Genesis 10:25

10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, ¹  and his brother’s name was Joktan.

Genesis 11:9

11:9 That is why its name was called ²  Babel ³  – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

Psalms 115:16

115:16 The heavens belong to the Lord, ⁴ 

but the earth he has given to mankind. ⁵ 

Acts 17:26

17:26 From one man ⁶  he made every nation of the human race ⁷  to inhabit the entire earth, ⁸  determining their set times ⁹  and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, ¹⁰ 

¹ tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.

² tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.

³ sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).

⁴ tn Heb “the heavens [are] heavens to the Lord.”

⁵ tn Heb “to the sons of man.”

⁶ sn The one man refers to Adam (the word “man” is understood).

⁷ tn Or “mankind.” BDAG 276 s.v. ἔθνος 1 has “every nation of humankind Ac 17:26.”

⁸ tn Grk “to live over all the face of the earth.”

⁹ tn BDAG 884-85 s.v. προστάσσω has “(οἱ) προστεταγμένοι καιροί (the) fixed times Ac 17:26” here, but since the following phrase is also translated “fixed limits,” this would seem redundant in English, so the word “set” has been used instead.

¹⁰ tn Grk “the boundaries of their habitation.” L&N 80.5 has “fixed limits of the places where they would live” for this phrase.