The Concept of "City"

These are notes for an incomplete "Concept" page.

Information is being added as the Bible Pages are added. In the end, everything will be compiled, further information added (as necessary), broken links connected, etc.

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Cross-references Parent Topic a Related Topics b Additional Materials c

The origin of cities came in an act of rebellion. It's not just that people wanted to live together. It was actually an attempt to break with God, to give themselves their own significance (to make themselves a "name").

• Cain named his son and the city both "Enoch." The name "Enoch" has the connotation of "starting over again." Cain was "starting over" without God's being present. (In the godly line - Genesis 5 - there was another "Enoch." This one may have been "starting over"; but if so, it was a "starting over" with a renewed emphasis on fellowship with God - quite the opposite of Cain's "Enoch"!)

Yet as with many other concepts that begin in an act of rebellion, God turns it around. In the end, God himself will live among people, in a city called, the "New Jerusalem."

Scripture Passages that Link to Here

Genesis 4:1-26

This is the first reference to a city, and it is built in rebellion to God. It would be a pattern for future cities built in rebellion (such as Babel).

Genesis 10:1-32

Nimrod the "Hunter" - His "hunting" didn't involve going after animals, but after people - enslaving them. With these human slaves, he could build his cities. Many of these cities were in the area that is now called Iraq.

Genesis 11:1-9

The Tower of Babel - This was a rebellion against God's command to "fill the earth." The offspring of Shem, Ham and Japheth did not want to spread out. Instead, they built a city, with the same spirit of rebellion as Cain had, when he did so. They wanted to give themselves their own significance ("name").

Psalm 107:1-43

A reference to God delivering people who were lost in a desert wilderness, where there was no "city" - i.e., no place where people can live, where there is food and water, etc. Here, "city" is considered the opposite of the desert wilderness.

Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.