The Tower of Babel - מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל

Genesis 11:1-9

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward,¹ they found a plain in Shinar² and settled there.

וַיְהִי כָל-הָאָרֶץ, שָׂפָה אֶחָת, וּדְבָרִים, אֲחָדִים. וַיְהִי, בְּנָסְעָם מִקֶּדֶם; וַיִּמְצְאוּ בִקְעָה בְּאֶרֶץ שִׁנְעָר, וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם.³

They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל-רֵעֵהוּ, הָבָה נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, וְנִשְׂרְפָה, לִשְׂרֵפָה; וַתְּהִי לָהֶם הַלְּבֵנָה, לְאָבֶן, וְהַחֵמָר, הָיָה לָהֶם לַחֹמֶר. וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָבָה נִבְנֶה-לָּנוּ עִיר, וּמִגְדָּל וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם, וְנַעֲשֶׂה-לָּנוּ, שֵׁם: פֶּן-נָפוּץ, עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ.⁴

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

וַיֵּרֶד יְהוָה, לִרְאֹת אֶת-הָעִיר וְאֶת-הַמִּגְדָּל, אֲשֶׁר בָּנוּ, בְּנֵי הָאָדָם. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, הֵן עַם אֶחָד וְשָׂפָה אַחַת לְכֻלָּם, וְזֶה, הַחִלָּם לַעֲשׂוֹת; וְעַתָּה לֹא-יִבָּצֵר מֵהֶם, כֹּל אֲשֶׁר יָזְמוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת. הָבָה, נֵרְדָה, וְנָבְלָה שָׁם, שְׂפָתָם--אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ, אִישׁ שְׂפַת רֵעֵהוּ. ⁵

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel⁶—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

וַיָּפֶץ יְהוָה אֹתָם מִשָּׁם, עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ; וַיַּחְדְּלוּ, לִבְנֹת הָעִיר. עַל-כֵּן קָרָא שְׁמָהּ, בָּבֶל, כִּי-שָׁם בָּלַל יְהוָה, שְׂפַת כָּל-הָאָרֶץ; וּמִשָּׁם הֱפִיצָם יְהוָה, עַל-פְּנֵי כָּל-הָאָרֶץ. ⁷

Our Universal Language

In the book of Genesis 11:1-9, A Tower named Bab-ilu ("Gate of God"), Hebrew form בבל (Babel), is spoken of. According to Genesis, the Babylonians wanted to make a name for themselves by building a mighty tower "with its top in the heavens." God, angered by their hubris, by their unification of communication and assimilation of culture, recognized that if successful "nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them." Angered by their hubris, he disrupted their work, turning their Babel into a Tower of Balal.

In this parable, we learn of humanity's prowess, our technological strength, our combined potential to overcome the impossible, and the futility of our arrogance, hubris. Divine punishment or not, the rules of action and reaction, cause and effect, and emergent behaviours are absolute. The more intricate and tightly coupled our systems are built, the more unpredictable and dangerous they become—a grand house of cards waiting to fall, our very own Tower of Babel. Our universal language, mathematics used to describe and communicate the very universe has brought humanity together. Our success in overcoming the unknown, what was once deemed the impossible, has not only brought prosperity, it has allowed our leaders to make a name for themselves.

Now perhaps it's time to ask if our leaders have forgotten the simplest of lessons, those which predate calamity, those which caution how high we build our technological towers in an attempt to challenge the divine, in a hubristic condemnation of fate.

Wikipedia