Confusion of Tongues
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Genesis 11:1-9
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Nave's Topical Index

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Confusion of Tongues

CONFUSION OF TONGUES

See BABEL, TOWER OF; TONGUES, CONFUSION OF

Smith's Bible Dictionary
Confusion Of Tongues

The unity of the human race is most clearly implied, if not positively asserted, in the Mosaic writings. Unity of language is assumed by the sacred historian apparently as a corollary of the unity of race. (This statement is confirmed by philologists.) No explanation is given of the origin of speech, but its exercise is evidently regarded as coeval with the creation of man. The original unity of speech was restored in Noah. Disturbing causes were, however, early at work to dissolve this twofold union of community and speech. The human family endeavored b check the tendency to separation by the establishment of a great central edifice and a city which should serve as the metropolis of the whole world. The project was defeated by the interposition of Jehovah, who determined to "confound their language, so that they might not understand one another's speech." Contemporaneously with, and perhaps as the result of, this confusion of tongues, the people were scattered abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth, and the memory of the great event was preserved in the name Babel. [BABEL. TOWER OF] Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar . --In the Borsippa inscription of Nebuchadnezzar there is an allusion to the confusion of tongues. "We say for the other, that is, this edifice, the house of the Seven Lights of the Earth, the most ancient monument of Borsippa, a former king built it [they reckon forty-two ages], but he did not complete its head. Since a remote time people had abandoned it, without order expressing their words . Since that time the earthquake and the thunder had dispersed its sun-dried clay; the bricks of the casing had been split, and the earth of the interior had been scattered in heaps." It is unnecessary to assume that the judgment inflicted on the builders of Babel amounted to a loss, or even a suspension of articulate speech. The desired object would be equally attained by a miraculous forestallment of those dialectical differences of language which are constantly in process of production. The elements of the one original language may have remained, but so disguised by variations of pronunciation and by the introduction of new combinations as to be practically obliterated. The confusion of tongues and the dispersion of nations are spoken of in the Bible as contemporaneous events. The divergence of the various families into distinct tribes and nations ran parallel with the divergence of speech into dialects and languages, and thus the tenth chapter of Genesis is posterior in historical sequence to the events recorded in the eleventh chapter.

Library

Concerning the Tower of Babylon, and the Confusion of Tongues.
... Three Years. From The Creation To The Death Of Isaac. CHAPTER 4. Concerning
The Tower Of Babylon, And The Confusion Of Tongues. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 4 concerning the tower.htm

That the Original Language in Use among Men was that which was ...
... Language in Use Among Men Was that Which Was Afterwards Called Hebrew, from Heber,
in Whose Family It Was Preserved When the Confusion of Tongues Occurred. ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 11 that the original language.htm

The Negative Side
... Just as the Confusion of Tongues (Gen.11) immediately preceded God's call to Abraham
(the father of us all) to leave his native home and go forth into that ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the law and the saint/the negative side.htm

But I do not Understand How He Can Imagine the Overturning of the ...
... on such a view appear to have taken place for the purpose of purifying the earth;
unless, indeed, he imagines that the so-called confusion of tongues is such a ...
//christianbookshelf.org/origen/origen against celsus/chapter xxi but i do.htm

Our Forefathers have Handed Down to us the Tradition, That, after ...
... Right justly, then, were the former, when, on the eve of separation, they builded
a tower of pride, condemned to the confusion of tongues, so that no one might ...
/.../2 our forefathers have handed.htm

The Tower of Babel.
... The tower was called the Tower of Babel because of the babel, or confusion, of tongues
which had taken place there, and it was left unfinished to be a monument ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/anonymous/wee ones bible stories/the tower of babel.htm

Chapter xi
... CHAPTER XI. (d) The Confusion of Tongues (11:1-9) ... It is now conceded that a
cuneiform account of the confusion of tongues is not available. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter xi.htm

From the Flood to Abraham
... (7) Men had reached a stage of great wickedness and because of their defiance of
God were punished both by the confusion of tongues and by being scattered far ...
/.../tidwell/the bible period by period/chapter iii from the flood.htm

General Index
... 228 Confusion of tongues . . . . . Lesson 11, title Consecrated ground . . . . . ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kinkead/baltimore catechism no 4/general index.htm

The Works of Philo that have Come Down to Us.
... to the contents of each; for instance, Concerning the things which the Sober Mind
desires and execrates, [425] On the Confusion of Tongues, [426] On Flight and ...
/.../pamphilius/church history/chapter xviii the works of philo.htm

Resources
Did Jesus go to hell between His death and resurrection? | GotQuestions.org

Why should I care if God exists? | GotQuestions.org

Is it wrong for men to be effeminate or for women to be masculine? | GotQuestions.org

Confusion: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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