What Genesis actually says
The account begins by describing the whole earth as having one language and one speech. At Babel, the LORD confuses their language so that they do not understand one another, and the people are scattered.
What Genesis does not say
The passage does not identify the original language by name. Calling it Hebrew—or assigning any other named historical language—goes beyond what Genesis 11 explicitly states.
Why this matters for the chronology
The language division belongs to the larger movement from one post-Flood household toward separated families, lands, languages, and nations. In the developing research, Babel is therefore not an isolated story. It sits within the transition from Noah’s family to the world of peoples and kingdoms into which Abram is later born.
Study the sources
Bible: Genesis 11:1–9. Genesis 10 also organizes descendants by families, languages, lands, and nations.
This page separates what the biblical text states from the chronological connections being examined in Will Salas's research. The current book project is not yet a published book.