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Half the World Fell by the Sword at Babel

A builder asked for a brick. His fellow heard only noise and drew a sword. Half the workforce died before anyone left the plain.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. Nimrod Put On the Old Garments
  2. A Man Asked for a Brick
  3. Half the World Fell There
  4. The Survivors Walked Into New Names
  5. The Coats Outlived the Scaffold
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Nimrod Put On the Old Garments

Nimrod was twenty when he pulled the garments over his shoulders. They were the skins God had made for Adam and Eve when they left the garden. Ham had stolen them from Noah after the ark. Cush had hidden them. Cush loved this late-born son enough to give them away in secret.

The garments made Nimrod strong. He hunted. He built altars. He fought his brothers' wars and won them. At forty he gathered about five hundred men, four hundred and sixty from Cush and eighty hired, and he crushed the children of Japheth who had been winning. When he came home they set a crown on his head.

He named a city Shinar. Nations heard of him and bowed. The whole earth was of one language and of one speech (Genesis 11:1). Nimrod did not walk in the ways of the Lord. He made gods of wood and stone, and he taught the earth his rebellion.

On the plain they fired bricks. They mixed mortar. They raised a tower meant to reach heaven. Signals, schedules, supply lines. Thousands of hands that understood one another without a pause.

A Man Asked for a Brick

A builder on the scaffold turned to his fellow and asked for a brick. The words left his mouth as noise. The fellow stared. He asked again, louder. Still noise.

Around them the same failure ran along the platforms. A man called for mortar and got a blank face. A man shouted a warning and no one moved. Hands that had passed bricks in a rhythm for months now hung in the air, waiting for a sentence that would not land.

They wished to speak, each in the language of his fellow. No one understood. Every man took his sword.

Half the World Fell There

The coordination that had lifted fired clay toward heaven turned on itself. A misunderstood gesture looked like a threat. A delayed brick looked like an insult. Rage found the only tool left when speech was gone.

They fought to destroy one another. The scaffolds ran with blood. Bodies fell from the height they had been so proud of. Half the world fell there by the sword.

The other half still breathed, still could not understand, still stood among the dead with weapons in their hands and no shared word to stop the killing.

Then God scattered them over the face of all the earth (Genesis 11:8). The scattering was not of an intact people. It was of survivors. The place was called Babel, because there the Lord mixed the speech of all the earth.

The Survivors Walked Into New Names

Japheth's line went out, Gomer and Magog and Javan and the rest, about four hundred and sixty men in those days. Ham's line, Cush and Mitzraim and Canaan, about seven hundred and thirty. Shem's line, Elam and Ashur and Arpachshad, about three hundred. The numbers were small enough to count. The earth was large enough to lose them in.

Peleg was named because in his days the sons of men were divided. Yoktan was named because lives grew shorter. Languages hardened. Territories hardened. The unfinished tower stood behind them like a mouth that had forgotten how to speak.

They carried confused tongues into every valley they settled, and the tongues became peoples, and the peoples stopped being able to ask one another for a brick.

The Coats Outlived the Scaffold

The garments did not fall with the dead. They stayed desirable. Later, Esau saw the coats of Nimrod and coveted them in his heart. He slew Nimrod and took them. When he put them on he became a mighty hunter, the way Nimrod had been.

Rebecca later took "the precious raiment of Esau, her elder son" (Genesis 27:15). Jacob, leaving Isaac, decided Esau was not worthy to wear those coats. He dug in the earth and hid them, a noose buried in the ground (Job 18:10).

Half the world had already died for a tower and a lost sentence. The coats of power kept moving from thief to hunter to brother, waiting in the dirt for the next hand that wanted them.

BabelTowerNimrodLanguageWarMidrash AggadahCreation
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From the tradition

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The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 24:12Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, trans. Rabbi Gerald Friedlander, London (1916) · CC-BY

That, according to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, is precisely what happened at the Tower of Babel.

The story goes that the builders of the Tower, all speaking the same language, suddenly found themselves unable to communicate. They wished to speak in the language of their fellow but understanding failed. Frustration boiled over. What did they do? They drew their swords. They fought to destroy each other. Half the world, it says, fell there by the sword. And from that chaos, God scattered them across the face of the earth. As it says in (Genesis 11:8), "So the Lord scattered them abroad on that account, upon the face of all the earth."

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer doesn't stop there. It segues into another fascinating, and frankly, bizarre tale – one involving Esau, Jacob, and the coveted garments of Nimrod.

Rabbi Meir offers a captivating interpretation: Esau, brother of Jacob, saw Nimrod’s coats (presumably garments of power or significance) and coveted them. He was so overcome with desire, that he slew Nimrod and seized them. How do we know they were desirable? Because, as it says, "And Rebecca took the precious raiment of Esau, her elder son" (Genesis 27:15). These weren't just any clothes!

