Genesis Chapter 11

Genesis Chapter 11: “Let Us Make a Name for Ourselves”

1. The Unity of Speech and the Temptation of Pride

“Now the whole earth had one language and few words.” (Genesis 11:1)

At first glance, this seems ideal — one people, one tongue.
But Scripture immediately reveals that unity without humility becomes dangerous.
This is not the unity of faith; it is the uniformity of self-sufficiency.

St. Augustine writes:

“They had one language, but not one heart in God. Their unity was not charity, but conspiracy.” (City of God XVI.4)

Human unity is good when ordered to God, but destructive when directed toward self-glorification.
The same gift that was meant for communion becomes, through sin, an instrument of rebellion.

2. “Come, Let Us Build Ourselves a City”

“Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.’” (Genesis 11:3–4)

Here we meet the spiritual root of Babel: the desire to reach heaven without grace.
The people seek to “make a name” for themselves — the very thing God promised to give Abraham in the next chapter (Genesis 12:2).
Thus, Babel and Abraham stand as opposites:

Babel says, We will make our own name.

Abraham hears, I will make your name great.

St. Augustine explains:

“In these two cities — Babylon and Jerusalem — are represented two loves: the love of self even to contempt of God, and the love of God even to contempt of self.” (City of God XIV.28)

Babel is the city of man built on pride. Jerusalem is the City of God built on grace.

3. The Materials of Rebellion

“They had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.” (Genesis 11:3)

In Eden, man built nothing — he received creation as a gift.
Now, alienated from God, he fashions his own materials — brick and bitumen — the symbols of human industry apart from grace.

St. Ephrem the Syrian comments:

“They chose brick instead of stone because they rejected the Rock of their salvation.” (Commentary on Genesis XI.1)

In Scripture, stone often symbolizes divine stability, while brick represents human fabrication.
Thus, the builders of Babel trust in their own inventions, seeking heaven by technology and organization rather than by faith.

4. “The Lord Came Down”

“And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built.” (Genesis 11:5)

This is one of Scripture’s most ironic verses.
Man tries to reach heaven, but God must “come down” to see his tiny tower.

St. John Chrysostom observes:

“The words ‘came down’ are written for our understanding, to show that the Lord despises the haughtiness of men who exalt themselves.” (Homilies on Genesis XXX.2)

Divine irony exposes human folly.
The One whom no tower can reach stoops down to the proud in mercy — not to destroy them outright, but to heal their delusion.

5. The Divine Counsel

“Come, let Us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (Genesis 11:7)

This “let Us” echoes the divine counsel of Genesis 1:26: “Let Us make man in Our image.”
But now, the creative unity of the Trinity becomes the judicial unity of divine wisdom acting to restrain pride.

St. Ambrose remarks:

“The same Lord who said ‘Let Us make man’ now says ‘Let Us go down,’ not in envy but in mercy, lest man perish in his presumption.” (Noah and the Ark 6.3)

The confusion of tongues is therefore a remedy, not a curse — a humbling that prevents total ruin.
God disperses to save, not to destroy.

6. Confusion and Dispersion

“So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:8)

The unity of rebellion gives way to diversity of languages — and the nations are scattered.
Yet this scattering fulfills God’s command to “fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1).
What man refused to do freely, God now accomplishes through discipline.

St. Augustine notes:

“Even in punishment, the mercy of God acts. The dispersion of tongues prevented a greater evil — that the whole human race should conspire against God.” (City of God XVI.5)

In God’s providence, this dispersion becomes the foundation for universal redemption.
The divided nations will one day be gathered again — not by force, but by the fire of the Holy Spirit.

7. Babel and Pentecost

The Fathers saw in Babel the negative image of Pentecost:

BabelPentecost
One language → prideMany languages → praise
Men exalt themselvesGod descends in mercy
Unity against GodUnity in the Spirit
ConfusionUnderstanding
ScatteringGathering
“Let us make a name”“In the name of Jesus Christ”

St. Irenaeus writes:

“At Babel tongues were divided in wrath; at Pentecost they were united in grace.” (Against Heresies III.17.1)

What pride scattered, love gathers.
The Church is the anti-Babel — a community of true unity born not from human ambition but divine charity.

8. The Tower and the Cross

The tower reaching toward heaven becomes, in Christian symbolism, the opposite of the Cross.
Both are vertical; both touch heaven and earth.
But one is built by man to ascend; the other is raised by God to descend.

St. Augustine beautifully contrasts them:

“The tower was built that men might climb to heaven by their own power; the Cross was raised that God might come down to lift men up.” (Sermon 95)

The true ladder of heaven is not brick and bitumen, but the wood of the Cross.

9. The Genealogy of Shem: From Babel to Abraham

“These are the descendants of Shem… Terah was the father of Abram.” (Genesis 11:10, 26)

The narrative turns from universal confusion to personal calling.
Out of the scattered nations, God chooses one man — Abraham — through whom the blessing will be restored.

St. John Chrysostom says:

“After the pride of Babel, Scripture immediately introduces the humility of Abraham. Man sought his own name; God now makes a name by grace.” (Homilies on Genesis XXX.5)

Thus, salvation history begins not with the many, but with the one who listens and obeys.
The cure for Babel’s pride is Abraham’s faith.

10. Theological Meaning

ThemeRevelation
Babel’s prideMan’s attempt to reach heaven without grace
Divine descentGod’s mercy acting to humble and heal
Confusion of tonguesPrevention of greater evil; preparation for Pentecost
ScatteringDivine discipline that becomes missionary providence
Abraham’s callGod’s remedy through faith and obedience
Christ the true TowerHeaven opened by the Cross, not by human effort

St. Augustine summarizes:

“The tower of pride falls, the city of God rises. Men were scattered in tongues that they might be gathered in faith.” (City of God XVI.4)

11. The Moral Lesson

Beware spiritual Babel. Pride builds towers even within religion — trust not in your own holiness or institutions, but in grace.

Seek unity in humility. True communion comes from the Holy Spirit, not from coercion or conformity.

Let God make your name. The saints are remembered not because they exalted themselves, but because they allowed God to exalt them.

Embrace the Church’s universality. The Spirit that once scattered now gathers; every tongue, tribe, and nation belongs to the one family of Christ.

12. Babel in Every Age

Every generation faces its own tower of Babel — the temptation to create heaven on earth through technology, ideology, or pride.
But all Babels crumble; only the Cross stands firm.

St. Augustine warns:

“Whatever city man builds without God is but another Babylon — splendid in walls, empty in heart.” (City of God XVIII.2)

Our vocation as Christians is not to ascend by our own plans, but to descend with Christ in humility, that we may be lifted by grace.

13. Christ, the True Name and Unity

At Babel, men said, “Let us make a name for ourselves.”
In Christ, God reveals His own Name:

“At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.” (Philippians 2:10)

The Name men tried to seize, God freely gives.
The unity men tried to impose, God freely bestows.
The city men tried to build, God descends to dwell in — the Church, His Body.

St. Irenaeus concludes:

“In Christ, all languages praise God with one voice, and the scattered nations become one family.” (Against Heresies III.17.2)

14. Closing Prayer

Lord of heaven and earth,
You scattered the proud at Babel and gathered the humble at Pentecost.
Deliver us from the sin of self-exaltation,
and teach us to seek Your Name, not our own.
Build in us the city of faith, founded on the Cross,
where every language may confess Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen.