Day 4 – Genesis 10 – 12; Ps. 4; Matthew 4
Genesis 10, a genealogy does not make the most exciting reading in the Old Testament and can easily be skimmed. This particular genealogy is placed in Genesis in the wake of the Flood Narrative to explain the peopling of the
whole earth by the remnant family of Noah following the flood in obedience to the divine directive, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen 9:1). Israel’s narrative continues, for the moment, to have
universal humankind in focus. In chapter 12, this will change as one person, Abraham, becomes the focus, not only of the narrative, but of God’s call and divine activity.
Before Abraham, however, Genesis 11 presents another crisis in the human and God relationship. You might have thought that humankind would have learned its lesson following the wrath of
the flood. Not so. (Have we ever learned?) Human pretensions to divine status are a constant temptation and a consistent theme of the biblical narrative. The story of Babel is one entry in this theme.
The Babel story is undoubtedly very ancient, likely predating Israel’s
theological evolution to strict monotheism, which is why in verse 7, Yahweh
says, “Let us…” The story was originally an “etiology” (a story to
explain origins, e.g., of customs, places or practices). In this case, the
etiology is about the origins of different languages. But the Babel story
has been shaped by Israel to go beyond this and to portray the seemingly
unlimited bounds of human ambition and resistance to God. The question of
“languages” is the vehicle for this particular portrayal.
Biblical scholar, Walter Brueggemann has written, “The text encourages
reflection upon language as a peculiarly important human activity. It
raises important questions about how we speak and how we listen and
answer. It asks about the quality of human communication and the function
of language. The faithful community exists (among other things) to
maintain a faithful universe of discourse against the languages around us which
may coerce, deceive, manipulate or mystify…” (Brueggemann, Walter –
Interpretation – A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Genesis –
Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982, 102).
In our society
today, polarized as it so often is, when so many seem to speak across one
another and not to listen to or hear the other, this story of Babel has
considerable relevance.
The Rev. Canon William H. Stokes
Rector, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Delray Beach, FL
Genesis 10, a genealogy does not make the most exciting reading in the Old Testament and can easily be skimmed. This particular genealogy is placed in Genesis in the wake of the Flood Narrative to explain the peopling of the
whole earth by the remnant family of Noah following the flood in obedience to the divine directive, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen 9:1). Israel’s narrative continues, for the moment, to have
universal humankind in focus. In chapter 12, this will change as one person, Abraham, becomes the focus, not only of the narrative, but of God’s call and divine activity.
Before Abraham, however, Genesis 11 presents another crisis in the human and God relationship. You might have thought that humankind would have learned its lesson following the wrath of
the flood. Not so. (Have we ever learned?) Human pretensions to divine status are a constant temptation and a consistent theme of the biblical narrative. The story of Babel is one entry in this theme.
The Babel story is undoubtedly very ancient, likely predating Israel’s
theological evolution to strict monotheism, which is why in verse 7, Yahweh
says, “Let us…” The story was originally an “etiology” (a story to
explain origins, e.g., of customs, places or practices). In this case, the
etiology is about the origins of different languages. But the Babel story
has been shaped by Israel to go beyond this and to portray the seemingly
unlimited bounds of human ambition and resistance to God. The question of
“languages” is the vehicle for this particular portrayal.
Biblical scholar, Walter Brueggemann has written, “The text encourages
reflection upon language as a peculiarly important human activity. It
raises important questions about how we speak and how we listen and
answer. It asks about the quality of human communication and the function
of language. The faithful community exists (among other things) to
maintain a faithful universe of discourse against the languages around us which
may coerce, deceive, manipulate or mystify…” (Brueggemann, Walter –
Interpretation – A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Genesis –
Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982, 102).
In our society
today, polarized as it so often is, when so many seem to speak across one
another and not to listen to or hear the other, this story of Babel has
considerable relevance.
The Rev. Canon William H. Stokes
Rector, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Delray Beach, FL
RSS Feed