THE TOWER OF BABEL
Genesis 11.1 to 9
=Interpretation.= These verses tell how the descendants of Noah in
the pride of a new civilization and the acquisition of the new art
of building with bricks endeavor to defeat the divine purpose of
scattering them over the world and are frustrated in their plans
through God's confusing their language. Its moral is the vanity of
any attempt on the part of man to defeat God's purpose.
=Aim.= This lesson is not one that yields a moral which the child
is able to apply immediately in his own life. Its moral is rather
for society than for the individual in its exposure of the vanity
of reliance on the mere material elements in civilization. Inasmuch
however as it can be made interesting to the child and appealing to
his imagination it is well to teach it that it may become a part of
his store of Jewish information which will receive added meaning as
his experience grows.
=Suggestions to the teacher.= This lesson should be introduced by a
reference to the different languages with which the child has come
in contact. He can then have his attention called to the fact that,
as all men are descended from Noah, they must all originally have
spoken one language. This at once raises the question how it came
about that there are now many languages, and, when the child is
interested in this question, he has the proper mental attitude for
hearing the story.
The motive for the building of the tower is not given very clearly
in the Bible and, in the form in which it is given, is hardly
calculated to impress the story on a child's mind. It is well,
therefore, to amplify the story in accordance with the _haggadah_
that suggests as motive the attempt to avoid the consequences of
another such flood as at the time of Noah. The sin, therefore, of
the generation of the dispersion lies in the fact that instead of
trying to avoid God's displeasure they tried to render themselves
immune to its consequences, a moral that carries out the idea of the
Biblical narrative only stating it in more explicit terms.