Linguistic incommensurability at the tower of Babel

Abstract Theodore Hiebert’s interpretation of Genesis 11:1-9 as a story of the origins of cultural difference resulted in several responses which critiqued his reading and reasserted the traditional reading of the passage as a story of human pride and divine punishment. In the following article, I combine two threads of Hiebert’s interpretation and his respondents: language and background understanding. Specifically, I compare two views of language on offer in the modern world, illustrate how they may shape the interpretation of Genesis 11:1-9 and argue that the minority view provides a framework which better makes sense of the passage.