The Tower of Bavel
Parashat Hashavua
Yeshivat Har Etzion
This
parasha series is dedicated
Le-zekher Nishmat HaRabanit Chana
bat HaRav Yehuda Zelig zt"l.
PARASHAT
NOACH
The
Rabbanit Sharon
Rimon
Sefer Bereishit
deals with two periods: the beginning of the Sefer (chapters 1-11)
describes the period of Creation (Bereishit – literally, "In the
beginning"). The remainder of the Sefer covers the period of the
forefathers.
The Bereishit narratives share a special
characteristic, distinct in relation to the other books of the Torah. These are
universal narratives that deal with all of humanity, as opposed to the other
stories of the Torah, which focus on specific individuals and on the children of
The story of Creation describes the creation of the
entire world: Adam is the father of all of humanity, and the story of his sin
affects all of humanity for all generations. The story of the Flood describes
the corruption of all of humankind, leading to the eradication of all existence
and its new beginning, with Noach as the new father of humanity. The story of
the
The story of the
*
*
*
Let us review the story of the
1)
"All of the earth was of one language and of one
speech.
2)
And it was, when they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in
the
3)
And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them with
fire. Then they had bricks for stone, and slime for
mortar.
4)
And they said: Come, let us build ourselves a city and a
tower…"
The story begins with a description of the deeds of the
people: all of the people spoke the same language. There was unity in the world.
They began to roam about, and found themselves a permanent place to settle. They
learned to bake bricks, and began to build a city in which to
live.
The description is altogether neutral; there seems no
hint of any trouble. It is for this reason that we are surprised at the way in
which events take a sudden turn: God is not happy about what the people are
doing; He takes care to break up the unity among them, to scatter them, and to
bring their building to a halt. We are astonished: what was so bad about what
they were doing? Can the construction of a city and a tower be that problematic?
Isn't unity a positive phenomenon?
From God's reaction we learn that the story is not as
innocent as it seemed. And indeed, if we go back and try to understand the story
more deeply, we discover that from the very start there are signs that what is
going on is not as simple and innocent as our superficial reading would
suggest.
"All of the earth was of one language and of one speech"
– what is the meaning of the expression, "One speech" (devarim
achadim)? Is it synonymous with "one language," or does it mean something
else? If it has the same meaning, what need is there for a second expression?
And if it means something different, then what does it mean? The commentators
offer several different possibilities: some maintain that this expression refers
to a uniform language, while others suggest that the text refers to a unity of
thought. Chazal attach some content to whatever this consensus was, and
teach that people shared the thought of rebelling against
God.
The fact that so many different explanations are offered
for the expression "devarim achadim" tells us that its meaning is
ambiguous.
"And it was, when
they journeyed from the east (mi-kedem)" – what is this telling us? Are
we to understand that the journey started out from a place called Kedem (East),
or that they journeyed from the east (i.e. westward)? Perhaps the intention is
not to describe the direction of the journey, but rather its time: the journey
took place at in ancient (kadum) times. Or, as Chazal interpret
it, perhaps the journey was away "from the Ancient One (mi-Kadmono) of
the world" – a distancing from God?
The midrashim and the commentators raise all of
the above possibilities, each supported by some aspect of the language of the
text, but each explanation also presents certain difficulties, such that we are
once again left with an expression whose meaning is not entirely
clear.
From the very outset, then, this story - which appeared
at first to be clear and simple – turns out to be opaque; in fact, we do not
really understand what happened at all. And this lack of clarity is maintained
throughout the story. Why is this so? It is certainly no accident that the text
is written in this way. The Torah appears to formulate this narrative in
deliberately equivocal and obscure language. What is the purpose of this? What
message does it teach us?
Verse 3 describes the invention of
bricks.
This would appear to be an insignificant detail in the
story, and the Torah could have mentioned it in more condensed form: "They baked
bricks and they said, Let us build a city and a tower." Instead, the text
elaborates for an entire verse on this technological innovation. Clearly, this
is no trifling detail, but rather an important stage in the story. What is its
significance?
Verse 4 describes the deed itself:
(4) "They said: Come, let us build ourselves a city with
a tower whose head is in the heavens, and we shall make ourselves a name, lest
we be scattered over all of the earth."
The beginning of the verse continues the neutral
description of the people's actions: they want to build a permanent city, not to
roam any more.
