Genesis 11:2

Genesis 11:2

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

a. NLT: As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.

b. NIV: As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar[fn] and settled there.

c. YLT: and it cometh to pass, in their journeying from the east, that they find a valley in the land of Shinar, and dwell there;

d. Amplified Bible Classic: And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.

e. Septuagint: And it came to pass as they moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Senaar, and they dwelt there.

f. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: And it came to pass, when they migrated from the east they found a valleyin the land of Shinar and settled there.

1. “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east…”

a. And it came to pass [Strong: 1961 hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

b. as they journeyed [Strong: 5265 naca` naw-sah' a primitive root; properly, to pull up, especially the tent-pins, i.e. start on a journey:--cause to blow, bring, get, (make to) go (away, forth, forward, onward, out), (take) journey, march, remove, set aside (forward), X still, be on his (go their) way.]

c. from the east [Strong: 6924 qedem keh'-dem or qedmah {kayd'-maw}; from 6923; the front, of place (absolutely, the fore part, relatively the East) or time (antiquity); often used adverbially (before, anciently, eastward):--aforetime, ancient (time), before, east (end, part, side, -ward), eternal, X ever(-lasting), forward, old, past.]

1). Rabbinic tradition teaches that between the Flood of Noah and the dispersion at Babel, 340 years went by. Stone Edition of the Chumash. Timeline Graph on p.53. God had already instructed Noah and his sons to be fruitful, to multiple and replenish the earth.

a). Genesis 9:1  And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

b). Genesis 9:7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

2. “…that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.”

a. that they found [Strong: 4672 matsa' maw-tsaw' a primitive root; properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present:--+ be able, befall, being, catch, X certainly, (cause to) come (on, to, to hand), deliver, be enough (cause to) find(-ing, occasion, out), get (hold upon), X have (here), be here, hit, be left, light (up-)on, meet (with), X occasion serve, (be) present, ready, speed, suffice, take hold on.]

b. a plain [Strong: 1237 biq`ah bik-aw' from 1234; properly, a split, i.e. a wide level valley between mountains:--plain, valley.]

c. in the land [Strong: 776 ‘erets eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):--X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X natins, way, + wilderness, world.]

d. of Shimar [Strong: 8152 Shin`ar shin-awr' probably of foreign derivation; Shinar, a plain in Babylonia:--Shinar.]

e. and they dwelt [Strong: 3427 yashab yaw-shab' a primitive root; properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry:--(make to) abide(-ing), continue, (cause to, make to) dwell(-ing), ease self, endure, establish, X fail, habitation, haunt, (make to) inhabit(-ant), make to keep (house), lurking, X marry(-ing), (bring again to) place, remain, return, seat, set(- tle), (down-)sit(-down, still, -ting down, -ting (place) -uate), take, tarry.]

           

f. there [Strong: 8033 sham shawm a primitive particle (rather from the relative pronoun, 834); there (transferring to time) then; often thither, or thence:--in it, + thence, there (-in, + of, + out), + thither, + whither.]

1). It was the will of God that mankind spread out over the earth but they chose to stay in one place, in disobedience to God. Josephus writes that Nimrod, the grandson of Ham was the main instigator of the rebellion (Book One, Chapter 4.2).