Bodie Hodge. Tower of Babel. Master Books, 2012.

I happened to see a brief review of this book recently, and it sounded interesting. For the Bible scholar it is worth reading. Tower of Babel is the product of much research. While the author admits some things are speculative, the book does help put the first eleven chapters of the Bible in perspective.

A personal and general observation I have made is that those who study antiquity or early history seem to take one of two approaches. One is an archaeological approach. The other is a documentary approach. The first tends to look at physical items dug up or uncovered. The second focuses on ancient writings. For whatever reasons they are often at odds with each other.

Tower of Babel takes the documentary approach. It refers to many ancient writings from around the world with a focus on the so-called Table of Nations in Genesis chapter ten, and the genealogy of Shem in chapter eleven. In some cases, ancient Jewish writings or traditions tell us what some of these nations or founders of ethnic groups likely were. In some cases it is other sources from other cultures. In some cases it is more recent research.

Much of the story of the Tower of Babel is easy enough to imagine. After the Flood, God told people to move out and repopulate the earth. Most people stayed in Mesopotamia and rebelled against God. Their tower was their primary act of rebellion. They were scattered by God confusing the language. Then they moved out.

The reason that some of the research is speculative is simply that people have continued to move and migrate ever since. Those of us from America often have ancestors from many different countries. Today’s news tells of people migrating from Afghanistan, the Near East, and Central America. It is still happening.

Also, various nations combine, get conquered or assimilated, or conquer and assimilate others. For example, England was likely first settled by Celts, then conquered by the Angles and Saxons from Germany, and then the French-speaking Normans. All three ethnicities contribute to the British Isles historically.

Because some of the discussion has to do with which nation came from which ancestor after Babel, it gets convoluted and a bit dry in places. The overall effect, though, is one that should encourage those who see the Bible as a historical work. The footnotes are especially helpful and may provide further evidence for anyone who wants to carry on the discussion.

The author does a good job of trying to sort out which Biblical names apply. We understand this even from Jesus’ disciples. He had two disciples named Judas (Judah), two named Simon, and two named James (Jacob). In a few cases even in the older genealogies there is more than one person by the same name. Tower of Babel does a good job of trying to sort out which one is referred to not only in the Bible but in other historical texts.

An appendix illustrates this. The appendix is titled “Date of Job.” The Bible tells us Job came from the land of Uz. The Bible genealogies name two different early patriarchs named Uz. Which one is the likeliest to be the founder of Job’s homeland? It is an interesting discussion considering that Job and Ruth are the two title characters in the Hebrew Scriptures whose birth is outside of the Abrahamic covenant.

Tower of Babel also discusses Pentecost as a reversal of the curse of Babel. The book handles this commonly held theme well. It also notes, as many others do, that Babel and Babylon are the same word in Hebrew. English Bible translators tended to translate Babel when talking about the post-Flood tower and Babylon, the Greek name, for later kingdoms in the same location.

I may have missed it, but I do not recall seeing the Hebrew meaning of Babel. It literally means “gate of God.” That in itself could be a sign of rebellion—we are building this tower as the gateway to the heavens. One could say that that has been man’s problem since the Fall. Mankind has figured out many ways to supposedly get to or discover God. The question then becomes, which way is really God’s way?