Genesis 11:3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.

◄ Genesis 11:3 ►

New International Version
They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

New Living Translation
They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.)

English Standard Version
And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.

Berean Standard Bible
And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.

New American Standard Bible
Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

NASB 1995
They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

NASB 1977
And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and they had tar for mortar.

Amplified Bible
They said one to another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly [in a kiln, to harden and strengthen them].” So they used brick for stone [as building material], and they used tar (bitumen, asphalt) for mortar.

Christian Standard Bible
They said to each other, “Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.” (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.)

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.

American Standard Version
And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

English Revised Version
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 mortar.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They said to one another, "Let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used bricks as stones and tar as mortar.

Good News Translation
They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together.

International Standard Version
They told each other, "Come on! Let's burn bricks thoroughly." They used bricks for stone and tar for mortar.

Majority Standard Bible
And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.

NET Bible
Then they said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.)

New Heart English Bible
And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they said one to another, come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

World English Bible
They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
and they each say to his neighbor, “Give help, let us make bricks, and burn [them] thoroughly”: and the brick is to them for stone, and the bitumen has been to them for mortar.

Young's Literal Translation
and they say each one to his neighbour, 'Give help, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly:' and the brick is to them for stone, and the bitumen hath been to them for mortar.

Smith's Literal Translation
And they shall say a man to his neighbor, Come, we will make bricks, and we will burn to a burning, and brick shall be to them for stone, and potter's clay shall be to them for potter's clay.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
And each one said to his neighbour: Come, let us make brick, and bake them of stones, and slime instead of mortar.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And each one said to his neighbor, “Come, let us make bricks, and bake them with fire.” And they had bricks instead of stones, and pitch instead of mortar.

New American Bible
They said to one another, “Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire.” They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.

New Revised Standard Version
And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them with fire. And they had bricks for stone, and slime for mortar.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And they said each man to his neighbor: “Come, we will lay bricks and we will burn them in fire.” And they had brick for stone and they had lime for mortar.

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
And they said one to another: 'Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And a man said to his neighbour, Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire. And the brick was to them for stone, and their mortar was bitumen.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

The Tower of Babel
…2And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar. 4“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

Cross References

Exodus 1:14
and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

Exodus 5:7-8
“You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw. / But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

Isaiah 9:10
“The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with finished stone; the sycamores have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.”

Isaiah 65:3
to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick,

Jeremiah 6:29
The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.

Ezekiel 22:20
Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.

Hosea 7:4
They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough.

Nahum 3:14
Draw your water for the siege; strengthen your fortresses. Work the clay and tread the mortar; repair the brick kiln!

1 Corinthians 3:12
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,

1 Corinthians 3:13
his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.

1 Corinthians 3:15
If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.

2 Timothy 2:20
A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.

Hebrews 11:10
For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Revelation 18:12
cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;

Revelation 18:13
of cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; of wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; of cattle, sheep, horses, and carriages; of bodies and souls of slaves.

Treasury of Scripture

And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

they said one to another.

Genesis 11:4,7
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…

Psalm 64:5
They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?

Proverbs 1:11
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

not as.

Hebrews 3:13
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

burn throughly.

Exodus 1:14
And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

Exodus 5:7-18
Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves…

2 Samuel 12:31
And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

slime.

Genesis 14:10
And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

Exodus 2:3
And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

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Bake Bitumen Brick Bricks Burn Burning Earth Instead Let's Mortar Neighbour Putting Slime Sticky Stone Tar Thoroughly Together Used

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Genesis 11

1. One language in the world.
2. The building of Babel.
5. It is interrupted by the confusion of tongues, and the builders dispersed.
10. The generations of Shem.
27. The generations of Terah, the father of Abram.
31. Terah, with Abram and Lot, move from Ur to Haran.

Berean Study Bible

They said to one another
This phrase indicates a collective decision-making process among the people. In the Hebrew text, the word for "said" is "אָמַר" (amar), which often implies a deliberate and intentional communication. This reflects the unity and shared purpose among the people, highlighting the communal nature of their endeavor. Historically, this unity can be seen as a double-edged sword; while it demonstrates cooperation, it also sets the stage for collective rebellion against God’s command to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1).

Come, let us make bricks
The phrase "Come, let us" is a call to action, showing determination and initiative. The Hebrew word for "brick" is "לְבֵנָה" (levenah), which is significant because it marks a technological advancement from using natural stones to manufacturing building materials. This innovation reflects humanity's growing ability to manipulate the environment, a skill that can be used for both good and ill. The making of bricks signifies human ingenuity and the potential for progress, but also foreshadows the potential for pride and self-reliance apart from God.

and bake them thoroughly
The thorough baking of bricks indicates a desire for durability and permanence. The Hebrew root "שָׂרַף" (saraph) means to burn or bake, suggesting a process that transforms the raw material into something more robust. This reflects humanity's desire to create lasting structures, symbolizing a quest for immortality and legacy. In a spiritual sense, it can be seen as an attempt to establish a name and presence independent of God’s provision and timing.

