The Tower

I was surprised to read these versions of the story of Babel and the tower because it was such a different story than the one I had always referenced from prior knowledge. Before reading these text selections, the only story that I knew about a tower and the intention to somehow confront God by building a tower to reach the heavens was from the Quran. The Quran references this story in a very different light than what was said in the Hebrew Bible selections. It was very interesting to see those stark contrasts and still see some similar attributes. In the Quran, the tower is referenced when the Pharaoh laughs at Moses’ statement of belief in one God and says that he doesn’t know of any God but himself, so he orders a guy named Haman to “bake bricks out of clay and set up for [him] a lofty tower in order that [he] may look at the God of Moses.” The similarities lie with the idea of “baking bricks” and making a tower to be at the same level of God, but this story never included the mention of “one language.” Also, the punishment in the Quran was that they (the disbelievers and Pharaoh) were drowned because of this action and others, but it had nothing to say about the dispersing of people as a punishment. I just thought it was so interesting that the Bible told a story of how language began and spread throughout the world and how the Quran didn’t have that story.

10/21/2014 Ian Crowley

I had no prior knowledge of Babel before reading these texts, and I found it quite interesting. I had never though that at one point in time all humans on earth were unified and spoke the same language. Whether or not this idea is realistic, I find it fascinating. Before reading Babel I had never though of the cultural divide between different nations to be a form punishment. To me it seems to be more of an inconvenience. It is interesting to see a new perspective on the way different languages and cultures were developed. I don't necessarily believe that a god could have scattered humans all across the earth and forced them to speak different languages, however I still find the idea intriguing.

Babel

After reading Babel, my first response was that God was punishing the people for attempting to be on his level. Another side of me believed that God was afraid of the people so he scattered them around the world. The second one is least likely to be the reason. I find it interesting that this seems to be the way that language has spread throughout the world. During the reading I was questioning the motive for separating this group of people. After reading this, I gained a clearer explanation of the word "babble" and I'm assuming this is where the term comes from. Overall the text was very short but interesting to think that early civilizations believed they could reach the heavens.

Babel

When I first read Babel, although I've heard that the story is meant to represent a punishment of sorts to the people who wanted to build a tower into the heavens, I saw it more as a way of separating everyone to create more cultural backgrounds and diversity in human kind. If they were all together in the same territory and all speaking the same language, there wouldn't be different cultures, or at least not right away.
In addition, in "Babel: The Hebrew Bible and Translation," it talks about how there are a handful of translations of this story, and how it is interesting that this is the case, because by translating, you are breaking the barrier between different languages and different cultures and people, so in a way it goes slightly against God's wishes to have people speaking different languages. I just thought it was an interesting point.

Babel and its Similarities to Evolution

I find it very interesting that after reading a story that comes from a religious text that I am consistently thinking about evolution. The two concepts completely contradict each other but right now, they work hand in hand. Babel tells the story of how language began and spread throughout the world, and my first connection was gene flow and how alleles used to be in Africa and now are all over the world. The connections continue in that Africa has the most genetic diversity of any continent as thats where homo sapiens arose and today, Africa is home to the most languages of any continent. While a weird connection, the similarities prove to very amusing and contradicting in that no one believes religion and evolution can work together hand in hand.

10/21/14 - Babel Translations

Prior to going through the assigned readings regarding the story of Babel, I had a very rudimentary understanding of what it discussed. I did not know the background information that is necessary to develop a strong understanding of this Biblical story, so I did some research and learned that it was set after the Great Flood and that it is important to take into account that humanity was united at that point, speaking the same language. I found it interesting how the different translations allowed me to have a different perspective of the story, but at times it was confusing because I did not know which one was "the best" or the most thorough. When I was reading the different translations, the phrase "And the whole earth was of one language and one speech". This phrase struck me because of the fact that it emphasizes the idea how before humans were "scattered" around the Earth by God, they (according to the myth) were unified by one language. It is interesting to note that today languages are barriers and are often the reasons why people from different countries have a hard time understanding each other's cultures. However, the story demonstrates how our world became so diverse and why people from different areas of the Earth are so unique.

Babel Response

I wasn't familiar with the story of Babel before this reading. In the Islamic traditions there is a story of the pharaoh from the time of Moses where he asks for a tower to be made to reach the God of Moses. However there is no story of the Babel or of the languages being made after the building etc. 

