The Tower of Babel explains why everyone doesn’t speak the same language today. Much of this information is found in the Insight to the Scriptures volume 2 under language. Other of the research is found on various sites that I found agree with much of the reasoning I agree with.
According to historians, there are slightly less than 7,000 spoken languages in the world today. Yet the number of languages emerging from Babel at the time of the dispersion would have been much less than this—likely less than 100 different original language families. Towards the bottom of this page, I have listed the 20 most popular languages currently being spoken. I have not been able to discern what the first original languages were. The list below is simply the most languages spoken in the world today.
So where did all these languages come from? Linguists recognize that most languages have similarities to other languages. Related languages belong to what are called language families. These original language families (probably less than 100) resulted from God’s confusion of the language at Babel. Since that time, the original language families have grown and changed into the abundant number of languages today.
Is it feasible for 6,000-7,000 languages to develop from less than 100 in 4,000 years? The languages that came out of the confusion at Babel were “root languages” or language families. Over time, those root languages have varied by borrowing from other languages, developing new terms and phrases, and losing previous words and phrases. So yes, this is a possibility. A strong fact that this is possible is because they do exist today. So the real question would be whether or not the genealogy was correct, not that there could be 7,000 languages in existence in this short period of time. And yes, the genealogy too has been proven to be accurate.
I found something even more interesting that different languages also take on different thought patterns on how to construct everything from sentences to culture and the way words are expressed to form one thought. I found this: Thus, after God confused their language, not only did the builders at Babel lack “one set of words” (Genesis 11:1), one common vocabulary, but they also lacked a common grammar, a common way of expressing the relationship between words. Professor S. R. Driver stated: “Languages, however, differ not only in grammar and roots, but also . . . in the manner in which ideas are built up into a sentence. Different races do not think in the same way; and consequently the forms taken by the sentence in different languages are not the same.” (A Dictionary of the Bible, edited by J. Hastings, 1905, Vol. IV, p. 791) Thus, different languages require quite different thought patterns, making it difficult for a new learner to ‘think in the language.’ (Compare 1Cor. 14:10, 11.) This is also why a literal translation of something said or written in an unfamiliar language may seem illogical, often causing persons to say, “But it doesn’t make sense!” So, it appears that, when Jehovah God confused the speech of those at Babel, he first blotted out all memory of their previous common language and then introduced into their minds not only new vocabularies but also changed thought patterns, producing new grammars.—Compare Isaiah 33:19; Ezekiel 3:4-6.
Language research provides evidence in harmony with the preceding information. The New Encyclopædia Britannica says: “The earliest records of written language, the only linguistic fossils man can hope to have, go back no more than about 4,000 or 5,000 years.” (1985, Vol. 22, p. 567) An article in Science Illustrated of July 1948 (p. 63) states: “Older forms of the languages known today were far more difficult than their modern descendants . . . man appears not to have begun with a simple speech, and gradually made it more complex, but rather to have gotten hold of a tremendously knotty speech somewhere in the unrecorded past, and gradually simplified it to the modern forms.” Linguist Dr. Mason also points out that “the idea that ‘savages’ speak in a series of grunts, and are unable to express many ‘civilized’ concepts, is very wrong,” and that “many of the languages of non-literate peoples are far more complex than modern European ones.” (Science News Letter, September 3, 1955, p. 148) The evidence is thus against any evolutionary origin of speech or of ancient languages.
On another side note, as of the present time, the Bible, the whole or in part, is available in upwards of 2,000 languages.
