Genesis 11:2: the plain the migration from the east settled on
Read it →Commentary on Genesis 11:2
One verse moves the whole human race from the mountains of Ararat down to the plain where Babel would rise. Older translations say they "journeyed" and "dwelt" there, which raises two questions: why this place, and why stop at all?
The Land of Shinar
The name marks a real place, and it keeps coming back in the Bible's story.
The ancient name of the plain lying in the south between the Euphrates and the Tigris. It was where Nimrod established his kingdom, and where the tower of Babel was built... Later it was called Chaldea, or Babylonia, and some of the captives from Judah were carried there.
Migrating from the East
Translators read the direction phrase in two ways. The same reference work notes both, and ties this Babel to the later city of Babylon.
The Hebrew is Babel, the same for Babel and Babylon. Genesis 11:2 speaks of Babel being built in a plain in the land of Shinar, which they reached by travelling from the east. The margin reads travelling "eastward," a reading preferred by many, and by the revisers of the English Bible. This direction agrees well with the location of Babylon on the river Euphrates.
Travellers, but Not Pilgrims
The verse records movement, then a full stop. One writer asks what kind of movement it was.
Genesis 11 gives a vivid picture. There men "journeyed" indeed, but not as pilgrims — or only as pilgrims until they could find some smooth place to settle down in. "They journeyed" as colonists or immigrants on the lookout for land, from the rough hills where human life after the flood began. "From the east" means with their backs toward the blessed dawn. And "they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there."
Going Down
Ararat was high ground; Shinar was flat. One writer sees more in that drop than a change of altitude.
The whole human family journeyed together. They left the mountainous regions and went down to the plain. This shows their moral descent. They turned away from God, even though they knew Him.
The flat ground also explains what they built next, and what they wanted from it.
Human history had started again under Noah in the mountainous region of Ararat. Now they found themselves on a flat, dull plain with no commanding heights. So they would build themselves a city around a tower of immense height, and make a name for themselves.
Settling Against a Command
God's word to Noah's family had been to fill the earth. Staying put in one plain was the opposite of that.
By the terms of the divine command men were to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." To obey this, they had to scatter. How else could they fill "the earth"? But against this command of God the will of men rose up rebelliously. They would concentrate, and so consolidate their power and importance.
The Ground They Chose
The flood had left them in awe, but not in obedience. They chose their ground with care.
But mankind, though awed by that judgment, had no care to do His will. Their mind was to keep together. And they picked their region well. Great rivers on either side and rich soil made it the ideal place for their purpose: to make themselves a universal republic without God... They were without excuse. They had the witness to God's eternal power and divinity. They also had the knowledge of God that Noah, a "preacher of righteousness," professed and testified, backed by the flood itself, still fresh in their memory.
Shinar's Long Shadow
Once named here, the place keeps its character through the rest of the Bible. In Zechariah's vision a basket called an ephah carries wickedness away to Shinar. One writer traces that address straight back to this verse.
They are seen carrying the ephah to the land of Shinar, the place and the home of open opposition to God (see Genesis 11:2). There this embodiment of wickedness would have a house of its own, and be set on her own base.
Summary
- Journey. They moved as settlers hunting for land, not as pilgrims. Their backs were toward the dawn.
- Descent. Coming down from Ararat's heights to a flat plain was a moral descent. The tower would supply the heights they had lost.
- Site. Two great rivers and rich soil made Shinar an excellent choice. The plan was to hold mankind together without God.
- Stop. God had said fill the earth. Obedience meant scattering, and "settled there" is where human will said no.
- Shadow. The plain named here becomes Babel, then Babylon — the Bible's standing address for open opposition to God.
