Why does Genesis 10 say everyone spoke a different language but 11 says they all spoke the same language?

Question

Genesis 10

5From these the coastland peoples spread. [These are the sons of Japheth] in their lands, each with his own language, by their families within their nations.

20These are the sons of Ham by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

31These are Shem's descendants by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.


Genesis 11

1AND THE whole earth was of one language and of one accent and mode of expression.

Answer 1

Maybe the reason the Christians were in an uproar about the satanic messages in music, when it was played backwards, so many years ago is because we are supposed to read the Bible backwards. Damn, I knew I was reading it wrong.

Answer 2

Chapter 10 is the genealogy - family tree - descendants of the sons of Noah of which some were not even alive when chapter 11 happened.

Chapter 11 The Tower of Babel where God confounded their language and they went out from their speaking different languages.


No confusion - Bible often starts a Chapter with the genealogy and lists the ancestors before the story or history

Answer 3

Hi..I think the thing that needs to be recognized when reading Genesis is that there may be several years between verses. It is not a story told straight through but parts that lead to a point. The verses talk of the way people spread...who they were..where they lived..and then they were of one nation. Sons and descendants often take a while to get.

Answer 4

11:1 "AND", or some versions "NOW", this is a "time" reference. Chronologically 11:1 is before 10. Its like Genesis 1 & 2. Look at 1 & 2 Kings and then see Chronicles. Sometimes the Bible will give the general story, then later go back and give the details, and vice-versa.

Answer 5

Chapter 10 is one of the "parenthetical" chapters in which there is a summary of history ... telling who were the descendants of Noah and what happened to each of those groups. And how each of those groups spoke different languages.

Some might want to know how it happened that the various languages came to be. So Chapter 11 resumes from Chapter 9 and tells specific details of the origin of languages.

The Bible is written to explain the WHY of events, etc. It is NOT written in a strict chronological manner where each verse/chapter/book is, timewise, subsequent to the previous verse/chapter/book

Answer 6

Untill some point after the flood all of mankind was of one language, Hebrew. Nimrod, by violence and intimidation, succeeded in uniting from among Noah’s descendants a large number of families. In their travels eastward, in what is today known as the Fertile Crescent, they settled in a section of Mesopotamia called Shinar. There they built the ancient cities of Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh. From this start, the first Babylonian empire expanded rapidly to include such cities as Nineveh to the north. Nimrod was the instigator of temple-tower building. He became a false god, and to this day untold millions, knowingly or unknowingly, honor him.
Associated with this king and these cities were massive towers or stage-temples. The reason for the construction of the city of Babel and its tower is described in the Biblical account in the following manner: “They now said: ‘Come on! Let us build ourselves a city and also a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a celebrated name for ourselves, for fear we may be scattered over all the surface of the earth.”’ Examining this record closely, we learn that the building of the cities and their corresponding towers was to accomplish three principal purposes: (1) unite men under a visible ruler or king in defiance of the true King and God Jehovah; (2) provide a haven of refuge, due to a lack of faith in God’s promise that he would never destroy wicked men again by means of a flood, and (3) provide a place for their god or gods to dwell.—Gen. 11:4.
Under the purpose of towers and temples it is noted that the Babylonian cult was mystic and based upon astrology and divination. Thus the sanctuary located at the top of the tower, besides being the abode of the god of the city, served as an observatory for astronomical and astrological studies.
Their schemes were stopped when Jehovah confused their language and scattered them over the face of the earth. The Biblical record informs us that in the days of Peleg “the earth was divided,” possibly meaning that the confusion of tongues occurred in his lifetime, or about 150 years after the Flood.—Gen. 11:5-9; 10:25. These facts of the Tower of Babel were confirmed by history, and archeology. The historian Josephus relates facts concerning Babel.

Languages Bridges And Walls To Communication
http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2000/8/8/article_01.htm

WT 1961

Answer 7

Gen 11:1 AT FIRST, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words.

This means that God caused confusion amongst the people because of their selfish plan, to try and make a name for themself by building a tower to reach the sky. God then decided to scatter them all over the earthh and give them different languages to stop them communicating their plan.

Answer 8

additionally, it must be touching on dialect. whilst i replaced into studying Spanish years in the past, the instructor noted that the Spanish spoken in areas of South united states of america of america isn't precisely a similar because of the fact the Spanish spoken in Spain. whilst human beings unfold in a foreign country, the language spoken has a tendency to handle an entire life of that's very own. The Bible can even have been pointing forward in time to whilst the language might actually be diverse. an excellent sort of prophecies, working example, are recorded in "present annoying" because of the fact God does not lie... what he stated 6,000 years in the past replaced into as good as achieved in spite of the undeniable fact that it hadn't bodily got here approximately at that component. good question.

Answer 9

You are erroneously impying that these two verses represent sequential events -- THEY DO NOT.

Each passage is an historical account of events, but not a sequential set of events.

Verse 10 is a table of the nations (describes lineages); and verse 11 is twofold, one part is the account of the events of the tower of babel and the other part is a continuation of the lineages of the people.

These two verse are NOT a sequential listing of events.

Answer 10

From Matthew Poole's Commentary:

Every one after his tongue, i.e. according to their several languages, into which they were divided at Babel. By which it appears that this division, though mentioned before, was not executed till after the confusion of languages at Babel.

Answer 11

Chapter 10 is paranthetical - it lists the geneology of Noah and then returns to the story of the Tower of Babel.