Was the Tower of Babel the first subprime mortgage crisis? Look at Genesis 11:1-9.

Everyone on Earth spoke one language. They settled on a plain in the land of Shinar where they decided to build a city and a tower that reached the heavens. Why? The Bible says it was to “make a name for ourselves.” In short, an arrogant goal. 

Abraham Ibn Ezra, the 11th Century Spanish Biblical commentator, wrote that it’s “probable that they were neither so foolish as to believe that they could ascend to heaven, nor were they afraid of another flood. They merely wanted a central and conspicuous city which would ensure them fame.” (see Hertz translation of the Pentateuch published by Soncino.)

So it’s their 15 minutes they were after.

Besides the hubris of the mission, they had a few technical problems too: they didn’t have stone so they used brick; and they didn’t have mortar so they used slime. Upon seeing what they were up to, the Lord asked: if this is what they engage in when they all speak one language, who’s to say what they’ll do next? He decided to confuse their language — so they wouldn’t understand each other — and scatter them abroad over the face of the Earth to stop their bombastic project. 

The place was thus called “Babel” because God confused the language. Note the three-letter Hebrew root בָּבֶ֔ל  Babel means confusion.

How frequently do we embark on projects not for their own merit but for a vain purpose? Did we lease that bigger vehicle to impress the Joneses or because we really needed a bigger, more luxurious, newer model SUV?

The tower of Babel was built on a dream; Shinar had no stone, so they had to substitute brick; they had no mortar so they used slime. This along with the lack of a true, purposeful cause created a shaky foundation, indeed. How about all of those who bought homes with means they didn’t have? And on a larger scale the mega-banks that just kept merging and merging, growing almost as tall as the heavens.  As we tinkered with our own vain projects – both individually and as a group – new perspective sheds light on their physical and moral bankruptcy. 

Like so much phantom money on paper that we thought really existed pre-economic crisis, this tower was all show, no substance, and for this we find ourselves again in a state of confusion, or Babel: בָּבֶ֔ל