WARNING: The text
used for my commentary is my own paraphrase and must not be
considered
“a translation” or authorative in any way. It is, in fact, simply my commentary.
Maps, when used, are from
BibleAtlas.org. Created
using BibleMapper 3.0.
Additional data from OpenBible.info. Source of Dates Used
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית • B'resheet
(“In Beginning” or “At First”)
The First Book of Moses,
Commonly Called
Genesis
Parashah 2: Noach (Continued)
(Noach, Gen. 6:9-11:32)
G. Dispersion of the Human Family (11:1-9)
1. Commonness of Mankind (11:1-2)
Shvi'i (Seventh) 1 The whole earth had one language and a common form of speech.[1]2As people migrated
eastward,[2a] they found a plain in
the land of Shin'ar,[2b]
[MAP]
and settled there.
2. Plan to Build a City (11:3-4)
3They said
to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.”[3] So they used brick instead of stone, and
tar instead of mortar.
4“Come,” they said, “let’s
build ourselves a city, with a tower whose top reaches to the
heavens,[4a] and let’s make a name for
ourselves and not be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”[4b]
3. Attitude Displeases God (11:5-7)
5Yehovah [GN]
came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.
6Yehovah said,
“If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language,
then nothing they decide to do will be beyond them.
7Come, let’s go
down[7] there and confuse their language, so they
will not understand one another’s speech.”
8So
Yehovah scattered them from there over the face of the whole
earth,[8] and they stopped
building the city.
9That is why it is called
BavelBabel, confusion (by mixing),[9]
because there Yehovah confused the language of the whole world, and
from there Yehovah scattered them abroad on the face of
the whole earth.
Were we WRONG About the Tower of Babel? Answers in Genesis
H. Descendants from Shem to Avram (11:10-32)
1. Shem (11:10a)
10This
is the record of the descendants of Shem:
2. Arphaxad (11:10b-11) [2317 BCE]
Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he
became the father of
ArpakhshadArphaxad.
11And after he
had become the father of Arpakhshad, Shem lived 500 years and had
other sons and daughters.
3. Shelah (11:12-13)
[2282 BCE]
12When
Arpakhshad was 135[12] years old he became the father of
ShelachShelah.
13And
after he had become the father of Shelach, Arpakhshad
lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
4. Eber (11:14-15)
[2252 BCE]
14When
Shelach was 130 years old he became the father of
'EverEber.
15After he had become
the father of 'Ever, Shelach lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
5. Peleg (11:16-17)
[2218 BCE]
16When 'Ever
was 134 years old he became the father of Peleg.
17After he had become
the father of Peleg, 'Ever lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
6. Reu (11:18-19)
[2188-1949 BCE]
18When
Peleg was 130 years old he became the father of Reu.
19After he had become
the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
7. Serug (11:20-21)
[2156-1926 BCE]
20When
Reu was 132 years old he became the father of Serug.
21After he had become
the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
8. Nahor (11:22-23)
[2126 BCE]
22When
Serug was 130 years old he became the father of Nahor.
23After he had become
the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years
[d 1926 BCE] and had other sons and daughters.
9. Terah (11:24-25)
[2097 BCE]
24When Nahor
was 179 years old he became the father of Terah.
25After
he had become the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 and had other sons and daughters.
27Now this
is the history of the generations of Terah.[27] Terah became the
father of Avram [ca April 1 1967 BCE], Nahor
[2000 BCE], and Haran
[2027 BCE].
Haran became the father of Lot
[c 1967 BCE].
28During his father Terah’s
lifetime, Haran died [ca 1925 BCE]
in his native land, in Ur-KasdimUr of the
Chaldeans.[28]
Maftir (Concluding) 29 Avram and Nahor married wives
[ca 1927 BCE].
Avram’s wife was named
Sarai“she who strives,” “contentious”[b 1957 BCE],
and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcahqueen[b ca 1963 BCE],
the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of
Iscah“one who looks forth”.
30Sarai was barren.
