They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

  • KJV King James Version

    And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    And they said one to another: 'Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

View more translations →

Cross-references (19)

Passages linked to Genesis 11:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Genesis 14:10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and some fell there. Those who remained fled to the hills.
  • Exodus 1:14 and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
  • Exodus 2:3 When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.
  • Hebrews 10:24 Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,
  • James 5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.
  • 2 Samuel 12:31 He brought out the people who were in it, and put them under saws, under iron picks, under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick kiln; and he did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
  • Isaiah 9:10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stone. The sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”
  • Isaiah 41:6-7 Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers, “Be strong!” So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good;” and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter.
  • Hebrews 3:13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
  • Genesis 11:4 They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
  • Genesis 11:7 Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
  • Exodus 5:7-18 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. You shall require from them the number of the bricks which they made before. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it. Don’t let them pay any attention to lying words.” The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw. Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’ ” So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!” The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?” Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” But Pharaoh said, “You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ Go therefore now, and work; for no straw shall be given to you; yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!”
  • Psalms 64:5 They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?”
  • Proverbs 1:11 If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lay in wait for blood. Let’s lurk secretly for the innocent without cause.
  • Ecclesiastes 2:1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity.
  • Isaiah 5:5 Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down.
  • Isaiah 65:3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks;
  • Nahum 3:14 Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your fortresses. Go into the clay, and tread the mortar. Make the brick kiln strong.
  • James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.”

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

↑ Top

Explain this verse (15 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 3. And they said one to another That is,…

3. And they said one to another That is, they mutually exhorted each other; and not only did every man earnestly put his own hand to the work, but impelled others also to the daring attempt.

Let us make brick. Moses intimates that they had not been induced to commence this work, on account of the ease with which it could be accomplished nor on account of any other advantages which presented themselves; he rather shows that they had contended with great and arduous difficulties; by which means their guilt became the more aggravated. For how is it that they harass and wear themselves out in vain on a difficult and labourious enterprise, unless that, like madmen, they rush impetuously against God? Difficulty often deters us from necessary works; but these men, when they had neither stones nor mortar, yet do not scruple to attempt the raising of an edifice which may transcend the clouds. We are taught therefore, by this example, to what length the lust of men will hurry them, when they indulge their ambition. Even a profane poet is not silent on this subject, —

Read full note →

“Man, rashly daring, full of pride, Most covets what is most denied.” And a little afterwards, — “Counts nothing arduous, and tries Insanely to possess the skies.”

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 11:3 And they said one to another, Go…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Let us make brick, for in that low and…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they said one to another, go to,.... Advising,…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Go to, let us make brick, let us build…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Let us make brick] It appears they…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 11:3-4. Let us make brick, let us build…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Each one: not that every individual joined in this…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain brick--There being no stone in that quarter, brick is,…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. Said one to another — Hebrews, each man…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. brick for stone, &c.] For a description of…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Let us make brick, and burn them throughly.—Heb.,…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And they said one to another. Literally, a man…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 If your language has a way of urging or…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:3 Stone was plentiful in Canaan; in Mesopotamia, stone…

↑ Top

Share