From: Genesis 11:1-9
Babel: the confusion of language
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Commentary:
11:1-9. The text goes on to describe the growth of evil (cf. 8:21; 9:20-27), and,
as one of its results, the fact that mankind is scattered and its God-given unity is
fragmented. Thus, the text begins by talking about mankind when it was still toge-
ther; it came from the east, where it originated and settled in the plains of Meso-
potamia (in Shinar; cf. 10:10). But the people are filled with pride, and want to
make a name for themselves, and to guarantee their own security by reaching
heaven by their own efforts. This attitude is epitomized by the project of building
a massive tower (we can get some idea of it from the tower-temples of Mesopota-
mia, the ziggurats, on whose high terraces the Babylonians thought they could
gain access to the godhead and thus dominate God).
The text also offers an explanation for why there are so many languages; it sees
language as a sign of division and misunderstanding between individuals and na-
tions. It is based on the popular meaning of the word “babel”, connecting it with
the Hebrew balbalah, confusion; but in fact Babel means “gate of God”. We have
here an instance of literary devices being used to expound deep convictions – in
this case the view that disunion in mankind is the outcome of men’s pride and
sinfulness.
Babel thus becomes the opposite of Jerusalem, the city to which, the prophets
say, all the nations will flock (cf. Is 2:2-3). And it will be in the Church, the new
Jerusalem, that men of all nations, races and tongues will join in faith and love,
as will be seen in the Pentecost event (cf. Acts 2:1-13). There the phenomenon
of Babel will be reversed: all will understand the same language. In the history
of mankind, in effect, the Church is a kind of sign or sacrament of the union of
God and men, and of the unity of the whole human race (cf. Vatican II, “Lumen
Gentium”, 1).
11:4. St Augustine explains the frustration of man’s designs against God in this
way: “Where would man’s vain presumption have ended if it succeeded in rearing
a building of such size and height, even to the sky in the face of God – since
they would have been higher than any mountain and would have reached beyond
the limits of our atmosphere? In any case, no harm could have come to God from
any straining after spiritual or physical elevation” (”De civitate Dei”, 16, 4).
This new sin of mankind is basically the same sort of sin as was committed in
paradise; it is a kind of continuation of it. It is the sin of pride to which man is
always prone and it has been well described in the following words of St. Jose-
maria Escriva when he comments on 1 John 2:16: “The eyes of our soul grow
dull. Reason proclaims itself sufficient to understand everything, without the aid
of God. This is a subtle temptation, which hides behind the power of our intellect,
given by our Father God to man so that he might know and love him freely. Se-
duced by this temptation, the human mind appoints itself the centre of the uni-
verse, being thrilled with the prospect that ‘you shall be like gods’ (cf. Gen 3:5).
So, filled with love for itself, it turns its back on the love of God. In this way does
our existence fall prey unconditionally to the third enemy: pride of life. It’s not
merely a question of passing thoughts of vanity or self-love, it’s a state of gene-
ral conceit. Let’s not deceive ourselves, for this is the worst of all evils, the root
of every false step. The fight against pride has to be a constant battle, to such
an extent that someone once said that pride only disappears twenty-four hours
after a person dies. It is the arrogance of the Pharisee whom God cannot trans-
form because he finds in him the obstacle of self-sufficiency. It is the haughti-
ness which leads to despising other people, to lording it over them, and so mis-
treating them. For ‘when pride comes, then comes disgrace’ (Prov 11:2)”
(”Christ Is Passing By”, 6)
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Exodus 19:3-8a, 16-20b
God promises a Covenant
[7] So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them
all these words which the Lord had commanded him. [8] And all the people an-
swered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.”
[16] On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings, and a
thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the peo-
ple who were in the camp trembled. [17] Then Moses brought the people out of
the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain; [18]
And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in
fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain
quaked greatly. [19] And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Mo-
ses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. [20] And the Lord came down up-
on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain;
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Commentary:
19:1-25. This chapter is written as part of a magnificent liturgy is which the
events of Sinai are re-enacted for the reader. The sacred author, then, does not
seek to provide an exact, scholarly report on what happened there; what he is
providing, rather, is a theological interpretation of the real contact which took
place between God and his people.
As in other important sections of this book, it draws on the great traditions of
Israel but combines them so skillfully that they have become inseparable; only
now and then can one identify traces of particular traditions. The text as it now
stands is all of a piece. In this chapter there is a prologue (v. 9), summing up
what follows, and the theophany proper (vv. 10-25).
