Then they said: Revised Standard Version begins with Then as a subsequent action to the one in verse 3. Come is as in verse 3.

Let us build ourselves a city: let us build follows the same command form as in verse 3. Ourselves is literally “for ourselves,” emphasizing the involvement of the people speaking and the rewards they expect, as seen in the rest of their speech. For comments on city see 4.17.

The expression a city, and a tower … has been interpreted to mean a city with a tower; that is, a city whose highest point is a tower rising above it, or some kind of fortified city. The word translated tower is the common word in Hebrew that can refer to a large raised structure for observation or defense, or a farmer’s watchtower in a field. In our text the tower is understood as a temple tower. Attempts to identify the tower in our text with any of the several ancient towers in modern Iraq are only guesses. For further information see a Bible dictionary.

With its top in the heavens: top is literally “head.” Heavens refers here to the sky, the space high above the earth, and so no doubt the place where God or the gods were thought to dwell. It is probably best to take this expression as figurative, meaning “a very high tower,” rather than in a literal sense.

In translation those languages that do not have a special term for a tower will probably use a descriptive phrase like “a very high [or, tall] house,” which may be linked here with the next phrase about it reaching up to the sky. Two examples of such expressions are “a house that is high, so high it reaches the sky above” and “… with one big house. That house will climb right up inside the sky.”

And let us make a name for ourselves: the people who would build the city and tower now express their motives or reasons. Building the city will make them widely known and famous. We may translate “and then everyone will say we are great,” “so that people will know we are famous,” or “we will then make our name known everywhere.” One example from an existing translation is “… so people will see this work and lift up our name.”

Lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth: scattered, also in verses 8 and 9, means “to be dispersed, separated, spread out.” Lest is an archaic English word that introduces here a negative consequence: “so that we will not be scattered” or “to keep us from being scattered.” New Revised Standard Version says “otherwise we shall be scattered.” In some languages the passive usage of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation must be adjusted by saying, for instance, “so that we will not have to go and live scattered out” or “… so that we will be able to stay together in one place.” One translation expresses the sense of lest as follows: “We don’t want to be scattered everywhere in every country. We want to stay as one group with a big name.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .