an account that explains the origins of something. In this case of the Biblical story of the tower of Babel, the account explains 2 things – the origins of differing languages among human beings, and the origins of the name Babel (Babylonia). It should be noticed that the phrase “tower of Babel” does not appear in the story at all. But, according to many historians, the tower in the story is associated with the ancient Babylonian Ziggurats that were massive structures usually with a temple at the top.

 

But, the focus of the Biblical account of the tower of Babel is the origins of differing human languages, and the name Babel (Babylonia) at the end of story is explained as coming from a Hebrew term “balal” (בלל) meaning confound – “Therefore was the name of it called Babel because the Lord did there confound (בלל) the language of all the earth, and from there did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11, 9).

 

I want to leave aside the historical meaning of the story of the tower of Babel – and, I want to suggest that this story is very profound from a literary and spiritual point of view. In my view, this story contains a very profound spiritual message regardless of the original historical meaning of the story.

 

In my view, the people of the earth in the story are indeed not guilty of any sin or wrongdoing, and I want to suggest that when God confounds their language and scatters them across the earth this is actually not a punishment (even if God intended it as a punishment, which in my mind is not clear in the story) – rather, this is a wonderful gift from God that the people of the earth are receiving in having their language confounded and in their being scattered across the earth (and, clearly there is a connection between differing human languages and human beings scattered across the earth).

 

I want to point out that in the Biblical conception, language is sacred – and, in the opening Biblical account of creation (Genesis 1,1 – 2,3) God uses words to create the universe. The phrase “And God said” repeats throughout the story with each act of creation – and, the rabbinic phrase in the Jewish tradition “Blessed is the One who spoke and the world came into being” is faithful to the plain meaning of the Biblical story of creation. By the way, the use of words and language by God in creating the universe (in a completely rational and non-violent way) according to the Biblical account is in striking contrast to the ancient Babylonian account of creation (Enumah Elish) in which the world is created out of the carcass of a god following a war among the gods.

 

Most important, language is the lens or spectacles through which a culture looks at and understands life – and, a culture is not only a way of living, but also a way of thinking about and understanding life as reflected in the ideas and values of that culture. The way of living of a culture comes from or is an expression of the way of understanding life of that culture – and, a culture as a way of understanding life is reflected in its language.

 

I want to cite as an example here the case of charity – and, the differing conceptions of Christianity and Judaism in relation to charity. The Christian conception of charity is that one should give charity as an act of love, caring and compassion for the poor. Such a conception of charity understands the act of charity to be motivated by an internal feeling of love and compassion rising up within the human heart.

 

By contrast, the traditional Jewish conception of charity is that the act of charity is first and foremost a mitzvah (commandment) of the Jewish legal system externally obligating the traditional Jew to give charity – and, significantly, the act of charity in traditional Judaism is not seen primarily as an act of love, caring and compassion for the poor, but most importantly as an act of social justice.

 

I want to clarify that the legal obligation to give charity represents a minimum standard from a religious point of view in Judaism. That is, it would clearly be preferable from a religious point of view according to the Jewish tradition that we were to recognize a moral obligation to feel love and compassion for the poor (and, not just recognize a legal and moral obligation to give charity as an act of justice) as compassion is the highest value of the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition.

 

However, if we are not able to reach such a religious and spiritual level of functioning for whatever reasons, the Jewish law nonetheless obligates us to give charity in any case as an act of social justice. From a traditional Jewish point of view, the act of charity is an act of social justice, and poor people should not suffer if we do not happen to feel love and compassion toward the poor.

 

This traditional Jewish conception of charity as an act of social justice is reflected in the Hebrew language as the Hebrew word for charity (צדקה) comes from a Hebrew word (צדק) meaning justice. In the Jewish conception and Jewish culture, it is a moral obligation to give charity and poor people have a right to receive charity as a matter of social justice – and, this is reflected in the Hebrew language as the language of the Jewish culture.

 

I also want to cite the example of Eskimos who have a number of words for snow indicating that language reflects, or even shapes, our experiences – and, this example clearly shows the connection between differing languages and human beings living across the earth in very differing geographical habitats. Eskimos are able to distinguish between different types of snow – and, this is reflected in their language in which they have differing terms for different kinds of snow.

 

In my view, the key to understanding the spiritual message of the Biblical story of the tower of Babel is the distinction between unity and uniformity. In the beginning of the story when the people of the earth journey to Shinar (Babylonia) they are of one language in one geographic area or habitat – and, they are a uniform people in sharing the very same ideas, values and way of life (the very same culture).

