Why did the people in Babel not try to learn each other's language?

[tonychanyt]

Humanity spoke the same language and agreed to build a tower to reach heaven. Ge 11:

5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building. 6 And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them. 7 Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

Why did the people in Babel not try to learn each other's language?

God did not let them. They could try but they would fail to learn another language.

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

They could not communicate and cooperate on the same project.

9 That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.

Each language group moved away from Babel.

Why did the people in Babel not try to learn each other's language?

It wasn't the will of God for them to acquire a second language.

 

[Diamond72]

Why did the people in Babel not try to learn each other's language?

Hebrew is a written language, Babel is not. That is why they have hooked on Phonics because they sound it out. The Chinese of course use symbols, just as the Hebrew letters are symbols. It is a standard joke in China that American like to get a tattoo of a Chinese character thinking it means good luck or good fortune. But they trick them and put something profane all the time the people think it is something good.

但是他们欺骗他们，总是放一些亵渎的东西，人们认为这是好东西

 

[David Lamb]

Humanity spoke the same language and agreed to build a tower to reach heaven. Ge 11:


Why did the people in Babel not try to learn each other's language?

God did not let them. They could try but they would fail to learn another language.


They could not communicate and cooperate on the same project.


Each language group moved away from Babel.

Why did the people in Babel not try to learn each other's language?

It wasn't the will of God for them to acquire a second language.

Try to put yourself in their position. They had only known one language. Now suddenly, they all spoke different languages. It wasn't a case of learning just one language, but thousands!

 

[trophy33]

Most probably, its a mythological story. There is no point in speculating about such technical details.

 

[lanceleo]

Maybe also because of pride. Since men are fallen it's their interest to dominate and demand others to align to their demands.

 

[David Lamb]

Most probably, its a mythological story. There is no point in speculating about such technical details.

It doesn't read as myth. God acted and it happened.

 

[trophy33]

It doesn't read as myth. God acted and it happened.

It does read as a mythological narrative. The tower to heavens, God coming down to see what is happening etc.

Literal reading is a bit absurd.

 

[Diamond72]

Most probably, its a mythological story.

The tower foundation is still there today. It is an archaeological fact.

 

[Diamond72]

They had only known one language. Now suddenly, they all spoke different languages. It wasn't a case of learning just one language, but thousands!

China is incredibly diverse in terms of languages. There are 297 living languages spoken across the country. The most widely spoken language is Standard Chinese (Mandarin), which is the official language and is based on the Beijing dialect.

In addition to Mandarin, there are several major dialect groups, including:

• Wu (spoken in Shanghai and surrounding areas)
• Min (spoken in Fujian and Taiwan)
• Yue (Cantonese) (spoken in Guangdong and Hong Kong)
• Xiang (spoken in Hunan)
• Hakka (spoken in various regions, including Guangdong and Fujian)
• Jin (spoken in Shanxi and parts of Inner Mongolia)23.

These dialects have numerous sub-dialects, and there are also many minority languages spoken by China’s various ethnic groups3.