“And as They Travelled Eastward” (Gen 11:2): Travel in the Book of Genesis and the Anonymous Travelers in the Tower of Babel Account
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Robin B. Ten Hoopen
Abstract
This article studies the role of travel and the identity of the travelers in Gen 11:1-9, the Tower of Babel story. The introduction reflects on Genesis as a book of travels and lists the various occurrences of travelling in the Primeval History. The main part of the article discusses Genesis 11. This narrative presents YHWH as a travelling deity and commences and ends with the migration of a group of unidentified travelers. Who are they? Where did they go to and where have they come from? How did their journey change them? By identifying the travelers as primeval humanity, the author illustrates that Genesis 11 is a theological and sociological story concerning identity formation in which travel plays a prominent role. The journey to and from Sinear prefigures the itineraries of the patriarchs, founds Israel’s history in Mesopotamia, but also mocks the role of Mesopotamia for the identity of the Israelites. In Genesis 11, Babel functions as a transient place for a pre-Abrahamic humanity that will be dispersed to allow Abraham, and the Israelites, to enter the stage. The conclusion illustrates how reflection on (modern) travel experiences and the study of biblical itineraries could fertilize each other.
Abstract
This article studies the role of travel and the identity of the travelers in Gen 11:1-9, the Tower of Babel story. The introduction reflects on Genesis as a book of travels and lists the various occurrences of travelling in the Primeval History. The main part of the article discusses Genesis 11. This narrative presents YHWH as a travelling deity and commences and ends with the migration of a group of unidentified travelers. Who are they? Where did they go to and where have they come from? How did their journey change them? By identifying the travelers as primeval humanity, the author illustrates that Genesis 11 is a theological and sociological story concerning identity formation in which travel plays a prominent role. The journey to and from Sinear prefigures the itineraries of the patriarchs, founds Israel’s history in Mesopotamia, but also mocks the role of Mesopotamia for the identity of the Israelites. In Genesis 11, Babel functions as a transient place for a pre-Abrahamic humanity that will be dispersed to allow Abraham, and the Israelites, to enter the stage. The conclusion illustrates how reflection on (modern) travel experiences and the study of biblical itineraries could fertilize each other.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Contributors VII
- Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Travel Experiences 1
- “And as They Travelled Eastward” (Gen 11:2): Travel in the Book of Genesis and the Anonymous Travelers in the Tower of Babel Account 11
- The Consolations of Travel: Reading Seneca’s Ad Marciam vis-à-vis Paul of Tarsus 33
- The (Missing) Motif of “Returning Home” from an Otherworldly Journey in Menippean Literature and the New Testament 55
- The Educational Aspect of the Lukan Travel Narrative: Jesus as a Πεπαιδευμένος 73
- Acts of the Apostles—A Celebration of Uncertainty? Constructing a Dialogical Self for the Early Jesus Movement 97
- “Today or Tomorrow We Will Go to Such and Such a City” (Jas 4:13): The Experience of Interconnectivity and the Mobility of Norms in the Ancient Globalized World 113
- Heavenly Journey and Divine Epistemology in the Fourth Gospel 145
- Following Vespasian in His Footsteps: Movement and (E)motion Management in Josephus’ Judean War 161
- Religion on the Road—Nehalennia Revisited: Voyagers Addressing a North Sea Deity in the Second Century CE 181
- Mapping Cosmological Space in the Apocalypse of Paul and the Visio Pauli: The Actualization of Virtual Spatiality in Two Pauline Apocalyptical Journeys based on 2 Cor 12:2–4 189
- The Travels of Barnabas: From the Acts of the Apostles to Late Antique Hagiographic Literature 229
- Rabbinic Geography: Between the Imaginary and Real 251
- The Journey of Zayd Ibn ʿAmr: In Search of True Worship 269
- Nautical Fiction of Late Antiquity: Jews and Christians Traveling by Sea 295
- Monasteries as Travel Loci for Muslims and Christians (500–1000 CE) 313
- Sachregister 337
- Stellenregister 341
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Contributors VII
- Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Travel Experiences 1
- “And as They Travelled Eastward” (Gen 11:2): Travel in the Book of Genesis and the Anonymous Travelers in the Tower of Babel Account 11
- The Consolations of Travel: Reading Seneca’s Ad Marciam vis-à-vis Paul of Tarsus 33
- The (Missing) Motif of “Returning Home” from an Otherworldly Journey in Menippean Literature and the New Testament 55
- The Educational Aspect of the Lukan Travel Narrative: Jesus as a Πεπαιδευμένος 73
- Acts of the Apostles—A Celebration of Uncertainty? Constructing a Dialogical Self for the Early Jesus Movement 97
- “Today or Tomorrow We Will Go to Such and Such a City” (Jas 4:13): The Experience of Interconnectivity and the Mobility of Norms in the Ancient Globalized World 113
- Heavenly Journey and Divine Epistemology in the Fourth Gospel 145
- Following Vespasian in His Footsteps: Movement and (E)motion Management in Josephus’ Judean War 161
- Religion on the Road—Nehalennia Revisited: Voyagers Addressing a North Sea Deity in the Second Century CE 181
- Mapping Cosmological Space in the Apocalypse of Paul and the Visio Pauli: The Actualization of Virtual Spatiality in Two Pauline Apocalyptical Journeys based on 2 Cor 12:2–4 189
- The Travels of Barnabas: From the Acts of the Apostles to Late Antique Hagiographic Literature 229
- Rabbinic Geography: Between the Imaginary and Real 251
- The Journey of Zayd Ibn ʿAmr: In Search of True Worship 269
- Nautical Fiction of Late Antiquity: Jews and Christians Traveling by Sea 295
- Monasteries as Travel Loci for Muslims and Christians (500–1000 CE) 313
- Sachregister 337
- Stellenregister 341
