“I shall give to peoples the change to a pure language, in order for them all to call upon the name of Jehovah.”—ZEPH. 3:9.
THE gift of language did not originate with mankind but, rather, with man’s Creator, Jehovah God. (Ex. 4:11, 12) He gave the first human, Adam, the ability not only to speak but also to coin new words and thus expand his vocabulary. (Gen. 2:19, 20, 23) What a wonderful gift this has proved to be! It has even enabled mankind to communicate with their heavenly Father and to praise his glorious name.
During the first 17 centuries of human existence, everyone spoke just one language, having “one set of words.” (Gen. 11:1) Then came the rebellion of Nimrod’s day. Contrary to Jehovah’s instructions, disobedient humans gathered at what later came to be called Babel, determined to remain in one location. They started to build a massive tower, not to give Jehovah glory, but to “make a celebrated name” for themselves. So Jehovah confused the original language of those rebels and caused them to speak various tongues. Thus, they were scattered over all the surface of the earth.—Read Genesis 11:4-8.
Today, literally thousands of languages—some say over 6,800—are spoken in the world. Each of these languages requires different thought patterns. It appears, then, that when Jehovah God confused the speech of those rebels, he blotted out all memory of their previous common language.
He not only introduced into their minds new vocabularies but also changed their thought patterns and produced new grammars. No wonder the location of that tower came to be called “Confusion,” or Babel! (Gen. 11:9, ftn.) Interestingly, only the Bible gives a satisfying explanation of the origin of the diversity of languages that we see today.
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