Genesis 11:1–4
A city and a tower
Genesis 11 opens with a world described as having one language and the same words. As people migrate, they find a plain in Shinar and settle there.
Scene notes →Genesis 11 · visual collection
Babel, scattering and the road toward Abram in four visual scenes.
Genesis 11 contains two very different kinds of material. It opens with the concentrated human project at Babel and its reversal through confused language and scattering. Then it changes into a long genealogy from Shem to Terah before closing with a family migration from Ur to Haran. SacraScenes keeps those movements distinct: two Babel scenes, one larger genealogy scene, and one household transition that stops before Abram’s call in Genesis 12.
The four scenes
Genesis 11:5–9
Language confused, people scattered
The second Babel scene begins with an ironic change of scale. The builders have made a tower intended to reach the heavens, yet Yahweh is described as coming down to see the city and tower.
Scene notes →Genesis 11:10–26
From Shem to Terah
After Babel, Genesis abruptly returns to a structured genealogy. The line begins with Shem and moves through Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug and Nahor before reaching Terah.
Scene notes →Genesis 11:27–32
Terah’s family leaves Ur
The final verses of Genesis 11 bring the long genealogy into a household the reader will follow for many chapters. Terah’s sons are Abram, Nahor and Haran.
Scene notes →Babel is more than a tower image
The first scene focuses on shared language, brick-making and the deliberate decision to build a city and make a name. The second shows the reversal: communication breaks, construction stops and the people scatter. After that, the chapter does not stay at Babel. A genealogy narrows the story through Shem’s line to Terah, and the closing verses turn names into a traveling household. The scene structure preserves all four movements instead of letting one iconic tower consume the entire chapter.
English visual edition first
Every Genesis 11 scene uses the exact public-domain World English Bible (Catholic) verse range in the Scripture panel. Slovenian and German visual options remain disabled until matching historical Catholic ranges are reviewed. The tower visual is intentionally archaeological in tone but not presented as a reconstruction of one proven site, while the migration scene avoids importing Abram’s Genesis 12 call before the text actually reaches it.
Read the source or begin Genesis 11
Read complete Genesis 11 source textBack to Genesis 10Start Genesis 11 →
Editorial overview updated 24 September 2026.