Why did the Tower of Bavel builders turn violent?
At the moment of the dispersion of the builders of the Tower of Bavel, Hashem confused their speech so that each person could no longer understand his fellow's language. Unable to communicate, they drew their swords against one another in confusion and rage, and half the world perished in that slaughter. Only afterward did the Lord scatter the survivors over the face of the earth, fulfilling the words of Genesis 11:8.AI summary · anthropic/claude-sonnet-5
And they wished to speak one to another in the language of his fellow-countryman, but one did not understand the language of his fellow. What did they do? Every one took his sword, and they fought one another to destroy (each other), and half the world fell there by the sword, and thence the Lord scattered them upon the face of all the earth, as it is said, "So the Lord scattered them abroad on that account, upon the face of all the earth" (Gen. 11:8).
וְהָיוּ רוֹצִין לְדַבֵּר אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ בִּלְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ וְלֹא מַכִּירִין אִישׁ לְשׁוֹן רֵעֵהוּ. מֶה עָשׂוּ? לָקַח אִישׁ חַרְבּוֹ וְנִלְחֲמוּ אֵלּוּ עִם אֵלּוּ לְהַשְׁחִית, וַחֲצִי הָעוֹלָם שָׁם נָפְלוּ בֶּחָרֶב. וּמִשָּׁם הֱפִיצָם ה' עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיָּפֶץ ה' אֹתָם מִשָּׁם עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ״.