<b>And the whole earth was of one language (Gen. 11:1).</b> Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: <i>Slay them not, lest my people forget, make them wander to and fro by Thy power, and bring them down, O Lord our shield. For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips</i> (Ps. 59:12). David uttered this verse in reference to Doeg and Ahithophel.<sup class="footnote-marker">29</sup><i class="footnote">Doeg informed against the priests in Nob (I Sam. 22:9–19), and Ahithophel advised Absalom to go in unto his father’s concubines (II Sam. 16:20–22).</i> He cried out to the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, <i>slay them not</i> as you do other men, <i>lest my people forget</i> the miracles you performed (in my behalf). Make them instead to wander to and fro under Your control so that they may roam about in this world. <i>And bring them down,</i> that is, from their exalted position. Why? For they have rebelled against You.
<i>For the sin of their mouth</i> (ibid.). They sinned with their mouths and through the words of their lips. Doeg said: <i>I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub,</i> (I Sam. 22:9), and Ahithophel said unto Absalom: <i>Go into thy father’s concubines, that he hath left</i> (II Sam. 16:21).
Another explanation of this verse. David said this in reference to the generation of the separation. <i>Slay them not, lest my people forget</i> that You have destroyed the generation of the flood. Rather, <i>make them wander to and fro by Thy power,</i> that is, scatter them throughout the world, as it is written: <i>The Lord dispersed them from there</i> (Gen. 11:8). <i>Bring them down,</i> because they said: <i>Let us build a city</i> (ibid., v. 4). What does this suggest? They were rebelling against You.