coloradoatheist

I have a question for the experts out there.

Gen 10:20 and before that describes the spreading out of Noah's families after the flood and 10:20 says these are Ham's nations and languages. But yet you turn to 11 and it's the story of the Tower of Babel and it says the world had one language. So how can the family of Noah spread throughout the world with their languages but turn around in the next paragraph and say there was only one language?

I know the rabbis have come up with some explanation but the simple solution is two well known myths had to be included in the story and the combiner didn't proofread.

Mike

gregor

From which comes the Documentary Hypothesis.

Riverwind

Really? Care to elaborate on what you think the 'documentary hypothesis' is and why it applies here?

coloradoatheist

Because look at the two stories. Gen 10 ends with saying thatthat all the sons of Noah spread out creating nations and languages. Then Gen 11 says that all the people were one language and they came together to build a tower. One author wouldn't make that mistake and would either have finished Gen 10 by saying hey all these people got off the boat, decided to get together and build a temple, etc. Or starting off Gen 11 the one author would have said instead of "they" coming from the east they would have been either Noah's kids or one group of Noah's family. There's two different stories here from history that had to be woven together somehow and the author just stuck Babel there.

Mike

coloradoatheist

Also Gen 11:1-9 make no sense because 10 finished with discussing Shem and then 11:10 starts with Shem again. It's a story out of place.


Mike

Clivedurdle

Strange how god has difficulty getting competent editors...

Cege

What are the rabbi apologies/explanations?

I'll take a guess that the apology offered is that the information given in Gen 10 and 11 isn't in chronological order.

How'd I do?