Shining a light on the weekly Bible Lessons published in the Christian Science Quarterly®
Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?
The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. . . . And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. . . . So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel.
Scholars agree that the tower of Babel was likely a ziggurat—a pyramid-shaped edifice with stepped sides. Ziggurats were massive structures estimated to be 170 to 350 feet (50 to 105 meters) square at the base and as high as 175 feet (53 meters)—the equivalent of over ten stories in a modern building. In flat terrains, where there were no mountaintop sites for temples, they served as elevated worship spaces.
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Resources cited in this issue
RR: Berlin, Adele, Michael Fishbane, and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Study Bible: Featuring the Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004; Blue Letter Bible. “Greek Lexicon: Strong’s G3053 - logismos.” See blueletterbible.org.
Cit. 6: Poole, Matthew. Annotations upon the Holy Bible. 3 vols. London, 1685. Reprint, New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1853. Also available at biblehub.com/commentaries.
Cit. 10: Radmacher, Earl D., Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House. The NKJV Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007.
Cit. 19: Ellicott, Charles John, ed. A Bible Commentary for English Readers by Various Writers. London: Cassell, 1897–1905. Also available at studylight.org/commentaries.
Copyright
Scriptural quotations marked New Living Translation are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked Amplified® Bible (AMP) are taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. lockman.org
Scriptural quotations marked Contemporary English Version are taken from the Contemporary English Version, copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked Good News Translation are taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version—Second Edition, copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked Common English Bible are taken from the Common English Bible, copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
Scriptural quotations marked International Children’s Bible® are taken from the International Children’s Bible®. Copyright © 1986, 1988, 1999 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked New International Reader’s Version™ are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version™, NIrV™. Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
© 2025 The Christian Science Publishing Society. The design of the Cross and Crown is a trademark owned by the Christian Science Board of Directors and is used by permission. Bible Lens and Christian Science Quarterly are trademarks owned by The Christian Science Publishing Society. Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
