Editing Tower of Babel (section)

=== Historicity ===
Biblical scholars see the Book of Genesis as [[Mythology|mythological]] and not as an historical account of events.<ref>{{harvnb|Levenson|2004|p=11}} "How much history lies behind the story of Genesis? Because the action of the primeval story is not represented as taking place on the plane of ordinary human history and has so many affinities with ancient mythology, it is very far-fetched to speak of its narratives as historical at all."</ref> Genesis is described as beginning with historicized myth and ending with mythicized history.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moye |first1=Richard H. |date=1990 |title=In the Beginning: Myth and History in Genesis and Exodus |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=109 |issue=4 |page=580 |doi=10.2307/3267364 |jstor=3267364}}</ref> Nevertheless, the story of Babel can be interpreted in terms of its context: Elsewhere in Genesis, it is stated that Babel ([[LXX]]: Βαβυλών) formed part of [[Nimrod (king)|Nimrod]]'s kingdom, which is located in Lower Mesopotamia.<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|10:10|HE}}</ref> The Bible does not specifically mention that Nimrod ordered the building of the tower, but many other sources have associated its construction with him.<ref name="JE" /> Genesis 11:9 attributes the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] version of the name, ''Babel'', to the verb ''balal'', which means ''to confuse or confound'' in Hebrew.<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|11:9|HE}}</ref> The first century Roman-Jewish author Flavius Josephus similarly explained that the name was derived from the Hebrew word ''Babel (בבל)'', meaning "confusion".<ref>Josephus, ''Antiquities'', 1.4.3</ref>