Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/116

 The Book of Genesis

98

only to tents, or to the lowest and meanest of hovels, these Baby-

From Tower of

heaven.

must

towers

temple

lonian

this

it

seemed

have

may perhaps

indeed

reach

to

up

to

be inferred that this legend of

Fiabel had its origin in the days w^hen Israel still Arabian Desert as nomads, and either itself beheld, or heard other nomads tell of these lofty Babylonian towers.

the

roamed

the

Tcnii^lc

V.

5.

According

come down at

to

to earth to

this

see

Mound verse

what

the time of the comi)osition

is

at

Bab>'lon

God

dwells

going on

in

heaven, but must

liere.

]t

is

clear that

of this story, the conception of the

Deity had not yet reached the full height of its eventual spiritual development in Israel. V. 9. The etymology of the name. Babel, here is altogether incorrect. The name Babel is the same as that of the city, Babylon. This name was of course much older than the Icbrew language, and from the Babylonian naturally can l)e explained correctly only language. In Babylonian the name i)robably means "gate of the god", The explanation of the name or perhaps better, "gate of heaven". here is, of course, only a Hebrew folk-etymology, and entirely with1

out historical basis.

Vv. 10-32. The purpose of this genealogy, and of that in V and IX, 28 and X, 1, is to trace the descent of Abraham, the traditional ancestor

of

Israel,

from

Afhini,

and

i!arlicularl_

to

show

that