Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Genesis 11:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The people deliberately develop fired brick and bitumen mortar suited to large construction in the stone-poor Mesopotamian plain.
Read It With
- Genesis 11:1–9
Read verses 3–4 together. Verse 3 supplies the technology; verse 4 states the city, tower, name, and anti-scattering purpose for which the materials are used.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The material and technique dialogue shows how common speech becomes coordinated technology immediately before the builders state their goal.
Read Genesis 11:1–4 together
Why these verses belong together: One language, settlement, technology, and the city-tower-name plan form the complete human project.
Verse 1. 1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Verse 2. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
Verse 3. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
Verse 4. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
What Remains True
Technology is a morally significant tool whose value depends on the human purpose, power structure, and consequences it serves.
How It Can Shape Life
- Evaluate new technology by what it enables, who controls it, who benefits or bears the cost, and what accountability surrounds its use.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 11:1–9 — Babel's Builders Seek a Name and Resist ScatteringSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, one-language setting, Shinar migration, construction, motive, divine descent, language confusion, scattering, and Babel name.
Exact location: Genesis 11:1–9 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: One-language idiom, migration direction, building materials, cohortatives, name, scatter, descend, plan, understand, balal wordplay, and syntax.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 11:1–9
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: One language and words, migration direction, brick and bitumen, sky-high idiom, plan language, divine plural, and Babel wordplay.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 11:1–9 translator and study notes
Open NET Genesis 11 ↗