The tower with its head in the heavens could also be an
innocuous suggestion, as the Radak interprets it:
"'A city' – in order to dwell [in it], 'And a tower' –
to observe from there to a distance, to see how their flocks and cattle were
doing; it would also be a sign for the shepherds… so they would know [how] to
return to the city. 'With its head in the heavens' – meaning that the tower
would be tall."
The second part of verse 4 explains the reason for
building the city and the tower. What was the purpose of this construction?
a.
"We shall make ourselves a name"
b.
"Lest we be scattered throughout the earth"
Let us examine the first reason: "We shall make
ourselves a name." Once again, the meaning here is not clear; it requires some
explanation. The expression "to make a name" appears several times in
Tanakh, signifying publicity or honor. [1] Accordingly, we understand
that the people were building a tower – a tall, impressive building – with the
aim of bringing themselves glory.
However, there is a great difference between the "making
a name" that is described in other sources in Tanakh and the "making a
name" in the context of the
Against this backdrop the arrogance of the builders of
the Tower is especially striking: the whole purpose of this monumental
construction is self-glorification, self-aggrandizement. The people did not
build the tower for any practical purpose, nor to give honor and glory to God.
The purpose was simply to "make themselves a name." The text emphasizes this
through the word "lanu – for ourselves": "We shall make [for] ourselves a
name." This word expresses their focus on themselves, on the glorification of
the name of man.
This being the case, the verse "We shall make ourselves
a name" is central to our understanding of the verse.
The centrality of the "name" (shem) is emphasized
through two literary devices:
a.
The story of the tower is located in between two dynasties of the
descendants of Shem. This serves to focus our attention on the name, or word,
"shem."
b.
The alliteration "shem," "shamayim" is repeated throughout
the story, drawing our attention to "the name" and "Hashem" (God; literally –
the Name). The words "A tower with its head in the heavens" are juxtaposed with
"We shall make ourselves a name," hinting at the connection between "making a
name" and "its head in the heavens": the people want to make themselves a name
by ascending to the heavens – i.e., penetrating the realm of the Divine. They
want to be like God. Here we sense that the expression "A tower with its head in
the heavens" is not innocuous; rather, it suggests ascending to the heavens in
order to rebel against God.
The word "shem" (name) appears several times in
Tanakh as an honorific title for God. In light of the above, we may add
this dimension to our understanding of the situation: the people want to make
themselves "a name" – they want to be considered as gods.
Human arrogance, the aspiration to "make themselves a
name," the desire to glorify the name of mankind – all of these represent
rebellion against God and His Kingdom in the world.
Thus, the tower with its initially innocent-seeming
intentions is a building that expresses human arrogance leading to rebellion
against God.
This conclusion is further reinforced when we compare
the story of the
The result of this huge endeavor, undertaken by people
who sought to "make themselves a name," is that they lose their name completely.
Nobody knows who the builders of the tower were. Their names are not mentioned.
In contrast, Avraham calls in God's Name, and God promises, "I shall make your
name great."
Thus, we come back to the words "We shall make ourselves
a name" as the key to understanding the entire story. This expression reveals
the fundamental problem: the pride of the people who wanted to reach the
heavens, to blur the boundaries between man and God.
Chazal explain
the rebellious nature of this aim as follows:
"They said: We shall not allow Him to choose the upper
worlds for Himself and to give us the lower world. Rather, let us make ourselves
a tower, and we shall place an idol at the top of it, and we shall put a sword
in its hand, such that it will appear to be waging war against Him"
(Bereishit Rabba, 38,1).
"They said: We shall not allow Him to choose the upper
worlds for Himself and to give us the lower world! Let us ascend to the
firmament, and we shall strike Him with hatchets. There were three groups among
them. One said: We shall ascend and dwell there. Another said: We shall wage war
against Him. The third said: We shall ascend and worship the stars and
constellations there." (Tanchuma Noach 18)
The Midrash in Bereishit Rabba describes a tall
tower with an idol at the top, waging war, as it were, with God. Midrash
Tanchuma describes a common desire to "strike God with hatchets," and then
presents three possible scenarios, all of which boil down to an ascent to the
heavens to rebel against God.
Thus, Chazal view the words "Its head in the
heavens" as a metaphor for the people's desire to rebel against God. This idea,
expressed in pictorial language in the midrashim, is the same idea that
arises from the literal text.
*
*
*
The second aim in building the tower was, "Lest we be
scattered throughout the earth."
