Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Sforno · Torah
Sforno on Genesis 11:6/ספורנו על בראשית י״א:ו׳
אהֵן עַם אֶחָד. כִּי אָמְנָם הַבִּטּוּל הַמֵּפֵר עֵצוֹת וּמֵנִיא מַחֲשָׁבוֹת הוּא הַמַּחֲלֹקֶת הַקּוֹרֶה בֵּינֵיהֶם, אִם לְסִבַּת הַדָּתוֹת וְאִם לְסִבַּת הַלְּשׁוֹנוֹת. וְהִנֵּה אֵלֶּה הָיוּ עַם אֶחָד בְּעִנְיַן הַדָּת, כִּי הָיוּ כֻּלָּם מַסְכִּימִים בְּדַעַת אַנְשֵׁי הַצָּא"בָּה, וְעִם זֶה הָיוּ כֻּלָּם מַסְכִּימִים בַּלָּשׁוֹן.
1הן עם אחד, the only way I can stop them from carrying out their unanimously approved plan is to sow the seeds of discord between them. The instrument of bringing this about is to confuse their language. Basically, people’s disagreements are either religious, (philosophical) in nature, or they result from misunderstanding what they mean when they speak. These people had been of one mind in matters of religion, seeing that they had all agreed with the mistaken idolatrous philosophy shared by mankind at that time. In spite of such apparently good reasons for disagreeing with one another, they did not misunderstand each other.
בוְזֶה הַחִלָּם לַעֲשׂוֹת. וְגַם כֵּן נִמְצְאָה לְכֻלָּם עַתָּה זֹאת הַהַתְחָלָה שֶׁעָשׂוּ בְּהַסְכָּמַת כֻּלָּם.
2וזה החלו לעשות, and yet they all agree to begin this project.
גוְעַתָּה לֹא יִבָּצֵר מֵהֶם. אִם כֵּן אֵין מוֹנֵעַ לָהֶם מְהַשְׁלִים כַּוָּנָתָם, וְתִהְיֶה אוֹתָהּ עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה אֲשֶׁר יִבְחֲרוּ כְּלָלִית לְכָל מִין הָאָדָם, וְלֹא יִפְנֶה אֶחָד מֵהֶם לָדַעַת אֶת הַבּוֹרֵא יִתְבָּרַךְ וּלְהָבִין כִּי יוֹצֵר הַכֹּל הוּא. וְהִפּוּךְ זֶה יִקְרֶה כְּשֶׁתִּהְיֶה מַחֲלֹקֶת בְּעִנְיַן הָאֱלֹהִי הַנָּכְרִי, כִּי כָּל אַחַת מֵהֵנָּה תַּחְשֹׁב שֶׁיֵּשׁ אֱלֹהֵי הָאֱלֹהִים שֶׁכָּל הָאֱלֹהוּת מַסְכִּימִים לְדַעְתּוֹ וּבוֹ יִשְׁלַם סִדְרָם וְסֵדֶר הַמְּצִיאוּת, כְּאָמְרוֹ (מלאכי א:יא) "כִּי מִמִּזְרַח שֶׁמֶשׁ וְעַד מְבוֹאוֹ גָּדוֹל שְׁמִי בַּגּוֹיִם".
3ועתה לא יבצר מהם, in view of these circumstances, if left alone, they would complete what they have set out to do, so that this form of idolatry they have agreed on would henceforth be something embraced by all of mankind. Not a single one of them would turn to the Creator of the universe and realise that He, and He alone, is the Creator of the entire universe. On the other hand, the opposite will occur if discord will break out among them regarding the supremacy of any of the deities versus the competing ones. In such a scenario, every nation would believe that there is one deity that is superior to all the various national deities, whose concern is only with the particular nation worshipping that deity. All the minor deities would have to subordinate themselves to the power of that super-deity. The prophet Maleachi 1,11 expresses this in the following words: ”for from where the sun rises to where it sets, My name is honoured among the nations;” כי ממזרח שמש ועד מבואו גדול שמי בגוים.