I think that much of the understanding of the Tower of Babel is lost because we don't see it in the light of Genesis chapter 10 which describes the original family groups that formed the different nations that arose after the tower of Babel. If I look at the context of the whole of chapter 10, it is summarized in last verse in the chapter, verse 32, which is the lead in to the Babel record. Not only are we shown about seventy family groups involved, we also are told when it happened and who the leader in charge of the rebellion was.
Genesis 10:8-9 8Cush was the father of Nimrod who began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; so it is said, "like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord." 10His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Chapter 10 delineates the immediate offspring of Noah and then this section about Nimrod jumps out at you. Why is this son of Cush important? He seems to stand out among most of the other men in the chapter because instead of just getting mentioned, there is elaboration. Why is it significant that he is a famous hunter? That begs the question of why is this important? In verse 10 it tells us the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and lists three other places. This should grab our attention because the next section is about the Tower of Babel. If he was famous with God, wouldn't God have told him "Get the people on the right track, buddy Nimrod?" God did that with other men.
Most bible translations that you read seem to say that Nimrod was some kind of a hero and had a great reputation with God, but some theologians disagree. The Septuagint disagrees as well. First of all, Bullinger tells us the name Nimrod comes from the Hebrew word marad which means "to rebel" it means "we will rebel" or "come let us rebel." Moreover, he was a founder of Babylon which is the location of the tower of Babel. So if the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom was Babel and that's where all the languages came from and there's a lot more to this verse than initially meets the eye.
(International Standard Version) Genesis 10:8-9 8Cush fathered Nimrod, who became the first fearless leader throughout the land. 9He became a fearless hunter in defiance of the Lord. That's why it is said, 'like Nimrod, a fearless hunter in defiance of the Lord.'
Now Bullinger's Companion Bible has a whole appendix dedicated to Nimrod. He quotes Josephus saying that Nimrod persuaded people to credit their happiness to him not to God and he began to be a tyrant by making them rely on his power. Bullinger also quoted the Targum of Jonathan saying that Nimrod was powerful in hunting and in rebellion against the Lord. The Jerusalem Targum also adds that he was a hunter of the sons of men and he persuaded them to adhere to his judgment not God's. Bullinger also includes the Chaldee paraphrase of 1 Chronicles 1:10. "Cush begat Nimrod who began to prevail in wickedness, for he shed innocent blood, and rebelled against Jehovah"
Bullinger goes on to explain that Nimrod was the founder of Babylon (which agrees with scripture) and makes a lot of sense. What was you see that their first act was to draw all the people together to the plain of Shinar when God's command was clearly to disperse all over the earth. And that Nimrod was the tyrant that made the Babel rebellion happen.
Now I know you guys don't spend a lot of time reading the begats, but there's many hidden gems if you investigate them. So one thing you need to note is that this chapter is right after the flood of Noah. We are listing the descendants of Noah and his three sons. Nimrod is only the great-grandson of Noah. If you do the math there are not a lot of people living on the earth at this time. There are only 70 family groups listed in Genesis chapter 10. These are all the divisions of languages and families that will go out from Babylon (Genesis 10:32).
Genesis 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.
According to Bodie Hodge of Answers in Genesis, this is only 100 - 130 years after the flood. He bases this on the birth of Peleg and he quotes some ancient texts. We can see Peleg in verse 25.
Genesis 10:25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
Now before you jump up and down and say that this is where Pangea breaks up into all the continents, let's look at the context of this verse. If we are talking about the tower of Babel and the division of nations, wouldn't it make sense that we might have a verse suggesting when this event occurred? Moreover, the breakup of Pangea would be a continuous event probably beginning even before the flood ended. The water covered the tallest mountains for over 100 days. All that weight upon the plates of the earth would've had the cataclysmic consequences. Would it have even taken 100 years for all these actions to divide up Pangaea into the continents? But we don't need to argue the point because even if you add a couple hundred years to the Tower of Babel event, the number of people alive does not increase very dramatically.
It is estimated that there are approximately a thousand people all together on the face of the earth around this time if Mr. Hodge is right. If the division of the earth is a reference to the breaking up of Pangea, as some allege, the population still doesn't increase by any great number for quite a while. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem to me that you can handle Genesis 10:25 with a division of the land mass because the remote context is all about the division of peoples and confusion of languages. This clearly answers the when did it happen question. (The record of Nimrod in verse 10 explains, in part, how it happened.)
The account of the Tower of Babel takes place in Genesis chapter 11 verses one through nine.
Genesis 11:1 1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
What I wanted to show you is that there is more here than meets the eye. The first command God gave Noah and his sons was in Genesis 9:1. Everybody coming together and living in one place was disobedience to God.
Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Why did they disobey? People were probably afraid. Today we worry about a few tiny degrees of climate change; back then in the first years after the flood it was much more dramatic with earthquakes, volcanoes, and very few other human beings around. It would have been very easy to say, "Let's just wait a while before we divide up." And later, "Our leader knows what he's doing. Let's stay here." Nimrod probably made them feel safe.
Genesis 11:3-4 3And 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. 4And 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.
Obviously, the height of the building was not the issue. There are many tall buildings today. Perhaps it's the function or design of the ziggurat or pyramid that was demonic in some respect. Another thing to note was they burned the bricks in kilns instead of baking them in the sun and used slime for mortar. Were they in a hurry for some reason?
Genesis 11:5-7 5And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
Nick talked about the watchers a few meetings ago. God is not the author of confusion, so maybe one of his angels came up with the idea. For God's will to be done and the promise of the messiah to come to pass, he needed the people to disperse around the world.
Genesis 11:8-9 8So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
That's a very short record. It is there to explain how and why the earth was divided as far as language is concerned. If you think about it, today there are 4 billion people in the world. It's much harder for the devil to destroy 4 billion people than it is to destroy 1000. If there are only 1000 people altogether at one place at one time his job is pretty easy. So if you divide one language into several languages and one continent into the several continents and islands and everybody splits up, then it makes the annihilation of mankind harder for the adversary.