tongues Summary and Overview
Bible Dictionaries at a Glance
tongues in Schaff's Bible Dictionary
CONFU'SION OF TONGUES Originally "the whole earth was of one language and of one speech." Gen 11:1. This biblical statement is confirmed by the researches of philologists, which show a great resemblance between the different families of languages spoken by the descendants of the Babel-builders. The Bible states that the present differences are due to the divine intervention. God confused the speech of the builders, so that they were obliged to abandon their work, thus forestalling "the wide dialectical differences which ordinarily require time and difference of place and habits to mature." - Fausset. See Language.