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Generation of the Dispersion

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Angels and the Tower of Babel
MIDRASH
The involvement of seventy angels in the confusion of the seventy nations and languages reveals a divine council and structured angelic participation in the dispersion. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, an eighth-century midrashic work, elaborates on the divine intervention at the Tower of Babel.
Rabbi Simeon said: The Holy One, blessed be He, called to the seventy angels, who surround the throne of His glory, and He said to them: Come, let us descend and let us confuse the seventy nations and the seventy languages.
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 24:8
The Three Groups and Their Fates
MIDRASH
The story of the Tower of Babel involves three distinct groups with different intentions, each receiving specific punishments. The Midrash Tanchuma, an early medieval collection of midrash, delves into the story of the Tower of Babel, explaining the different motivations and punishments of the people involved.
They separated into three groups. One said: “Let us go and dwell there”; the second insisted: “Let us go up and wage war against Him”; and the third shouted: “Let us go and serve idols there.” Those who said “Let us go and dwell there” were scattered abroad by the Holy One, blessed be He; those who insisted “Let us go and wage war against Him” were transformed into apes, spirits, and demons; and those who said “Let us go and serve idols there” were punished, as specified in the verse Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongue (Ps. 55:10)…
Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 18:7
Post-Flood Dispersion and the Land of Shinor
COMMENTARY
The story of the Tower of Babel is deeply intertwined with the geographical and historical shifts that occurred after the flood. Radak, a medieval Jewish commentator, provides a detailed analysis of the movement of people and the significance of the land of Shinor in the aftermath of the deluge.
ויהי בנסעם מקדם, from the east, for this is where they had lived previously, and this was where G’d had created man before He placed him in Gan Eden. When Noach had come out of the ark he proceeded to the place where he had lived before the onset of the deluge. Also the mountain range of Arrarat is in an easterly direction (eastern Turkey and Georgia in southern Caucasus) Traveling eastward, the people had came to the valley of the Euphrates and Tigris which they found very much to their liking, a land which was called the land of Shinor…
Radak on Genesis 11:2:1
The First Monarch and the Birth of Warfare
COMMENTARY
Nimrod is depicted as the first monarch who ruled by force, introducing the concepts of monarchy and warfare. Ramban’s commentary on Genesis 10:9 contrasts the interpretations of Rashi, in his renowned 11th-century commentary on the Torah, and Ibn Ezra regarding Nimrod's character and actions.
HE WAS A MIGHTY HUNTER BEFORE THE ETERNAL. He ensnared the minds of people by his words, misleading them to rebel against the Omnipresent. Therefore it is said regarding any man who brazenly acts wickedly, knowing his Master and yet intentionally rebelling against Him — it is said, “This man is like Nimrod.” Thus the language of Rashi, and so is the opinion of our Rabbis.
But Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained the matter in the opposite way, by way of the plain meaning of Scripture, for he interpreted the verses thus: He began to be a mighty one over the animals in hunting them…
Ramban on Genesis 10:9:1
Human Ambition and Divine Authority
COMMENTARY
The narrative explores the human attempt to replace God's authority with their own, rejecting their responsibility to respond to God's command. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his contemporary Torah commentary, delves into the themes of responsibility and human ambition in the story of Babel.
This story seems to have little to do with responsibility, and to be focusing on a different issue than do the first three. However, not accidentally does the word responsibility suggest response-ability. The Hebrew equivalent, aḥrayut, comes from the word aḥer, meaning “an other.” Responsibility is always a response to something or someone. In Judaism, it means response to the command of God. By attempting to reach heaven, the builders of Babel were in effect saying: we are going to take the place of God…
Covenant and Conversation; Genesis; The Book of the Beginnings, Noach, Drama in Four Acts 13
Asshur's Moral Stand
COMMENTARY
Asshur's decision to leave the builders of the Tower of Babel highlights the importance of individual moral choices in the face of collective rebellion. Rashi, the renowned 11th-century French biblical commentator, draws from Midrashic sources to provide a deeper understanding of Asshur's actions in Genesis 10:11:1.
‘מן הארץ וגו OUT OF THAT LAND WENT FORTH ASSHUR — As soon as Asshur saw that his sons listened to Nimrod, rebelling against the Omnipresent by building the Tower, he went forth out of their midst (Genesis Rabbah 37:4).
Rashi on Genesis 10:11:1
Mercy After Babel
COMMENTARY
After the Tower of Babel, God chose to limit humanity's influence rather than destroy them, showcasing His mercy. The 16th-century Italian rabbi and commentator Sforno explains how God divided humanity into nations with distinct territories.
יצב גבולות עמים, after the tower of Babylon episode, when mankind had lived in a single community, G’d separated them, dividing them up, and established territorial boundaries for the various new nations. Instead of destroying the people who had engaged in building the tower as a challenge to G’d, He did not destroy them as He had the generation of the deluge, but limited their future scope of influence, by assigning only clearly marked territories within which they could be sovereign.
Sforno on Deuteronomy 32:8:1
Redirecting Humanity's Purpose
JEWISH THOUGHT
The error lay in believing that physical togetherness and urbanization were ultimate goals, rather than means to achieve moral perfection. Rabbi Isaac Arama’s 15th-century work, Akeidat Yitzchak, explores the deeper moral and spiritual lessons behind the biblical narrative of the Tower of Babel.
(1) The story of the tower of Babel is the corollary of this newly established covenant. On the one hand, the episode of Noach getting drunk illustrated that the attitudes of his three sons had indeed not remained identical. On the other hand, the Torah seems to stress their unity of purpose which resulted in the enterprise of building the tower of Babel. Mankind believed that their goal must be a unified one, and that all of them should reside close together. Observing the order prevailing in the heavenly constellations and the fact that they all seemed arranged around a central figure, i.e…
Akeidat Yitzchak 14:1:24
God's Commitment to Humanity
TALMUD
God's enduring commitment to humanity is highlighted even when faced with their flaws, as seen in His response to the angels' criticism during the generation of the flood and the generation of the dispersion. The Talmudic tractate Sanhedrin discusses the judicial system and includes narratives that explore God's relationship with humanity.
When history arrived at the time of the people of the generation of the flood and the people of the generation of the dispersion, i.e., the Tower of Babel, whose actions were ruinous, the angels said before God: Master of the Universe, didn’t the first set of angels speak appropriately before You, that human beings are not worthy of having been created? God said to them concerning humanity: “Even to your old age I am the same; and even to hoar hairs will I suffer you; I have made and I will bear…
Sanhedrin 38b:6
The Rebellion of the Tower Builders
KABBALAH
The builders of the Tower of Babel had a unified purpose and bond, and their evil intentions were revealed over time, culminating in the actions of Nevuchadnezzar, who continued their rebellious plans against the Divine. Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla’s 13th-century Kabbalistic work, Sha'arei Orah, connects the story of the Tower of Babel to later historical events, emphasizing the recurring theme of rebellion against divine authority.
Know that the generation of the dispersion were settled together in a single bond, as it states, “The whole earth was of one language and common purpose.” About this the verse hints, “Their dwellings extended from Meisha-משא going toward Sepharah-ספרה, the mountain to the East-Kedem-קדם.” When they then wanted to sever the plantings, the verse states, “And it came to pass, when they migrated from the east-MiKedem-מקדם, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.” That depression and valley is a place prepared for stumbling into evil intention…
Sha'arei Orah, Tenth Gate, First Sefirah 46

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