Here are some of the worlds languages and the number of people speaking them (I'm certain the numbers listed here are approximate and change with population growths):
Name of the language and number in the millions
1 Mandarin Chinese 885
2 English 322
3 Spanish 266
4 Bengali 189
5 Hindi 182
6 Portuguese 170
7 Russian 170
8 Japanese 125
9 German 98
10 Wu Chinese 77
11 Javanese 76
12 Korean 75
13 French 72
14 Vietnamese 68
15 Telugu 66
16 Yue Chinese (Cantonese) 66
17 Marathi 65
18 Tamil 63
19 Turkish 59
20 Urdu 57
Another set of questions have to do with what counts as a language. For instance, you may be surprised to see Arabic -- certainly one of the world's major languages -- missing entirely from this list of the "top twenty." In fact, Arabic (in all its varieties) has 202 million speakers world-wide, and with this count would be #4 on the list above. However, Ethnologue considers the local colloquial varieties of Arabic to be separate languages, and the largest single colloquial is Egyptian, with 42.5 million speakers. This is not unreasonable, since different Arabic colloquials are not mutually intelligible, or at least not entirely so. Algerian Colloquial Arabic (for instance) is roughly as different from Egyptian Colloquial Arabic as Portuguese is from Spanish. If we considered Portuguese and Spanish as a single language -- called "Iberian" or something like that -- then the combined language would have 436 million speakers (or 502 million by Ethnologue's 1999 definitions), far ahead of English in second place.
On the other side of the argument, educated people in all the Arabic-speaking countries can speak, read and understand "Modern Standard Arabic", which is also the language used in news broadcasts, newspapers, and so on. Thus an educated Egyptian in Algeria can read the paper, understand the TV news, and converse easily with an educated Algerian. In some sense, they remain part of the same linguistic community, in a way that speakers of Spanish and Portuguese may not.
To take another example, Hindi and Urdu are essentially the same language. For historical and political reasons, they have different writing systems, and some different strata of borrowed vocabulary, but ordinary speakers are likely to be able to understand one another quite well. Combining their counts would give us 182+57 = 239, a 30% increase for Hindi, putting the Hindi/Urdu combination into fourth place -- though Hindi was already in fifth place.
For a third example, consider Turkish, which is listed with 59 million speakers (46 million in Turkey). Speakers of closely related languages that are mutually intelligible with Turkish (at least to some extent) include 13.9 million South Azerbaijani, 7 million North Azerbaijani, 5.4 million Turkmen, 500,000 Gagauz Turkish, 400,000 Khorasani, 300,000 Crimean Turkish, 200,000 Qashqa', 55,000 Salar: about 87 million total. This 47% increase in the count for Turkish would move it to 10th position from 19th position.
Monday, March 10, 2014
What was the relationship between Noah & Nimrod?
As shown in this genealogy chart, Noah was the great grandfather of Nimrod
How many people were on earth at the time the tower was built?
After discussions on how many languages there were at the time of the building of the Tower of Babel, there was One language. When Jehovah confused the languages so that they had to stop building because they couldn't communicate with each other, some have concluded that there were approximately 100 languages instantly being used. Then over the next 4,000 years or so, there have come to be approximately 6,900 languages or less, which all appear to be related to the first 100 or so languages.
So how many people were there when the tower was being built? Here is one conception of a rendering of the genealogy of Noah:
Sorry, I can't get this any bigger on this chart. I'll continue to look for another one that can expand for a better more readable view.
Judging from this chart, there were about 75 names named. These names also had sub-names listed which are not shown here. Obviously the ancestors of Noah had children over the course of the 100 years to Nimrod, so I'm guessing there could have been about 300-500 people around the time Nimrod came on the scene. But not only did Nimrod arrange to build the Tower of Babel, the beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom also included the cities of Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, all in the land of Shinar. (Ge 10:10) Here Genesis 10:8-10 reads: 8 Cush became father to Nim′rod. He was the first to become a mighty one on the earth. 9 He became a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah. That is why there is a saying: “Just like Nim′rod, a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Ba′bel, E′rech, Ac′cad, and Cal′neh, in the land of Shi′nar.
I'm still working on this because I can't figure out how so few patriarchs had so many people so as to build cities and have a kingdom.
This research is under construction and will change as I discover newer and/or different information.