She had no child.
d. Terah Moves Family to Haran (11:31-32)
[Ur [MAP] to Haran
[MAP], ca 1924-1927 BCE]
31Terah took Avram
his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his
daughter-in-law, his son Avram’s wife. They went from Ur-Kasdim,
to go into the land of Kena'an.
[MAP] They came to
Haran[31] and lived there.
32The days of Terah
were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.
[ca April 1-4, 1892 BCE]
Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
Who has given us a Torah of truth,
and has planted eternal life in our midst.
Blessed are You, O Lord, Giver of the Torah.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
Who selected good prophets,
and was pleased with their words
which were spoken truthfully.
Blessed are You, O Lord,
Who chooses the Torah,
Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,
and prophets of truth and righteousness.
Haftarah Noach is
Yesha'yahu (Isaiah)
54:1-55:5 Listen to it
read from the Complete Jewish Bible
541 “Sing, barren, you who didn’t give birth!
Break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who didn’t travail with child!
For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,” says
Yehovah.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,
and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations;
don’t spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will spread out on the right hand and on the left;
and your offspring will possess the nations
and settle in desolate cities.
4 “Don’t be afraid, for you will not be ashamed.
Don’t be confounded, for you will not be disappointed.For you will forget the shame of your youth.
You will remember the reproach of your widowhood no more.
5 For your Maker is your husband;
Yehovah of Hosts is his name.
The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer.
He will be called the God of the whole earth.
6 For
Yehovah has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
even a wife of youth, when she is cast off,” says your God.
7 “For a small moment I have forsaken you,
but I will gather you with great mercies.
8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says
Yehovah your Redeemer.
9 “For this is like the waters of Noah to me;
for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may depart,
and the hills be removed,but my loving kindness will not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace will not be removed,”
says
Yehovah who has mercy on you.
11 “You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted,
behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors,
and lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.
13 All your children will be taught by
Yehovah,
and your children’s peace will be great.
14 You will be established in righteousness.
You will be far from oppression,
for you will not be afraid,
and far from terror,
for it shall not come near you.
15 Behold, they may gather together, but not by me.
Whoever gathers together against you will fall because of you.
16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame,
and forges a weapon for his work;
and I have created the destroyer to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against you will prevail;
and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment.This is the heritage of
Yehovah’s servants,
and their righteousness is of me,” says
Yehovah.
551 “Hey! Come,
everyone who thirsts, to the waters!
Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat!
Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat that which is good,
and let your soul delight itself in richness.
3 Turn your ear, and come to me.
Hear, and your soul will live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander to the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know;
and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you,
because of the LORD your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel;
for he has glorified you.”
Blessed are You, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
Who has given us Messiah Yeshua
and the commandments of the New Covenant.
Blessed are You, O Lord, Giver of the New Covenant.
Basar (Gospel)
The reading from the Gospels is Luke 17:20-27
20When asked by the
ParushimPharisee when the Kingdom of God would come,
He answered, “The Kingdom of God isn’t coming with signs that can be seen;21nor will
people be able to say,
‘Look, here!’ or, ‘Look, there!’
Hinneh! The
Kingdom of God
is among you!”
22He said to His
talmidimdisciples, “The
time is coming when you will long to
see even one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won’t see it.23People will tell you, ‘Look,
here it is!’ or ‘Look, there it is!’ Don’t go away; don’t follow after them.24Because in His
day[24a]the Son of Man will
be just like lightning; when it flashes out of one part of
the sky it lights up the entire sky.[24b]25But first, He must endure
terrible suffering and be rejected by this generation.
