Genesis11:2

The antecedent of “journeyed,” meaning the people referred to by the third person plural “they,” is in the previous verse, and is “all the earth.” The logical conclusion is that there had not been any scattering of people yet, and that every human on the planet was involved in the tower of Babel incident.

The word “East” was highly symbolic because it was the place where the sun rose. Therefore, it represented life, the light that gives life, and the origin of everything that is necessary for life. Context must tell us when it is being used as symbolism, and when it is both literal and symbolic. The geographic realities involved here were the following: Noah and his descendants had left the mountains of Ararat and most, or all of them headed Eastish toward Shinar, which is a synonym for Babylon. The way this phrase is written, a literal translation focusing on physical realities can render this word “toward the East” or “from the East.” In a geographic sense, “toward the East” makes most sense because most scholars think the mountains of Ararat are in Turkey, to the West or Northwest of Babylon. This use of the word “East” also seems to make a symbolic meaning plausible. As such it would mean that they were looking for the perfect situation to sustain life with as little hardship as possible. Life after the flood was rough because the aftermath of the world-wide flood was quite violent. They thought they found a good place for life when they reached Shinar.

The name Shinar is most likely of foreign origin and its meaning unknown to us. The important thing here is the meaning ascribed to it by people who came along much later. The people of Nimrod’s time did not know that this area would become known as Babylon, a place of “confusion” and a “gateway for the gods” (those are the meanings of Babylon). They simply thought they had found a suitable location. But those to read it much later would hear anything associated with Babylon and think of Babel, which to the Hebrews meant “Confusion.”