Imperishable Inheritance

While sharing the Biblical basis for missions, my friend Jessica Tullidge pointed out a good question concerning Genesis 10 and 11. Her question was about the fact that that there were different languages mentioned in the geneaology of Noah, but the differentiation of languages occured in Genesis 11 after the building of the tower.

The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 11:6-9 (emphasis added)

But in Genesis 10:5, 20, 31 reference is made to there being different languages spread out over the earth from Noah's descendants. John Gill, which was the only commentator I could find who dealt directly with the question, posits the following explanation:

"[Gen 10:5b] shows, that what is said concerning the division of countries to the sons of Japheth is by way of anticipation; and that, though thus related, was not done till after the confusion of languages, since the partition was made according to the different languages of men..."
John Gill, Exposition of the Whole Bible, Gen 10:5b

John's KJV language is basically saying that the genealogy in chapter 10 is talking of a time that starts before and after the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel. So, chapter 11 is seen as a more in-depth look at how the languages became different (and to illustrate that man continues to be disobedient to His command to "fill the earth," cf. Gen 1:28, 9:1). I believe this is certainly a valid answer, because Genesis 2 is a magnification of what happens in the creation of man in the first chapter (in contrast to liberal scholars who believe they're conflicting accounts of creation).

Chapter 10 does start with the genealogy running from Shem, Ham, and Japheth (the sons of Noah, cf. Gen 6:10), but Genesis 11:10 forward is only the genealogy of Shem. This is understandable, because it was the important genealogy to list introducing Abram (Gen 11:26) leading to the Messiah (Mat 1:2). It is not odd that a genealogy would be listed after a narrative, because it was something done quite frequently in Hebrew tradition.

The Hebrew word used for "language" is completely different between chapters 10 and 11. The three times "language" is used in chapter 10 is the Hebrew word: law-shone' which translates literally as "tongue" (the KJV uses this translation which is more correct). "Tongue" maybe used literally as a human tongue or figuratively as speech, but whether or not it is literal or figurative the point is that there is given a contradistinction between different "tongues." In chapter 11 the Hebrew word saw-faw' is utilized which refers more to a "margin" or "boundary." What this means I don't know exactly, but quoting Hebrew makes me feel smart! Seriously, my conjecture is that chapter 11 uses a different word for "language" due the emphasis that they had the same boundary (and "language" as we know it as well), but in chapter 10 there is an emphasis on the after effects of making different "languages" as we would know it today.

Conclusion: keep talking to Jessica Tullidge!