ABSTRACT

The word group is attractive and off-putting at one and the same time. Every one of us fears to be swallowed by the group yet equally worries lest she or he be expelled by it and remain alone. The Tower of Babel represents the difficulty each individual experiences in finding her or his place vis-a-vis the group. The group’s bid for omnipotence and to penetrate into the realm of God is penalised by total disintegration, a linguistic chaos that makes communication impossible. The group is punished with the loss of coherence and with confusion. The people, initially united as a group, were scattered over the face of the whole earth. They had a common language but their speech became confused, and they thus lost the ability to communicate with each other. A participant in the group, a man who had an impressive academic career, caused conflicting feelings among the other participants.