So they used brick instead of stone
This substitution of brick for stone is significant. Stones, created by God, were traditionally used in construction and altars, symbolizing reliance on God’s creation. The choice to use man-made bricks instead of God-made stones can be seen as a metaphor for human pride and self-sufficiency. It represents a shift from divine dependence to human innovation, which, while not inherently wrong, becomes problematic when it leads to self-exaltation.

and tar instead of mortar
The use of "tar" (Hebrew: "חֵמָר" - chemar) instead of traditional mortar further emphasizes human innovation. Tar, a bituminous substance, was used for waterproofing and binding, indicating a desire for strength and resilience. This choice reflects a focus on human engineering and security, potentially at the expense of spiritual obedience and trust in God. Theologically, it can be seen as a metaphor for the human tendency to rely on worldly solutions rather than divine guidance.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) Let us make brick, and burn them throughly.--Heb., for a burning. Bricks in the East usually are simply dried in the sun, and this produces a sufficiently durable building material. It marks a great progress in the arts of civilisation that these nomads had learned that clay when burnt becomes insoluble; and their buildings with "slime," or native pitch, for cement would be virtually indestructible. In fact, Mr. Layard says that at Birs-Nimroud it was scarcely possible to detach the bricks one from another, as the cement by which they were united was most tenacious (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 499).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - And they said one to another. Literally, a man to his neighbor; ἄνθρωπος τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ (LXX.). Go to. A hortatory expletive - come on (Anglice). Let us make brick. Nilbenah lebenim; literally, let us brick bricks; πλινθεύσωμεν πλίνθους (LXX.); laterifecimus lateres (Calvin); lebenah (from laban, to be white), being so called from the white and chalky day of which bricks were made. And burn them thoroughly. Literally, burn them to a burning; venisrephah lisrephah, a second alliteration, which, however, the LXX. fails to reproduce. Bricks were usually sun-dried; these, being designed to be more durable, were to be calcined through the agency of fire, a proof that the tower-builders were acquainted with the art of brick-making. And they had - literally, and there was to theme - brick for stone. Chiefly because of the necessities of the place, the alluvial plain of Babylon being void of stones and full of clay; a proof of the greatness of their crime, seeing they were induced to undertake the work non facilitate operis, nec aliis commodis, quae se ad manum offerrent (Calvin); scarcely because bricks would better endure fire than would stones, the second destruction of the world by fire rather than water being by this time a common expectation (Com a Lapide). Josephus, 'Ant., lib. 1. cp. 4; Herod, lib. 1. cp. 179; Justin, lib. 1. cp. 2; Ovid, ' Metam.,' 4:4; and Aristoph. in Avibus (περιτευχίζειν μεγάλαις πλίνθοις ὀπταῖς ὥσπερ Βαβυλῶνα), all attest that the walls of Babylon were built of brick. The mention of the circumstance that brick was used instead of stone "indicates a writer belonging to a country and an age in which stone buildings were familiar, and therefore not to Babylonia" (Murphy). And slime. Chemer, from chamar, to boil up; ἄσφαλτος (LXX.); the bitumen which boils up from subterranean fountains like oil or hot pitch in the vicinity of Babylon, and also near the Dead Sea (lacus asphaltites). Tacitus, ' Hist.,' 5:6; Strabo, 16. p. 743; Herod., lib. h c. 179; Josephus, 'Antiq.,' lib. 1. c. 41 Pliny, lib. 35. 100. 15; Vitruvius, lib. 8. c. 3, are unanimous in declaring that the brick walls of Babylon were cemented with bitumen. Layard testifies that so firmly have the bricks been united that it is almost impossible to detach one from the mass ('Nineveh and Babylon,' p. 499). Had they. Literally, was to them. For mortar. Chomer. The third instance of alliteration in the present verse; possibly designed by the writer to represent the enthusiasm of the builders.

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

And they said
וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

one
אִ֣ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

another,
רֵעֵ֗הוּ (rê·‘ê·hū)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7453: Friend, companion, fellow

“Come,
הָ֚בָה (hā·ḇāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3051: To give, to put, imperatively, come

let us make
נִלְבְּנָ֣ה (nil·bə·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative - first person common plural
Strong's 3835: To be, white, to make bricks

bricks
לְבֵנִ֔ים (lə·ḇê·nîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 3843: Brick, tile

and bake
וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה (wə·niś·rə·p̄āh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common plural
Strong's 8313: To be, on fire

them thoroughly.”
לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה (liś·rê·p̄āh)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8316: Cremation

So they used
וַתְּהִ֨י (wat·tə·hî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

brick
הַלְּבֵנָה֙ (hal·lə·ḇê·nāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 3843: Brick, tile

instead of stone,
לְאָ֔בֶן (lə·’ā·ḇen)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 68: A stone

and tar
וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ר (wə·ha·ḥê·mār)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2564: Bitumen, asphalt

instead of mortar.
לַחֹֽמֶר׃ (la·ḥō·mer)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2563: A bubbling up, of water, a wave, of earth, mire, clay, a heap, a chomer, dry measure

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OT Law: Genesis 11:3 They said one to another Come let's (Gen. Ge Gn)