 

On the contrary it says in the Quran "O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted." So in the Islamic tradition tribes and nations were meant to unify people.

The story of the Babel depicts God in a different light to what I'm used to because God is not afraid of people. 

Babel Translations

After finishing this week’s assigned readings, I was reminded of last week’s class discussion.  The subject of translation in the readings similarly emulated the subject of translation mentioned in class.  In the modern age, it is very hard to pinpoint the “true” translated or interpreted work of the bible.  Like Ali said in class, the meaning of a word ages ago could be completely different to that of today’s.  When translating from one language to another, it’s very difficult to get everything across due to the structure of the language and the people and culture behind it.  As a result, different interpretations are produced.

Babel Translations

Before this assignment, I had heard of the story of Babel, given its fame worldwide, but had never really explored it.  One thing that shocked me was the amount of different translations that had been interpreted from one particular story.  Yes, storytelling enables us to have the ability to put our own twist on a given narrative, so it is no surprise that different people view the same story in a different way; that is a reflection of humanity and its inclination toward individual thought and tendency. The vast amount of translations, however, was a surprise.  I found it intriguing that in "Babel", the people's goal was to consolidate society.  God, however, had a different plan: to disseminate everyone and fragment their solidarity.  This prompted confusion, similar to how things foreign to us are alien and unfamiliar, often leading to confusion or misinterpretation when communicating with others who think differently than us.  It is important for the world to have different cultures, and for others to explore stories and history in their own ways.  The many different interpretations of "Babel" is a testimony to God's plan: to promote diversity.

Babel

The story of Babel is quite interesting to me, especially since I am so unfamiliar with it. The story is so short, yet it speaks volumes about hubris and trying to achieve the same level as God, trying to "out-play" him by trying to be above the next catastrophe he sends down, even though he has promised not to destroy the earth.
I really do enjoy the fact that the story of the origin of the different languages throughout the earth, which serves as a warning for becoming too powerful under one language, has been translated into so many other languages, effectively overstepping the language barrier between different cultures and unifying them with a story that is about the dangers of total unity. Just something that I found interesting; sorry if my thoughts are hard to understand.

Translations of Babel

Although I found the story of Babel itself to be very intriguing, I focused more on the fact that there were a plethora of different translations of the story of the Tower of Babel. It never occurred to me how many different connotations can be found in a line of writing and how many valid translations of one text can exist. Although the original story of Babel was very concise, I found it interesting how some translations had added details and facts that the translators found it worthy to mention. Because of this, the ancient translated texts people read today need to be taken with a grain of salt. Religious people need to keep in mind that the stories they are reading in ancient texts have been filtered by a human. People need to use their own judgment while reading holy books to ensure they are gleaning the correct meaning of the text that the author intended to convey.

Multiple Translations of Babel

To me, the most interesting aspect of the story of Babel is that God does to the builders exactly what it is they fear most: being spread across the face of the earth. The emphasis in the story of Babel tends to lean more towards the diversification of language (which certainly contributes to geographical spreading), but it really seems more powerful of a message to consider that these people were taken away from their friends and families. I would suggest that the confounding of languages followed the separation of groups, rather than the other way around, because languages tend to develop differently when isolated (take the various dialects of Chinese and the Afroasiatic languages). This is crucial to the story because it lends to Babel being a broader explanation for the spread of cultures and peoples across the face of the earth. It is also important to note that the story could be interpreted with the languages first being changed lending to the disintegration of the large community at Shinar. I would also support the idea that these multiple interpretations can lead to more widespread acceptance of the story because if one version doesn’t make sense to someone, they could very well just consider the other.

Babel

Having little previous experience with the story of Babel, I found myself somewhat confused reading these texts. The basic understanding I have gained from these texts is this: The story states that people once spoke the same language and decided to come together and build a city. They also decided to build a tower within that city that would reach up to the heavens just in case God decided to destroy the earth like he had previously done. God noticed that people were taking these preparations even though he had stated that he would not destroy the world again. Since people were making these preparations and achieving these lofty goals, God thought that nothing they attempted would be impossible for them to achieve. So he scattered them across the earth and gave them different languages so they could not understand each other.

Will someone please correct me if this interpretation is in any way incorrect? Also, I am still confused about the motivations of this story. Why would people feel a need to build this tower in the first place, and also, why would god be so offended by this that he chooses to punish everyone by taking away their common language?