At this point the LORD enters the story. The narrator assumes that between verses 4 and 5 the people built their city and tower. Accordingly in some languages it may be necessary to begin verse 5 by saying “When the people had built their city” or “After the people finished building the city….”

And the LORD came down: And represents the Hebrew connective, which simply signals a further development in the series of events and should be translated by an appropriate marker, if one is required. Came down may assume a descending from God’s dwelling place in heaven. It may picture God as present in that place only after descending. However, the expression may also carry the sense of coming to punish, as used in Exo 3.8, where the LORD came down to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians. Some interpreters view the expression as a contrast between the human effort to build up to the heavens and God’s coming down to their lowly position. In this sense there is a tone of satire in the narrator’s expression.

To see the city and the tower: see has in this context the sense of “observe, inspect, look at.”

Sons of men refers to the people building the city. The expression emphasizes the contrast between these earthly humans and God. New English Bible says “mortal men,” and Speiser “earthlings.” Good News Translation has “those men,” Revised English Bible “they,” and New Jerusalem Bible “the people.”

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 .