Noach 11:7 · unit 1

TT #81 · Parashas Noach · Seventh Aliyah · Passuk 11:7

The Complete Passuk

הָ֚בָה נֵֽרְדָ֔ה וְנָבְלָ֥ה שָׁ֖ם שְׂפָתָ֑ם אֲשֶׁר֙ לֹ֣א יִשְׁמְע֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ שְׂפַ֥ת רֵעֵֽהוּ׃

“Come, let Us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

Chabad.org — 11:7

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to the story of the 72 elders who translated for Ptolemy (Megillah 9a).

Sefaria — Megillah 9a

E-Daf image — Megillah 9a (size=3)

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
נֵרְדָה וְנָבְלָה — מַעֲשֶׂה בְּתַלְמַי הַמֶּלֶךְ שֶׁכִּנֵּס ע״ב זְקֵנִים… וְכָתְבוּ לוֹ ״הָבָה אֵרְדָה וְאֶבְלָה״.

English: “Let Us go down and confuse” — An incident with King Ptolemy who gathered seventy-two elders… and they wrote for him “Come, I will go down and confuse” (singular, to avoid the appearance of plurality).

Type of Learning

Custom (Septuagint alteration of the plural verb).

What Is Learned

The translators changed the plural “let Us go down” to the singular for Ptolemy so that he would not conclude that there are multiple powers in heaven.