So how many people were there when the tower was being built? Here is one conception of a rendering of the genealogy of Noah:
Sorry, I can't get this any bigger on this chart. I'll continue to look for another one that can expand for a better more readable view.
Judging from this chart, there were about 75 names named. These names also had sub-names listed which are not shown here. Obviously the ancestors of Noah had children over the course of the 100 years to Nimrod, so I'm guessing there could have been about 300-500 people around the time Nimrod came on the scene. But not only did Nimrod arrange to build the Tower of Babel, the beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom also included the cities of Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, all in the land of Shinar. (Ge 10:10) Here Genesis 10:8-10 reads: 8 Cush became father to Nim′rod. He was the first to become a mighty one on the earth. 9 He became a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah. That is why there is a saying: “Just like Nim′rod, a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Ba′bel, E′rech, Ac′cad, and Cal′neh, in the land of Shi′nar.
I'm still working on this because I can't figure out how so few patriarchs had so many people so as to build cities and have a kingdom.
This research is under construction and will change as I discover newer and/or different information.
Was Noah alive when the tower was built?
Here is the Genealogy of Noah
So according to these charts, Nimrod was from the line of Cush and came into existence around
1Chronicles 1:10 "Cush became father to Nim′rod. He was the first to become a mighty one on the earth." The Babylonian Talmud (Erubin 53a) states: “Why, then, was he called Nimrod? Because he stirred up the whole world to rebel (himrid) against His [God’s] sovereignty.”—Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, by Menahem M. Kasher, Vol. II, 1955, p. 79.
Nimrod was the founder and king of the first empire to come into existence after the Flood. He distinguished himself as a mighty hunter “before” (in an unfavorable sense; Heb., liph·neh′; “against” or “in opposition to”; compare Nu 16:2; 1Ch 14:8; 2Ch 14:10) or “in front of” Jehovah. (Genesis 10:9,) Although in this case some scholars attach a favorable sense to the Hebrew preposition meaning “in front of,” the Jewish Targums, the writings of the historian Josephus, and also the context of Genesis chapter 10 suggest that Nimrod was a mighty hunter in defiance of Jehovah. The people were eager to follow this advice of [Nimrod], deeming it slavery to submit to God; so they set out to build the tower . . . and it rose up with a speed beyond all expectation.
More Genealogy
How long after flood of Noah's day was Nimrod around?
The flood of Noah's day occurred in 2370 B.C.E. Genesis 7:1-16, Luke 17:27 and the Tower of Babel was in 2269 B.C.E. There is a total of 101 years between the two events. Nimrod was already an adult with a reputation and had become a King by that time so he must have been at least 20-30 years old or so.
Genesis 7:1-16, 24 reads:
7 After that Jehovah said to Noah: “Go into the ark, you and all your household, because you are the one I have found to be righteous before me among this generation. 2 You must take with you every kind of clean animal by sevens, the male and its mate; and of every animal that is not clean just two, the male and its mate; 3 also of the flying creatures of the sky by sevens, male and female, to preserve their offspring alive over all the earth. 4 For in just seven days, I will make it rain on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe from the surface of the ground every living thing that I have made.” 5 Then Noah did everything that Jehovah had commanded him. 6 Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters came upon the earth. 7 So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark ahead of the floodwaters. 8 Of every clean animal and of every animal that is not clean and of the flying creatures and of everything that moves on the ground, 9 they went inside the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 And seven days later the floodwaters came upon the earth. 11 In the 600th year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on that day all the springs of the vast watery deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And the rain poured down on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. 13 On that very day, Noah went into the ark along with his sons, Shem, Ham, and Ja′pheth, and his wife and the three wives of his sons. 14 They went in with every wild animal according to its kind, and every domestic animal according to its kind, and every creeping animal of the earth according to its kind, and every flying creature according to its kind, every bird, every winged creature. 15 They kept going to Noah inside the ark, two by two, of every sort of flesh that has the breath of life. 16 So they went in, male and female of every sort of flesh, just as God had commanded him. After that Jehovah shut the door behind him. 24 And the waters continued overwhelming the earth for 150 days.
