[Avodah] tower of bavel

[Lisa Liel]

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:07:02 +0200, "Ilana Sober"
<ilanasober at gmail.com> wrote:
>> RnLL: There were too many generations between the Mabul and 
>> Peleg.  I think that pshat in "for in his days the earth was 
>> divided" is that it's referring to Migdal Bavel.  Which places the 
>> event centuries after the Mabul.
>
>Arpachshad was born 2 years after the flood.
>He was 35 when Shelach was born.
>Shelach was 30 when Ever was born.
>Ever was 34 when Peleg was born.
>Peleg lived to be 239.
>
>This means that Peleg lived from 101 years post flood until 340 years
>post flood.
>
>Therefore, the Midrash posits that Migdal Bavel occurred at the very
>end of Peleg's life. One of these days I should look it up and figure
>out why. But the pshat of chumash doesn't give any indication when in
>his life it happened - it could have been a few hundred years
>earlier.

I think it's Rashi, but I may be misremembering, and I'm too lazy to
get up and check, but Yoktan was his younger brother, and it lists
generations that descended from Yoktan among the nations that were
dispersed.  Therefore, it couldn't be at the end of his life.  Ah,
now I remember.  It was Rashi.  I think he says that the Torah comes
to explain and not to obscure, so it must have been at one end or the
other of his life if it doesn't say when exactly.  And since it
couldn't be at the beginning of his life, it must have been at the
end.

Lisa
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