1 And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar ; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
4 And they said, Come, 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.
Note · Genèse 11.1–4
Un projet commun peut devenir une fermeture
La construction ne vise pas seulement un bâtiment élevé : ses participants veulent éviter d’être dispersés. Leur unité est liée à une volonté de maîtriser leur avenir. Le récit permet d’interroger les projets qui exigent l’uniformité sans déclarer mauvaises toute organisation et toute ambition humaines.
5 And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language ; and this is what they begin to do : and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do.
7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth : and they left off building the city.
9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel ; because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth : and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Note · Genèse 11.5–9
Une grandeur humaine remise à sa place
La descente de Dieu contraste avec la hauteur recherchée par les bâtisseurs. La confusion des langues interrompt leur projet. Le passage ne donne pas une histoire linguistique complète ; il met en scène la limite d’une entreprise qui voudrait disposer d’une humanité rassemblée autour de sa propre gloire.
10 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arpachshad two years after the flood :
11 and Shem lived after he begat Arpachshad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
12 And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years, and begat Shelah :
13 and Arpachshad lived after he begat Shelah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
14 And Shelah lived thirty years, and begat Eber :
15 and Shelah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg :
17 and Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu :
19 and Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug :
21 and Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor :
23 and Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah :
25 and Nahor lived after he begat Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Note · Genèse 11.10–26
Une généalogie qui rapproche l’horizon
La liste conduit de Sem à Térach. Son rythme prépare le changement d’échelle : l’histoire des nations laisse progressivement place à celle d’une maison. Ce resserrement ne signifie pas que les autres peuples cessent de compter ; la promesse faite à Abram retrouvera précisément leur horizon.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran ; and Haran begat Lot.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives : the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai ; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
30 And Sarai was barren ; she had no child.
31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife ; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan ; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years : and Terah died in Haran.
Note · Genèse 11.27–32
Un départ et un avenir humainement incertain
Le voyage familial commence avant l’appel raconté au chapitre 12. Il s’arrête à Charan. La mention de la stérilité de Saraï est déterminante pour la suite, mais elle ne constitue pas un jugement moral sur elle : le récit ne lui attribue aucune faute pour expliquer cette situation.