The text continues, suggesting that when Esau donned these garments, he himself became a mighty hero. "And Esau was a cunning hunter" (Genesis 25:27), it says, implying the clothes played a part in his prowess. It's like a superhero origin story, but with ancient outerwear!

Now, here's where it gets even more interesting. When Jacob left his father Isaac's presence, he declared that Esau, "the wicked one," was unworthy to wear these coats. So what did Jacob do? He dug a hole and hid them, as it says, "A noose is hid for him in the earth" (Job 18:10). A noose, a trap, a hidden destiny buried in the ground.

What are we to make of these two seemingly disparate stories juxtaposed in this way? Perhaps Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer is suggesting a connection between ambition, violence, and the loss of understanding. The builders of Babel sought to reach the heavens, Esau coveted Nimrod’s power. Both desires led to conflict and scattering. And what of Jacob's act of hiding the garments? Was it an act of righteousness, preventing Esau from wielding their power? Or was it a selfish act, burying potential for good along with the bad?

These ancient texts often leave us with more questions than answers, don't they? Maybe that's the point. To make us think, to make us question, and to remind us that even the oldest stories can still resonate with our modern struggles.

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Jasher 7Book of Jasher

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Book of Jasher, J. H. Parry edition (1887) · Public Domain

Those passages are easy to skim that part of the Noah story, but the Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text of legend and lore, dives right in! Chapter 7 is all about the generations that followed Noah, tracing the lineages of his sons, Japheth, Ham, and Shem.

First, we get a roll call. Japheth had seven sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. Then comes the list of their children: Askinaz, Rephath, Tegarmah, and so on. The text gives us a sense of scale, mentioning that the descendants of Japheth numbered around 460 men in those early days.

Next up is Ham, with his four sons: Cush, Mitzraim, Phut, and Canaan. This line includes Seba, Havilah, and other names that might ring a bell from other parts of the Bible.

Finally, we arrive at Shem, whose line includes Elam, Ashur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. Their descendants totaled around 300 men. It’s interesting to see how the populations of each line are quantified, giving us a glimpse into the post-Flood world according to this tradition.

But the chapter doesn't stop at simple genealogy. It introduces a key figure: Peleg. Now, the name Peleg itself is significant. It means "division," and the verse says that "in his days the sons of men were divided, and in the latter days, the earth was divided." This hints at the scattering of peoples and the emergence of different languages, a theme we see echoed in the story of the Tower of Babel. His brother’s name was Yoktan, meaning that in his day the lives of the sons of men were diminished and lessened.

And who was the great-great-great-great-great grandson of Shem? Why, Terah, who was the father of… Abraham!

Then, the narrative takes an intriguing turn with the introduction of Nimrod. You might know him as a mighty hunter, but Jasher paints him as something more. He was the son of Cush, from the line of Ham, and he was no ordinary man.

According to the Book of Jasher, the garments that God made for Adam and Eve after they left the Garden of Eden were passed down through generations: from Adam and Eve to Enoch, then to Methuselah, and finally to Noah. These weren't just any clothes; they were imbued with a special power. Ham stole them from his father Noah when they exited the ark, and eventually, they came into the possession of Nimrod.

When Nimrod wore these garments, he became incredibly strong and mighty. "And Nimrod became strong when he put on the garments, and God gave him might and strength, and he was a mighty hunter in the earth." He wasn't just hunting animals; he was building altars and offering sacrifices. He united people, led them in battle, and became their king.

The verse reads, "Therefore it became current in those days, when a man ushered forth those that he had trained up for battle, he would say to them, Like God did to Nimrod… so may God strengthen us." Nimrod became a legend in his own time, a symbol of strength and victory.

He even built a city called Shinar, because "the Lord had vehemently shaken his enemies and destroyed them." All nations came to him, offering tribute, and he reigned over all the sons of Noah. However, Nimrod "did not go in the ways of the Lord." He made idols and led his people astray, becoming a symbol of wickedness.

Terah, the father of Abraham, was a prince in Nimrod's court. The text says, "Terah the son of Nahor, prince of Nimrod's host, was in those days very great in the sight of the king." Later on, of course, Abraham will challenge the very idolatry that Nimrod championed.

So, what do we make of all this? Chapter 7 of Jasher isn't just a dry list of names. It’s a bridge between the story of Noah and the rise of Abraham, connecting the dots between the Flood and the emergence of new nations. It gives us a glimpse into a world where power, lineage, and even magical garments played a role in shaping history. And it sets the stage for the coming conflict between Abraham, the monotheist, and the idolatrous world represented by Nimrod. A conflict that, in many ways, continues to this day.

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