Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament · Genesis Kapitel 11

“ And the whole earth (i.e., the population of the earth, vid., Genesis 2:19) was one lip and one kind of words: ” unius labii eorundemque verborum . The unity of language of the whole human race follows from the unity of its descent from one human pair (vid., Genesis 2:22). But as the origin and formation of the races of mankind are beyond the limits of empirical research, so no philology will ever be able to prove or deduce the original unity of human speech from the languages which have been historically preserved, however far comparative grammar may proceed in establishing the genealogical relation of the languages of different nations.

return to '