It seems that the people had some inkling as to the
nature of the world, and they tried to deal with something that they knew was
going to happen. They knew that as the human race multiplied, they would spread
over the whole world, and they tried to prevent this. Why? What would be so bad
about spreading out? People understand that unity is an important value; that
with unity much can be achieved, and they feared a dispersion that would weaken
them – perhaps even leading to divisiveness and alienation between different
groups, to the point of waging war against each other. Instead of using all
their strength for progress, they would be busy fighting; this would weaken them
and bring destruction.
The fear of divisiveness is logical. The desire to live
in unity appears positive.
Close inspection of the narrative reveals that there are
two motifs that repeat themselves throughout the story (each appearing five
times):
a.
"All the earth"
b.
"Language"
These two motifs represent two elements of human unity
at the beginning of the story, and in both spheres the unity is dissolved. At
first, all people ("all the earth") are unified by a single language and seek to
live together in the same place, so as not to be dispersed all over the world.
At the end of the story God destroys their unity of language, and causes them to
be spread all over the world. [3]
From this we understand that God was opposed to the idea
of all people living in the same place; He wanted them to spread out over the
world. Those commentators who address the literal level of the text (Rashbam,
Ribash, Radak, Ibn Ezra) note that the fear "lest we be dispersed" was a
problem: having everyone living in the same place was problematic because God
wanted things otherwise. God's will was that human beings would fill all the
earth, in accordance with His command to Adam: "Be fruitful and multiply and
fill the earth" (Bereishit 1:28). The people were trying to oppose God's
will; they wanted to dwell all together in the same place, rather than
spreading.
The people perceived the nature of the world, as God had
created it, and they sought to oppose it: they did not want to be dispersed, as
God willed them to be; they did not want to die. They did not want to be subject
to God's mercy and to the events that occur in the natural world in accordance
with the natural laws that God imbued in it. They wanted to be rulers, they
wanted a name for themselves. They wanted to be able to determine their own
fate.
They tried to channel all of their talents and abilities
(for this purpose the unity was important to them) to develop a technology that
would allow them to stand up to all that was destined to
happen.
The preparation of bricks represented the development of
technological ability that would help man to deal with nature, do things that
were not "natural." This ability was given to man by God, with a view to
allowing man to develop the world. God wants man to move the world forward;
after all, He placed man in the Garden of Eden in order "to till it and to keep
it." But the root of this opportunity holds an identical measure of danger. Man
can use his abilities to develop the world, but he can also use them against
God's will. He may come to rebel against God.
The story of the
However, in verse 4 it becomes clear that mankind has
used its abilities in a negative way: technology and unity have allowed people
to think that they are able to oppose God's will.
Chazal
interpret the obscure verses at the beginning of the story as expressing
rebellion against God. However, the Torah chooses to adopt opaque expressions
and a neutral presentation of man's actions, rather than an unequivocal
depiction of a negative situation. Why?
The message that arises from the obscure style is that
unity and technological development are not inherently negative. They can be
positive, and even extremely desirable.
However, after the fact, it turns out that people made
sinister and sinful use of the positive abilities that God bestowed on them. The
preparation of bricks and the construction take place here as a rebellion
against God's Kingship in the world. It is a declaration that God will not be
the One to determine what happens in the world. There is another force, other
than God, who can determine what happens in the world. That force can prevail
over God's power. And who has this power? Mankind.
This is idolatry. While it places no foreign god at the
center of existence, it places man in that spot, and then worships man and his
power.
This is the connection between "We shall make ourselves
a name" and "Lest we be dispersed": we, humans, shall have a name for ourselves,
we shall have the power in the world, such that we will be able to oppose the
order of nature and the decisions of the Creator.
This idea is expressed in the Midrash, in Bereishit
Rabba 38,1, once again in vivid language, and is quoted by Rashi on verse 1:
[5]
"They said: Once in every 1656 years, the firmament
collapses – as it did in the days of the Flood. Let us make it
supports…."
In other words, people thought that it was in their
power to prevent God from bringing another Flood. They believed that they had
the power to prevent natural disasters, and to prevent God from bringing such
disasters upon them.
The midrashei Chazal describing the
When we examine the story in greater depth, we find that
the construction of the tower was indeed an expression of rebellion against God.
The midrashim give graphic expression to the idea that the root of the
problem was a rebellion against God. How does the Midrash describe it? By
depicting an idol fighting against God, as it were. By describing the human
attempt to strike at the heavens. And by describing the construction of supports
for the firmament, so as to prevent a possible collapse.
