Now, my question concerning this passage is thus: If God never destroyed this magnificent tower, then shouldn't we expect to see some evidence of it today? Even ancient houses leave behind at least their foundations.
yes, no, and maybe. presuming the text is a literal history (it's not), we should. presuming the text is merely a story told to teach a lesson, no. presuming somewhere in between -- that it was based on a real place, albeit very loosely -- we
might find a ziggurat that somewhat matches the description.
i've proposed a couple of time a conceptual link between this story and a famous verse from isaiah, the "lucifer" verse:
quote:
How art thou fallen from heaven,
O day-star, son of the morning!
How art thou cut down to the ground,
that didst cast lots over the nations!
And thou saidst in thy heart:
'I will ascend into heaven,
above the stars of God will I exalt my throne,
and I will sit upon the mount of meeting,
in the uttermost parts of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High.'
Isaiah 14:12-14
conceptually, it's very similar. a man (in this case, king nebuchadnezzar) tries to build a very high tower to place himself in the heavens, and is cut down by god. the great nebuchadnezzar was known for building ziggurats -- it's possible the tower that inspired babel was the same tower here. i'm aware that the dates wouldn't match at all, but we're talking inspiration and not a factual account.
There is an English translation”probably more”that says (emphasis added): "(5) But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.(NIV)"
1) In the original Hebrew, what is the tense of the verb 'build' in verse (5)?
quote:
, — - -’—, ‘, ‘
v'yared yahueh l'reot et-ha-ir v'et-ha-migdal asher banu beni-ha-adam
and-came-down [the lord] to-see (d.o.)-the-city and-(d.o.)-the-tower that built sons-of-the-man
"and the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of man built."
not sure where the NIV gets the past-perfect from. it's probably to make it seem like the tower was incomplete (as is the tradition). but the hebrew verb is simple past tense,
(hem) banu, "(they) built." which makes it seem like the tower was completed.
2) Where is Shinar?
babylon. really anything in that general area.
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