Genesis chapter 11

Verses 2-4:

^.2And it came-to-pass in them moving from (the) risings they found a field in (the) earth of Sennaar and they dwelled-down there.

^.3And a man said to the neighbor, “Come-this-way; let us make bricks and let us roast them with fire”; and the brick became into stone for them and the clay used-to-be a covering for them.

^.4And they said, “Come-this-way; let us build for ourselves a city and a tower of which the head will be until the heaven and let us make for ourselves a name before being scattered-throughout on (the) face of all the earth.”

It came-to-pass (became, happened, occurred) that during the time that they were moving from the risings (setting themselves in motion away from where they were located in the eastern lands)…

·         they found a field (they located an open countryside or a specific portion of land as the plain, level, flat land used for tillage or pasture [the Hebrew text has “plain/valley” instead of “field”])

o   in the earth of Sennaar (the land of Senaar, Shinar, also known as Babylonia)

·         and they dwelled-down there (they inhabited, permanently dwelled, settled-down in that location).

A man (a member of mankind [the Hebrew word ish is used instead of adam – an individual male human-being]) said to the neighbor (someone who was near him)…

·         “Come this way (come here);

·         let us make bricks (this is a polite command or a very strong suggestion advising the one listening to the speaker to think the correct way from his viewpoint regarding this topic – we should form or bake material into bricks with the heat from the sun; bricks refer to blocks made of mud or other material for constructing buildings [both the Greek and Hebrew texts have the verb and the noun with the same root-word for emphasis as: brick bricks]; the verb expresses the man’s intention, will, volition in this situation)

·         and let us roast (broil or burn) the bricks with/by fire”;

…and the brick became into stone for them (the fire caused the brick to come to pass to be hard stone) and the clay (which a potter would use to make vessels by adding liquid to the clay and then drying the result) was continuing to be a covering for them (a resin mixture that waterproofed [the Hebrew text refers to a substance as mortar or a sealant like bitumen or asphalt to secure the bricks together]).

And the people said…

·         “Come this way (come here);

·         let us build for ourselves a city (again this is a polite command or a very strong suggestion advising those listening to think the correct way from their viewpoint regarding this topic – we should erect a walled or fortified town to/for ourselves)

o   and a tower (a raised structure)

o   of which the head will be until the heaven (the chief or principle part of the tower, the top of it will reach or continue up to the sky by having an imprint on the top of the tower of the heavenly stars, as a manmade zodiac [in the Hebrew text the word “heavens” is always in the plural form and figuratively it emphasizes the expansive greatness of God's spirit realm, God's location today from mankind’s view])

·         and let us make for ourselves (produce, cause to produce, bring about to/for ourselves)

o   a name (a word or phrase given to a person, etc, to be called and known-by, in order to designate and describe the distinguishing and distinctive constitution, character, quality, workings, etc – in this context the people wanted to give themselves an honorable name that connotes power and strength for mankind having this city as the central or primary location)

·         before (ahead of, in front of, in advance of, prior to [the Hebrew text has the word pen which means “lest-perhaps” and it makes this phrase negative in the sense of issuing a precaution])

o   being scattered-throughout (thoroughly scattered, caused to disperse as a sower would scatter seed)

o   on the face of all (the surface of every part of) the earth.”

These people wanted to make their own way of salvation so as to access God’s realm, and an identity to use no matter where they would be located on the earth, plus they wanted their own central location to return to on a regular basis to perform their own type of worship and sacrifice. However, no mention of the Lord God is made by these people in connection with their decisions.
https://www.createspace.com/4789013