Did the Whole Earth Settle at Shinar (Babel)?

Who settled at Shinar (Babel) in Genesis 11:1–9? Was it all the people of the earth or only a particular group of people? The traditional biblical creationist answer to this question is that all the people of the earth settled at Shinar.1 However, some biblical creationists have diverted from this position and argue that, after the flood, Genesis 10 documents groups of people spreading out over the earth and that Genesis 11 gives the explanation of one of those groups of people migrating to a plain in Shinar to build the world’s first major city. The most prominent proponent of this position, Dr. Douglas Petrovich, comments on Genesis 11:1–2:

During the time when all mankind on the surface of the earth conversed with a single, universal language, some undefined number of them moved westward and settled on a plain that was in the land of Shinar (Šumer, from Akkadian, Šumeru). . . . It is a misconception of ours to think that the biblical text [Genesis 11:1–2] is saying all of the people who were existing on the earth went to one place and lived there. The Bible never says that that is in our conceptions, and that is a wrong conception we read into the text and then perpetuate through Sunday school teaching.2

Petrovich believes Genesis 11 describes a technologically advanced people who were suddenly dispersed throughout the ancient Near East. He concludes that the evidence that best describes people moving toward urban living in one place is found in Eridu, southern Šumer, southern Mesopotamia. Petrovich, who follows the chronology of the Septuagint (LXX) in Genesis 11, believes this took place roughly 500 years after the flood (c. 3168 BC) around 2650 BC.3 There are, however, textual reasons why the Masoretic Text (MT) should be seen as being superior to the Septuagint in Genesis 5 and 11.4

Is it true that only some undefined number of people settled at Shinar? This article will seek to show that the context of Genesis 10–11 clearly suggests that the people of the whole earth settled at Shinar and that it was a divine dispersal that caused them to spread over the earth after the flood.

Genesis 10

Genesis 9:19 states that from Noah’s three sons, “The people of the whole earth were dispersed.” This verse anticipates the dispersal (נָפַץ)5 of mankind throughout the whole earth (Genesis 10:18; 11:4, 8, 9). The genealogy in Genesis 10 (the table of nations) gives the details of Genesis 9:19 as it specifically deals with the descendants of Noah’s three sons—Shem, Ham and Japheth—who spread out across the earth after the flood (Genesis 10:5, 18, 32).

Genesis 10 is divided into three sections, one for each son: Japheth (10:2–5), Ham (10:6–20), and Shem (10:21–31). In each genealogy, there is a reoccurring pattern; people spread (Genesis 10:32) into “lands,” “languages,” “clans,” and “nations” (Genesis 10:5, 20, 31). Genesis 10:1 begins by listing Noah’s sons, “Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (cf. Genesis 5:32, 6:10, 9:18). However, the table of nations rearranges this structure beginning with Japheth (Genesis 10:2–5). Kenneth Mathews notes, “This rearrangement sandwiches the tower incident between the two accounts of the Shem genealogy (10:21–31; 11:10–26). It also shows that the tower debacle resulted in the dispersion of the nations, of which Shem’s descendants were a part.”6 The first genealogy (10:21–31) completes the table of nations and leads to the Babel event: (Shem → Eber → Peleg). The second genealogy (11:10–26) continues with the direct descendants of Shem (Shem → Eber → Terah) and leads to the account of the call of Abraham (Genesis 11:27–12:10).

Genesis 11 commences with the whole earth speaking one language, and so, it sets the narrative chronologically before Genesis 10, as there the nations are arranged by their own languages. It is common in Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event (cf. Genesis 1:26–28, 2:7, 22). The confusion of the one language at Babel (Genesis 11:9) is the reason why there are multiple languages in Genesis 10. Genesis 11 tells us how and why the dispersal of languages and peoples across the whole earth happened in Genesis 10.

The actual time of the dispersal at Babel most likely took place in the days of Peleg (Genesis 10:25). 7 Although exactly at what point in Peleg’s life is debated. Based on the MT, if the dispersion is linked with Peleg’s birth, then this suggests the Babel incident occurred around 106 years after the flood.8 If the dispersion happened at the end Peleg’s life, then this is around 340 years after the flood.9 Alternatively, the phrase “in his days” (בימיו) could indicate that it happened during his lifespan or at a time when he was prominent (1 Kings 16:34, 21:29; 2 Kings 8:20).