19:3-9. This passage summarizes the meaning of the Covenant that is going to
be established. So, it contains the idea of election, though it does not use the
term, and the idea of demands being made by God. Furthermore, we can see
here the new status of the people (it is God’s own property) and the basis of its
hope (in the sense that Israel attains its dignity as a people to the extent that it
is faithful to the divine will).
All the basic teachings are contained herein: a) The basis of the Covenant is Is-
rael’s deliverance from bondage (this has already happened: v. 4): the people are
the object of God’s preferential love; God made them a people by bringing about
that deliverance. b) If they keep the Covenant, they will become a very special
kind of people. This offer will take effect the moment they take on their commit-
ments, but Israel will develop towards its full maturity only to the extent that it
listens to/obeys the will of God. c) What God is offering the people is specified
in three complementary expressions – “My own possession”, “holy nation”,
“kingdom of priests”.
The first of these expressions means private property, personally acquired and
carefully conserved. Of all the nations of the earth Israel is to be “God’s property”
because he has chosen it and he protects it with special care. This new status
is something which will be stressed frequently (cf. Deut 7:6; 26:17-19; Ps 135;4;
Mal 3:17).
By being God’s possession Israel shares in his holiness, it is a “holy nation”, that
is, a people separated out from among the nations so as to keep a close relation-
ship with God; in other passages we are told more – that this is the relationship
of “a son of God” (cf. 4:22; Deut 14:1). This new way of being means that there is
a moral demand on the members of the people to show by their lives what they
are by God’s election: “You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev
19:2).
And the expression “kingdom of priests” does not mean that they will be ruled by
priests, or that the entire people will exercise the role of priest (which is in fact re-
served to the tribe of Levi); rather, it reflects the fact that God gives Israel the pri-
vilege of being the only nation in his service. Israel alone has been chosen to be
a “kingdom for the Lord”, that is, to be the sphere where he dwells and is recog-
nized as the only Sovereign. Israel’s acknowledgment of God is shown by the
service the entire people renders to the Lord.
This section (vv 7-8) ends with Moses’ proposal of God’s plans to the people and
their acceptance of these plans by the elders and by all the people; “All that the
Lord has spoken we will do” (v. 8). The same wording will be used twice again in
the ceremony to ratify the Covenant (cf. 24:3, 7).
In the New Testament (1 Pet 2:5; Rev 1:6; 5:9-10) what happened here will be
picked up again with the very same words, applying it to the new situation of the
Christian in the Church, the new people of God and the true Israel (cf. Gal 3:20):
every Christian shares in Christ’s priesthood through his incorporation into Christ
and is “called to serve God by his activity in the world, because of the common
priesthood of the faithful, which makes him share in some way in the priesthood
of Christ. This priesthood – though essentially distinct from the ministerial priest-
hood–gives him the capacity to take part in the worship of the Church and to help
other men in their journey to God, with the witness of his word and his example,
through his prayer and work of atonement” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ is Passing By”,
120).
19:10-25. This description of the theophany on Sinai contains features of a so-
lemn liturgy in order to highlight the majesty and transcendence of God. Verses
10-15 cover as it were the preparation for the great event, and vv. 16-20 the event
itself.
The preparation is very detailed: ritual purification in the days previous, ablutions
and everything possible done to ensure that the participants have the right dispo-
sitions, even a ban on sexual intercourse (cf. Lev 15:16ff) as a sign of exclusive
concentration on God who is coming to visit. Also, the fact that the people have
to keep within bounds is a tangible way of showing the transcendence of God.
Once Jesus Christ, God made man, comes, no barrier will any longer be im-
posed.
The manifestation of God took place on the third day; The smoke, the fire and
the earthquake are external signs of the presence of God, who is the master of
nature. The two trumpet blasts (vv. 16, 19), the people’s march to the foot of the
mountain and then standing to attention – all give a liturgical tone to their acknow-
ledgment of the Lord as their only Sovereign. All these things and even the voice
of God in the thunder convey the idea that this awesome storm was something
unique, for what was happening this special presence of God on Sinai, could
never happen again.
Israel will never forget this religious experience, as we can see from the Psalms
(cf. Ps 18:8-9; 29:3-4; 77:17-18; 97:2ff). In the New Testament, extraordinary di-
vine manifestations will carry echoes of this theophany (cf. Mt 27:45; 51; Acts
2:2-4).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.