 

When in the continuation of the story God confounds their language leading them to speak differing languages and God scatters them across the earth to differing geographic areas and habitats, the people of the earth can no longer be uniform in their ideas, values and way of life. Humanity by virtue of speaking different languages and living in different areas or habitats will necessarily be characterized by diversity and a pluralism of ideas, values and ways of living.

 

There is a remarkable Talmudic teaching “70 faces to Torah” that recognizes diversity and pluralism. The term Torah (תורה), which is a term found in the Bible, is the central concept of the Jewish tradition. The term Torah is from a Hebrew root (הוראה) that literally means instruction or guidance – and, the term has a number of different usages in the Jewish tradition ranging from law, to the 5 books of Moses, to the Jewish tradition based upon the Bible, to wisdom of a universal nature. The number 70 is a significant number in the Talmudic tradition – and, in the Talmudic conception there were among humanity 70 nations of the world and 70 languages.

 

The Talmudic teaching “70 faces to Torah” means that there is room for differing conceptions and approaches to the Jewish tradition. However, the teaching can also be understood in a universal sense, as the number 70 refers to the nations of the world, and Torah in a broad sense refers to wisdom of a universal nature – and, the teaching “70 faces to Torah” can then be understood as including wisdom of a universal nature and wisdom from other cultures as well. In the rabbinic midrash (commentary) Tanchuma (Devarim 2) it is written that Moses explained the Torah in 70 languages on the basis of the verse (Deuteronomy 1, 5) “Moses began to explain this Torah” – and, this clearly implies that Torah has 70 faces by which Torah can be understood.

 

Parenthetically, there is a famous Talmudic debate between Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai as to the fundamental principle of Torah (Judaism). Rabbi Akiva cites the verse (Leviticus 19, 18) “love your neighbor as yourself”, which in its literary context, is referring to our treatment of our fellow Jew, while Ben Azzai cites the verse (Genesis 5, 1) “This is the book of the generations of Adam”, which is referring to all of humanity as descended from Adam (the first human being in the Biblical account). Thus, Rabbi Akiva can be understood as arguing that the Torah (the 5 Books of Moses), is a legal and spiritual constitution of the Jewish people in which Torah is in the main nationalistic in orientation directed to the Jewish people – and, Ben Azzai, by contrast, is arguing that the Torah (the 5 Books of Moses) is in the main a universal document containing wisdom and guidance directed to all of humanity.

 

If we return to the Biblical story of the tower of Babel, when God confounds the language of the people of the earth and scatters them across the earth, this is, in my eyes, a wonderful gift from God that the people of the earth are receiving in having their language confounded and in their being scattered across the earth. Diversity and pluralism especially in the sense of differing ideas, values and ways of life among us as human beings are, in my eyes, the beauty of life – and, such diversity and pluralism enables our spiritual growth, and the broadening of our horizons, as human beings.

 

I pointed out that in the Biblical story of the tower of Babel, the people of the earth in speaking one language and living in one area are a uniform people in sharing the very same ideas, values and way of life (the very same culture) – however, this means that they actually cannot attain true unity, as true unity is a harmony among diverse elements. That is, the notion of unity assumes diversity in which there is harmony and brotherhood in spite of diversity. Conversely, uniformity assumes a lack of diversity in which there is an ideal of conformity – and, conformity prevents our spiritual growth as human beings in our not being exposed to differing conceptions and approaches.

 

The Talmudic rabbis (Sanhedrin, 4, 5), were sensitive to the theme of peace and brotherhood of humanity at the beginning of the Torah:

 

Therefore, Adam (the first, primordial human being) was created alone, as a single human being…for the sake of peace between people, so that one cannot say to one’s fellow human being:  My father is greater than your father.

 

Reflected in this source is a recognition of universal, human brotherhood that the Talmudic rabbis derived from the fact that Adam (the first, primordial human being) was created alone as a single human being, according to the Torah. From this fact, it follows that we are all children of the same father, and, therefore, all brothers. Thus, in a spirit of the brotherhood and unity of all humanity, we are to relate to all human beings in a spirit of pluralism, mutual respect and tolerance in spite of our diversity.

 

The Biblical account of the tower of Babel is, in my eyes, teaching from a spiritual point of view that we as human beings have been given a wonderful gift in our diversity as human beings – especially in the sense of differing ideas, values and ways of life among us as human beings.

Jeffrey Radon

Author of orthopraxjudaism.com

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