The literal level of the Midrash, with all of its vivid
details, does not fit in with the literal level of the biblical text. But the
idea that arises from the Midrash is identical to the idea presented in the
text. The details in the Midrash are a device for expressing an idea, and this
idea is not disconnected from the text at all. It speaks to a profound
understanding of the text, and expresses the inner meaning of the biblical
narrative.
*
*
*
The second part of the story describes God's reaction to
man's activity:
"God came down to see the city and the tower that the people had
built.
And God said: Behold, they are a single people, with a single language
for all, and this is what they have started to do; now, they will not be
prevented from anything that they have plotted to do.
Let us go down and confound their speech, so that one will not understand
each other's language.
Then God scattered them from there over all of the earth, and they ceased
to build the city.
Therefore its name is called Bavel, for there God mixed up the language
of all the earth, and from there God scattered them over all of the
earth."
God descends to see what the people are doing. The
significance of this "descent" may be scorn for these mortals, who aspired to
reach the heavens, while the text describes God as having to "descend" in order
to reach them.
However, in light of a comparison with other sources in
Tanakh, it seem possible that the Torah speaks of God's "descent" in the
sense of God coming to intervene in what is going on in the world. [6] Thus far
mankind has acted without any connection to God. Now God becomes involved in
what is happening. God's descent and revelation in the world is generally
accompanied by a significant change in the nature of the world. This case is no
exception.
In addition, the descent can also be interpreted as an
act of examining the people's actions, an expression of pointing to the crux of
the problem. [7]
Indeed, the next verse points to the
problem:
"Behold, they are a single people with a single language
for all of them." God declares that the root of the problem lies in the absolute
unity amongst the people. Attention should be paid to some significant
points:
a.
God's words contain no explicit denunciation of any specific act, but
rather a description of the situation: "They are a single people, with a single
language for all, and this is what they have begun to do."
b.
God's words express concern for the future: "Now they shall not be
prevented from anything that they have plotted to do." What is this concern? How
can God be worried about the actions of human beings?
c.
God's words contain no explicit reference to the city or to the tower.
They are not the essence of the problem.
d.
Once again, the language becomes obscure: What is the meaning of the
words, "This is what they have begun to do"? What is it "that they have plotted
to do"?
Thus, according to God's words in this verse, the
purpose of the dispersion and the confounding of the languages is not as a
punishment for past misdeeds, but rather as a preventative measure for the
future. God performs an act that will prevent mankind from reaching an
undesirable situation.
God states that the root of the problem is the unity.
What has happened because of this unity? "This is what they have started to do."
We may interpret this unit in two different ways:
a.
"This" – the construction of the city and the tower – "they have begun to
do" – i.e., they have begun to build the city and the tower, but have not yet
completed their work.
b.
"This" – the construction of the city and the tower – "is what they have
begun to do" – the city and the tower are just the beginning. They are likely to
go on to other things. (This is the interpretation offered by Y. Kiel in
Da'at Mikra.)
"Now they will not be prevented from anything that they
have plotted to do" – this phrase expresses the essential concern, in the wake
of which comes God's response.
The concern is that if the people go on using the power
of unity in the same manner, they will succeed in doing something that is not in
accordance with God's will. What is it that God does not want them to
do?
The Torah gives no explicit answer to this
question.
Perhaps the text is hinting to the possibility that they
will actually finish the construction of the city and the tower, thereby
succeeding in making themselves a name and preventing their dispersion all over
the world.
Perhaps the concern is broader in scope: that the people
will succeed in realizing other negative initiatives.
The beginning of the verse indicates that the unity is
the problem. But what is wrong with unity?
The problem exists on two levels. Firstly – through
unity, people can accumulate excessive power, leading them to feel that they
rule the world – to the extent that they believe themselves capable of opposing
the will of God; they believe that they have "made themselves a name," like
God.
But beyond this, absolute unity creates a sense of being
like God, since God is One.
The concern, then, is that people will continue on the
path of ever-increasing unity, preventing their dispersion, and making a name
for themselves. This process is ultimately aimed at removing God from the
picture – at rebellion against God's Kingship in the world. God gave mankind the
power of unity and the power of creativity, and He wants mankind to use these
abilities – but within the framework of His control, not out of rebellion
against Him. People must know that they are not able to do anything and
everything; their power is limited; there will always be things that lie outside
of man's control – and it is in this sphere that God's Kingship finds
expression. The problem starts where people think that "they will not be
prevented from all that they have plotted to do." This thought is a
misconception.
