2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
2 As people moved eastward,
2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
2 It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 11:2
Commentary on Genesis 11:1-4
(Read Genesis 11:1-4)
How soon men forget the most tremendous judgments, and go back to their former crimes! Though the desolations of the deluge were before their eyes, though they sprang from the stock of righteous Noah, yet even during his life-time, wickedness increases exceedingly. Nothing but the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit can remove the sinful lusts of the human will, and the depravity of the human heart. God's purpose was, that mankind should form many nations, and people all lands. In contempt of the Divine will, and against the counsel of Noah, the bulk of mankind united to build a city and a tower to prevent their separating. Idolatry was begun, and Babel became one of its chief seats. They made one another more daring and resolute. Let us learn to provoke one another to love and to good works, as sinners stir up and encourage one another to wicked works.