The genealogy in Genesis 10 lists a total of 70 nations to show the totality of all peoples on the earth: 14 from Japheth, 30 from Ham, and 26 from Shem. The 70 nations of Genesis 10 would signify 70 original language families that spread out over the face of the earth after the event of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:9).

Genesis 11

It is argued that Genesis 11:1–2 does not specifically state the whole earth moved to Shinar, but only that the whole earth spoke the same language. The overall context shows that this is not the case.

The fact that the whole earth spoke the same language highlights the unity of the people.

Genesis 11:1 introduces the unity of mankind, “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.” The first verse beings with the phrase “the whole earth” (kol-hāʾāreṣ).10 The phrase “the whole earth” appears five times in nine verses (vv. 1, 4, 8, and twice in v. 9). Significantly, Genesis 11:1–9 begins and ends with the phrase “the whole earth.” Since the dispersion from Babel is tied to the table of nations (Genesis 10), the context would indicate that the phrase “the whole earth” refers to all the people of the earth collectively (cf. Genesis 9:19). If all the people of the earth, post-flood, are descended from Noah, it makes sense that they all had “one language and the same [one] words.” The words of verse one (“one language and one words”) are parallel to verse six (“one people one language”). The word people (ʿam) contrasts the situation at Shinar with plurality of “nations” (gôy) in Genesis 10. The fact that the whole earth spoke the same language highlights the unity of the people. The unity of the people, however, will soon turn to disunity (see Genesis 11:8–9).

Genesis 11:2 then states, “And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.”11 Verse two begins with the Hebrew verb wayǝhî, indicating “and it came to pass.” This suggests that, sometime after the flood, Noah’s descendants began to migrate away from the region of Ararat (see below). The verb used to describe the migration (nāsaʿ) of the people has the sense of travelers moving tents by stages (cf. Genesis 12:9, 20:1). The people migrated eastward (miqqedem, Genesis 13:11)12 until they came to the land of Shinar and settled there. Genesis 10:10 identifies the major cities of Shinar as Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh. Shinar is often thought to be Babylon in central Mesopotamia (Daniel 1:1–2).13 Others have suggested a possible location for Shinar further north in southeast Turkey.14 The settlement at Shinar was in opposition to God’s command to Noah and his descendant to fill the earth after the flood (Genesis 9:1, 7; cf. 1:28). It seems that those who settled at Shinar knew about the possibility of being dispersed over the earth and so deliberately did the opposite (Genesis 11:4).

To identify the people who migrated eastward to the land of Shinar, we must remember where the inhabitants of the world were before this. The account of the tower of Babel comes after the event of the flood (Genesis 6–8). After the flood, Noah and his family (eight people) came out of the ark on the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4)—possibly somewhere in southeastern Turkey (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38; Jeremiah 51:27).15 In the post-flood world, Noah becomes a farmer, lives in a tent, and his family is with him (Genesis 9:20–27). For Noah to farm, he probably moved away from the mountainous area of Ararat into a valley area. The eastward migration of the people probably came from the region of the mountains of Ararat to their settlement in the land of Shinar. How large was the population of people who settled at Babel? It could have been anything from 1,000 to 10,000 people.16 This would be enough people to build a city and a tower (Genesis 11:4).17

The Babel narrative ends the way it began, with a reference to all the earth, “Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:9). It was at Babel that God confused the language of all the earth. But if all the earth did not settle at Shinar and it was only a group of post-flood people, then how did God confuse the language of all the earth at Babel (Genesis 11:9)?18 The disobedience of the people at Babel caused God to reverse their plan by confusing the language of all the earth and dispersing them over the face of the earth (Genesis 11:8–9). The study of the origin of ancient languages (Indo-European, Semitic, and Hamitic) is consistent with what Genesis 11:8–9 describes: a sudden explosion of unrelated but highly complex written languages appearing on the scene around the same time—the second half of the third millennium BC.19

Despite mankind’s rebellion and pride at Babel, God does not leave them without hope.

After the flood, rather than fill the earth, Noah’s descendants disobeyed God and settled at Shinar to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:1–4). This led God to confuse their language so that they could no longer live together in their rebellion against him (Genesis 11:5–9). Despite mankind’s rebellion and pride at Babel, God does not leave them without hope as he calls Abraham out of his own country to be a blessing to the dispersed nations that once settled at Shinar (Genesis 12:1–3; cf. 18:18; 22:18). Abraham, in turn, is the ancestor of Jesus, who fulfills the promise to Eve that one of her sons will crush the head of the serpent.