26At the
time of the Son of Man it will be just like at the time ofNoach.27People went on eating,
drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, right up to the very day that
Noach boarded the ark; and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
36 But no one knows of that day and hour, not
even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.37 “As it was in the
time of Noach, so it will be at the
coming of the Son of Man.38 In those days right before the flood they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up until the day that Noach entered the
ark.39 They didn’t know until the flood came, and took them
all away [to judgment]. That’s how the coming of the Son of Man will be.40 Two men will be in the field: one
will be taken [to judgment] and one will be left.41 Two women
will be grinding at the mill: one will be
taken [to judgment] and one will be left.42 So be watchful, because you don’t know
when your Lord will come.43 But know this, if the master of the house
had known at what time of night the burglar was coming, he would have watched, and would
not have allowed his house to be broken into.44 So you also need to be ready, for
at a time that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.
26At the
time of the Son of Man it will be just like at the time ofNoach.27People went on eating,
drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, right up to the very day that
Noach boarded the ark; and the flood came, and destroyed them all.28Just like it was at the time of
Lot: people went right on eating, drinking, buying, selling,
planting, and building;29but
on the very day that Lot left
S'dom, fire and sulfur rained down from
heaven and destroyed them all.
30That is just how it will
be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.31On that day, whoever is on
the housetop with his possessions in the house, don’t go down to get them! Whoever is in the field,
don’t turn back either!32Remember Lot’s wife!33Whoever tries to make his life secure will
lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserves it.34I tell you, on that night there
will be two people in one bed; one will be taken [to judgment] and the other will
be left.35Two will be grinding grain together;
one will be taken [to judgment] and the other will be left.”
36Two will be in the field; one will
be taken [to judgment] and the other left.”
37They asked him, “Where, Lord?”
And He answered them, “Wherever the corpse is,
that’s where the vultures will gather.”
18 Because Messiah also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, 19 in whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who before were disobedient when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 This is a symbol of immersion, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.
4 For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus,
[Tartarus is another name for Hell] and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment;
5 and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a proclaimer of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly,
6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way,
7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked
8 (for that righteous man dwelling among them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds),
9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,
10 but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a slanderous judgment against them before the Lord.
The Blessing After the Ketuvei HaShalichim
Click here
to listen to this canted by
Jeremiah Greenberg of Messianic Liturgical Resources.
Page numbers refer to his
Messianic Shabbat Siddur.
Blessed are You, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
Who has
given us the Word of Truth and has
planted life everlasting in our midst.
Blessed are you O Lord, Giver of the
New Covenant.
The Blessing of the Messiah
Click here
to listen to this canted by
Jeremiah Greenberg of Messianic Liturgical Resources.
Page numbers refer to his
Messianic Shabbat Siddur.
1. I believe that this one
language for all of humanity was the language that HaShem taught to Adam
and Havah. Because HaShem is eternal (timeless) and humans were created to
be eternal (timeless) then the language should also be a timeless language
with no tenses (past, present, future). One of the outstanding
characteristics of the Hebrew language is that is has no tenses, as we
think of them. Whether the action being spoken of occurs in the past,
present, or future is determined by the context, not by the verb tense.
Zephaniah 3:8-10 says that in the Last Days when the Gentile nations
have been restored to right relationship with God, He will “change
the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may
call upon the Name of Yehovah and serve Him with one accord.” I therefore believe that Hebrew is the original language of humanity, and
that it will be the language of both the Kingdom Period and the eternal
Olam Habah (the world to come).
[BACK]
2b. Shinar, the fertile
valley watered by the Euphrates and Tigris was chosen as the center of
their union and the seat of their power. (JF&B)
This is the region of what is now northern Iraq, referred to as “the
fertile crescent.”
[BACK]
3. brick—There
being no stone in that quarter, brick is, and was, the only material used for
building, as appears in the mass of ruins which at the
Birs Nimroud may have
been the very town formed by those ancient rebels. Some of these are sun-dried,
others burnt in the kiln and of different colors. tar—bitumen, a mineral pitch, which, when hardened, forms a
strong cement, commonly used in Assyria to this day, and forming the mortar
found on the burnt brick remains of antiquity. (JF&B)
[BACK]
4a. Literally: “…a tower; at its
top, the heavens...,” very probably a reference to the
astrological signs of the Zodiac. The city of Bavel
(Babel) was built by Nimrod, and he was king there. It was there that the
pagan religion known as “the Babylon
Mystery Religion” or “Mystery Babylon” (Rev 17:5) was developed. This
religion was developed around the worship of Nimrod and is the ancestor of
all pagan religions (including the many pagan aspects of “Christianity” —
don’t get upset, just read the article).
