Genesis 11 · Verse 5

Genesis 11:5

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
Genesis 11:5, King James Version

Genesis 11:5 in other translations

BSBThen the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.
WEBThe LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
ASVAnd Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
YLTAnd Jehovah cometh down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men have builded;
DARBYAnd Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built.
BBEAnd the Lord came down to see the town and the tower which the children of men were building.
WebsterAnd the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men were building.

What does Genesis 11:5 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 And the Lord came down - A lesson, says an ancient Jewish commentator, to magistrates to examine every evidence before they decree judgment and execute justice.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 11:5-9
Here is an expression after the manner of men; The Lord came down to see the city. God is just and fair in all he does against sin and sinners, and condemns none unheard. Pious Eber is not found among this ungodly crew; for he and his are called the children of God; their souls joined not themselves to the assembly of these children of men. God suffered them to go on some way, that the works of their hands, from which they promised themselves lasting honour, might turn to their lasting reproach. God has wise and holy ends, in allowing the enemies of his glory to carry on their wicked projects a great way, and to prosper long. Observe the wisdom and mercy of God, in the methods taken for defeating this undertaking. And the mercy of God in not making the penalty equal to the offence; for he deals not with us according to our sins. The wisdom of God, in fixing upon a sure way to stop these proceedings. If they could not understand one another, they could not help one another; this would take them off from their building. God has various means, and effectual ones, to baffle and defeat the projects of proud men that set themselves against him, and particularly he divides them among themselves. Notwithstanding their union and obstinacy God was above them; for who ever hardened his heart against him, and prospered? Their language was confounded. We all suffer by it to this day: in all the pains and trouble used to learn the languages we have occasion for, we suffer for the rebellion of our ancestors at Babel. Nay, and those unhappy disputes, which are strifes of words, and arise from misunderstanding one another's words, for aught we know, are owing to this confusion of tongues. They left off to build the city. The confusion of their tongues not only unfitted them for helping one another, but they saw the hand of the Lord gone out against them. It is wisdom to leave off that which we see God fights against. God is able to blast and bring to nought all the devices and designs of Babel-builders: there is no wisdom nor counsel against the Lord. The builders departed according to their families, and the tongue they spake, to the countries and places allotted to them. The children of men never did, nor ever will, come all together again, till the great day, when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and all nations shall be gathered before him.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Genesis 11:5 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֵּ֣רֶדvai.Ye.redand he came downH3381
יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahwehH3068
לִרְאֹ֥תlir.'Otto seeH7200
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הָעִ֖ירha.'Irthe cityH5892
וְאֶת\־ve.'Etand <obj.>H853
הַמִּגְדָּ֑לha.mig.Dalthe towerH4026
אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherwhichH834
בָּנ֖וּba.Nuthey had builtH1129
בְּנֵ֥יbe.Nei[the] children ofH1121
הָאָדָֽם\׃ha.'a.Dam<the> humankindH120

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 11:5

  • Psalms 33:13-14

    The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

  • Genesis 18:21

    I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

  • John 3:13

    And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

  • Hebrews 4:13

    Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

  • Jeremiah 23:23-24

    Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.

  • Exodus 19:11

    And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

  • Psalms 11:4

    The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

  • Exodus 19:20

    And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

  • Exodus 3:8

    And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

  • Exodus 19:18

    And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
18:21; Ex 19:11; Ps 11:4; 33:13,14; Jer 23:23,24; Joh 3:13; Heb 4:13

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 11:4

    And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

  • Genesis 11:5

    And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

  • Genesis 11:6

    And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Read all of Genesis 11

Genesis 11:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y descendió Jehová para ver la ciudad y la torre que edificaban los hijos de los hombres.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et l’ Éternel descendit pour voir la ville et la tour que bâtissaient les fils des hommes.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Jehova fuhr hernieder, die Stadt und den Turm zu sehen, welche die Menschenkinder bauten.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Descendit autem Dominus ut videret civitatem et turrim, quam ædificabant filii Adam,