Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

> Mr. O'Riordan has made an interesting observation about the tower of Babel
> story in Genesis, suggesting it may historically allude to the Exilic
> period. If he is correct, then we have a historical marker for the text's
> creation.
> 
> If Moses wrote Genesis in 1440 BCE (the Exodus being dated to about that
> time by some conservative scholars), why is he making fun of Babylon and its
> tower and its religious beliefs ? What has Babylon done to Israel to warrant
> such rebuke ?

There is far too much assumption in the above paragraph.  It 
assumes that the story is making fun; that it is mocking a tower 
that existed around exilic times; that it is attacking certain religious 
beliefs; that it is a reactionary story; that it is engaging in some 
kind of polemic related to political times concurrent with the writer; 
I see none of this in the story, and I see no evidence to back up 
these assumptions.

[snip]

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.
                                   Psalm 86:11