What was the tower of Babel story all about in Genesis 11? 

That's a fair point, for sure... and a definite takeaway, but I also think that Deuteronomy 32:7-9 is a snapshot from the discourse of the song of Moses that shows, in a deeper way, what may be going on here in Genesis 11: "Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD's (YHWH'S) portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage." And what do we find immediately after the story of the tower and the dividing of the nations? A genealogy of Shem's line to Abram... and then the calling of Abram and the covenant with him by YHWH, to give him land, offspring as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the beach, and a blessing to bless the world with... the beginnings of the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob... YHWH's portion. The people are divided into land and language... and apportioned out to the "bene elohim" (sons of god... heavenly host), and God chooses the line of Shem as his own people.

@@sam_burke Using your logic, (the peoples of Babel were portioned with YHWH getting those who would ultimately be Shem -> Abram -> Jewish people), who got the other portions? Are you making an argument for monolatrism over monotheism? And if so, how to you address Genesis 1 with a pantheon of Gods? I agree what follows Genesis 11 is a piece of the continuation of the theme that there is an unbroken line from Adam to the Jews. There are numerous examples as well as references to this idea. Deuteronomy 32 practically states it. My comment above is to show what I consider a significantly overlooked lesson of the bible which this story clearly states (as I read it). The importance of diversity. The stories in both testaments point to it repeatedly. Starting as early as the first "week" of creation where God doesn't just create one plant or one animal... not mode of reproduction, nor one shade of color. There is diversity in the very creation. God doesn't let us tolerate diversity. Instead, we are asked to adapt and more: to encourage diversity. It is not enough to permit diversity or to tolerate it. I think the reason this story was included here as opposed to any other story that could fill the gap to connect Adam to Abram is to teach this other interpretation.

@@dhuskins Yes. I love that point on diversity. I'm not arguing against that. regarding Gen. 11 and Deut. 32: I'm not conflating God with the sons of god as some do...so no pantheon of Gods in Genesis 1. I do, however, believe that a divine council of spiritual beings is in place and in view in 1:26-27 in the mind of the author. We see this argued all over the place in the Hebrew bible. So no, I don't think it is a 1 for 1 monolatry. I would probably agree more on how Dr. Michael Heiser sees these passages. What I do think is this: I think we see, pretty clearly, over time, that these "bene elohim" (heavenly host) were likely these spiritual, angelic beings, but not Gods. And they, one by one, rebelled against YHWH and governed poorly (defend the unjust, show partiality to the wicked.) I think this is what Psalm 82 has in mind (plus the kings of each of these lands viewing themselves as "gods"... which may be some sort of possession by these angelic/demonic figures)... when it says that YHWH stands in judgment over the divine council and issues a verdict: 6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ 7 But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.” 8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance." So here we see this judgment and now the psalm writer says, "all the nations are your inheritance." So, no, I don't think that Israel, at its conception was exactly monotheistic like we see today... maybe not fully monolatric either... I think that monotheism was a shape they grew into as they realized that all the other nations deities were nothing. In fact, by the time the end of Isaiah is written, a more familiar shape of monotheism that we would understand seems to be fully in place. I believe what we see in the Hebrew bible is a growth of understanding of who God is and what these other spiritual beings are. So, I think deuteronomy 32 was an explanation given to the Israelite people to explain the patron deities of the other nations (really these angelic/spiritual beings) and I do believe they pointed back to the tower incident to show this. Jesus treated all of this as angelic and demonic. Paul would later come on the scene and help us clarify that 1) there is an unseen, spiritual realm (principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places) and 2) that they are sometimes seen as "gods" in the world, but for us, there is only 1 God. 1 Cor. 8:4-8.

I noticed the Greek in the LXX… but didn’t even think about that conveying the pun. I just read it as straightforward). I agree… Babylon is definitely in view, especially if this was edited later on, as has been speculated.