Luke 17:27
they were eating, they were drinking, men were marrying, women were being given in marriage until that day when Noah entered into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all.
Noah was the first patriarch of the post-Flood society. (Genesis 10:1-32) Nevertheless, during his lifetime false religion again rose up among those under the leadership of Nimrod, as is seen in their rebellious attempt to build “a tower with its top in the heavens” for fear that they might be scattered “over all the surface of the earth.” This was in direct opposition to God’s command to “fill the earth,” and was a rebellion also against Noah’s position as God’s prophet. Noah died about two years before the birth of Abraham. He therefore got to see Jehovah’s judgment on the builders of the Tower of Babel and the scattering of those rebellious ones over the face of the earth. Noah and Shem were not involved in the tower building and consequently would not suffer confusion of their language, but would continue to speak man’s original language, which God gave to Adam.—Genesis 9:1, 28, 29; 11:1-9.
The Tower of Babel has traditionally been depicted as a type of ziggurat, although the Bible doesn’t give specific dimensions. Interestingly, this word means tower but figuratively reflects a flowerbed that yields a pyramidal shape. This gives a little support to the idea that the Tower of Babel may have been pyramidal or ziggurat shaped.
Genesis 7:1-16, 24 reads:
7 After that Jehovah said to Noah: “Go into the ark, you and all your household, because you are the one I have found to be righteous before me among this generation. 2 You must take with you every kind of clean animal by sevens, the male and its mate; and of every animal that is not clean just two, the male and its mate; 3 also of the flying creatures of the sky by sevens, male and female, to preserve their offspring alive over all the earth. 4 For in just seven days, I will make it rain on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe from the surface of the ground every living thing that I have made.” 5 Then Noah did everything that Jehovah had commanded him. 6 Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters came upon the earth. 7 So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark ahead of the floodwaters. 8 Of every clean animal and of every animal that is not clean and of the flying creatures and of everything that moves on the ground, 9 they went inside the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 And seven days later the floodwaters came upon the earth. 11 In the 600th year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on that day all the springs of the vast watery deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And the rain poured down on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. 13 On that very day, Noah went into the ark along with his sons, Shem, Ham, and Ja′pheth, and his wife and the three wives of his sons. 14 They went in with every wild animal according to its kind, and every domestic animal according to its kind, and every creeping animal of the earth according to its kind, and every flying creature according to its kind, every bird, every winged creature. 15 They kept going to Noah inside the ark, two by two, of every sort of flesh that has the breath of life. 16 So they went in, male and female of every sort of flesh, just as God had commanded him. After that Jehovah shut the door behind him. 24 And the waters continued overwhelming the earth for 150 days.
Luke 17:27
they were eating, they were drinking, men were marrying, women were being given in marriage until that day when Noah entered into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all.
Noah was the first patriarch of the post-Flood society. (Genesis 10:1-32) Nevertheless, during his lifetime false religion again rose up among those under the leadership of Nimrod, as is seen in their rebellious attempt to build “a tower with its top in the heavens” for fear that they might be scattered “over all the surface of the earth.” This was in direct opposition to God’s command to “fill the earth,” and was a rebellion also against Noah’s position as God’s prophet. Noah died about two years before the birth of Abraham. He therefore got to see Jehovah’s judgment on the builders of the Tower of Babel and the scattering of those rebellious ones over the face of the earth. Noah and Shem were not involved in the tower building and consequently would not suffer confusion of their language, but would continue to speak man’s original language, which God gave to Adam.—Genesis 9:1, 28, 29; 11:1-9.
The Tower of Babel has traditionally been depicted as a type of ziggurat, although the Bible doesn’t give specific dimensions. Interestingly, this word means tower but figuratively reflects a flowerbed that yields a pyramidal shape. This gives a little support to the idea that the Tower of Babel may have been pyramidal or ziggurat shaped.
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