The chapter’s first four pericopes indicate to us that mankind establishes itself as a unified race which has migrated and constructed huge buildings in the land along the Tigris and Euphrates. The Tower of Babel is mankind’s attempt to strive beyond our reach and ability granted to us by God, “as if striving to fortify themselves against God,” according to St. Augustine. Man has a natural tendency to beat the curve, to constantly excel at harnessing creation for our benefit, God then acknowledges our great ability by causing us to develop different languages. This comes at our expense however, we are unable to unify ourselves, and thus unable to sin/rise against God as a people. This individualizes our sin, causing us to be completely alone according to our sins, repentance happens on a collective level.
Nimrod is the founder of Babylon, he fashions it to be one of the most prosperous nations in the history of man until that point. As a culture, they develop a deep sense of pride for their creations and this pride manifests into sin. Man starts to dominate nature to such an extent that they have no other force to rebel against other than God. This transpires into the formation of the Tower, man takes the kingdom of heaven by force. “Let Us go down” an allusion to the Trinity according to St. Augustine implies to us that God now descends upon man to keep us confined within the Universe. God causes us to speak in different tongues, he adds complexity and structure to our lives, this leaves humanity to be permanently separated.