One significant element of this religion is that it is the source of the occult
practice of
astrology. The tower was very likely a combination temple and observatory from
which to study the stars for the express purpose of divination. Some believe that
it was the goal of warlike mankind to build the tower into the heavenly realm so
they could attack the bnei Elohim and take their place in the heavenly
council. Notice how the goal of humanity to ascend to the heavens is part and
parcel of the sin of Lucifer:
“How did you come to fall from
the heavens, Morning Star, son of the dawn? How did you come to be cut to
the ground, conqueror of nations? You thought to yourself, ‘I will scale
the heavens, I will raise my throne above God’s stars.
I will sit on the Mount of Assembly far away in the north. I will rise
past the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’”
(Isaiah 14:12-14)
[BACK]
4b. Note that this is in
direct disobedience to God’s command to
“spread out across the earth and multiply upon it” (Gen 9:7).
[BACK]
7. If Yehovah is an absolute
Unity, to Whom is He speaking, and Who is the “Us” to Whom He suggests, “Let Us go down…”?
[BACK]
8. At the end of the Flood, HaShem
commanded Noah to “… be fruitful, multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply on it”
(Gen 8:17; 9:7). Instead, apparent virtually all of Noach’s
descendants had decided to settle on or near the “plain in the land
of Shin'ar.”
[BACK]
12. I have used the ages of the patriarchs from
Arpakhshad to Nahor (v. 20) as given in the
Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch (cited by Josephus), which predate the Hebrew
Masoretic text used for most English translations. This moves the date of the flood
(and all earlier events) backwards in time by at least 700 years from the dates
given so far in my commentary. Watch this excellent
YouTube video.
[BACK]
27. The Tanakh tells us that
Terah was not only an idol worshipper (Josh 24:2), he also had a
very successful business making and selling idols, and the remains
of his fine home have been identified by modern archaeology. According to a
fanciful Midrash in B'resheet Rabah 38, Terah needed to leave
his store, and he appointed Abram to sell the idols while he was
away. However, Abram discouraged potential customers from buying
the idols, explaining to them the futility of worshipping statues
that were only fashioned that very day. Not satisfied with this,
Abram took an axe and destroyed all but one of his father’s idols.
He took the axe and placed it in the hand of the largest idol, the
only one that remained intact. When Terah returned and saw what had
happened, he accused Abram. But Abram explained that the largest
idol had broken all the others in a fight over an offering that a
woman had brought to the store. Terah exclaimed that such a thing
was impossible. He then realized that his son had tricked him into
admitting that his idols were powerless. The Midrash recounts that
Terah was a “stargazer” (astrologer, using the Zodiac for divination
as part of the religion of Nimrod, note 4a.)
[BACK]
28. Ur, Hebrew אור,
'Uwr, flame; “Its name probably derived from its being
devoted to the rites of fire-worship. Terah and his family were
equally infected with that idolatry as the rest of the inhabitants
(Joshua 24:15)”
(JF&B).
One might wonder if this “fire-worship” isn’t a reference to the
worship of
Ba'al (or
Molech), in which children were burned alive as a sacrifice.
[BACK]
31. Haran
[MAP] was two days’ journey south-southeast from Ur, on
the direct road to the ford of the Euphrates at Rakka, the nearest and most convenient route to what is now Israel.
[BACK]
Added dates, map links, and a few notes on
Friday, 02 July 2021
Revised on Monday, 14 February 2022; see note 12
Page last updated on
Monday, 02 October 2023 12:52 PM
(Updates are generally minor formatting or editorial changes.
Major content changes are identified as "Revisions”) ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!