Thus, the story of the
God wanted to prevent this from happening. The world
cannot exist when it is entirely directed towards rebellion against God. God
therefore needed to break the unity among people – even though unity is the
ideal state. The breaking of their unity would prevent the united rebellion of
all of mankind against God, facilitating the continued existence of mankind and
the whole world.
How does God break the unity between
people?
Verse 7 tells us that God planned to mix up the
languages. Verse 8 goes on to describe God's action: He disperses the people all
over of the world.
How does the change come about? Does God mix up the
languages and, as a result, the people scatter over all the earth (as Rashi,
Radak, Ralbag, Abarbanel and Malbim would have it)? Or does God cause their
dispersion, and as a result several different languages develop (as the Ibn Ezra
maintains)?
The text offers no clear description of how the change
came about, but what matters is the result: their unity is altogether broken,
and the new situation is that mankind is no longer unified in language, and that
people are scattered all over the world.
However, it seems that we can also understand the
situation differently. The initial unity was supposed to be just a unity of
language. God wanted people to be dispersed all over the world and not to dwell
all together in one place. Remaining together in one place was part of man's
degeneration. In the wake of this degeneration, God intervened and brought about
a fundamental change in human nature – a change that would break the natural
unity that existed among them. What was this fundamental change? The change was
that people would no longer share "a single language." Thus the initial unity
that had existed among them was broken. This change resulted in a correction of
man's degeneration: in the wake of the separation of languages, people naturally
began to spread all over the world, for this had been God's initial
plan.
In summary: the story of the
The Torah presents the initiative to build the tower in
equivocal language, such that our initial impression is that the people's action
is not negative. God's reaction, correspondingly, is not presented as punishment
for a grave sin.
It seems that the Torah deliberately adopts a positive
tone and equivocal language, rather than clearly judgmental language, in order
to convey an important message: the original state of humanity was ideal, and
their actions could have been positive and desirable. The power of unity and the
power of creativity are extremely positive forces; God intentionally imbued
mankind with these abilities.
However, mankind began to use these positive powers in a
negative direction. They used their unity and their ability to create and
develop in order to oppose God's will, to oppose the natural laws that God set
down for the world. They wanted to rebel against God and His Kingship, turning
themselves into the rulers of the world, with power and "a
name."
In the wake of this degeneration, the world could not
continue in that ideal state, and therefore there was a need for fundamental
change: a dissolution of the unity among people so that they would not rebel
against God, such that the world could continue to exist.
The story of the
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "I shall make you a great name, like the name of the
great ones in the land" (II Shemuel 7:9); "And David made [himself] a
name" (II Shemuel 8:13); "You shall make yourself a name"
(Yirmiyahu 32:20); "You have made Yourself a name this day"
(Daniyel 9:15; Nechemya 9:10); etc.
[2] See also Y. Zakowitz, Mikraot Be-eretz
Ha-marot, chapter 4, pp. 54-55.
[3] Concerning the difference and separation between the
two motifs, see below.
[4] In contrast to the story of the Flood and the story
of Sedom, in which the Torah emphasizes from the very beginning that there was
corruption: "God saw that man’s evil in the land was great… the world was
corrupted before God, and the world was full of violence" (Bereishit 6);
"And God said: The cry of Sedom and Amora, for it is great, and their sin, for
it is exceedingly grave…" (Ibid. 18:20). Against the backdrop of these
two comparisons, the initial image of this narrative is striking in its
innocuousness.
[5] Rashi adds the words, "As it did in the days of the
Flood". The Midrash itself describes only the fear of the firmament collapsing –
a fear of natural disasters, seemingly independent of any Divine
action.
[6] As in the Exodus from Egypt (Shemot 3:8), in
God’s revelation at the giving of the Torah (Shemot 19:11-20), the
bestowing of some of Moshe’s spirit upon the elders (Bamidbar 11:17-25),
the punishment of Miriam with leprosy (Bamidbar 12:5), and several
prophecies calling upon God to descend and to reveal Himself in the world
(Yishayahu 31 and 63; Mikha 1; Tehillim 18),
etc.
[7] As in the story of Sedom: "I shall go down and see
whether they have done altogether according to its cry…" (Bereishit
18:21).
Translated by Kaeren Fish