Zohar: Genesis: Chapter LXVIII. The Tower of Babel

This is a passage of rabbinic midrash or Kabbalistic commentary, most likely from the Zohar or a related medieval Jewish mystical text, structured as interpretive teachings attributed to named sages. The first teaching, from Rabbi Hiya, uses Isaiah's image of "the troubled sea" as an extended metaphor for the wicked person: just as a calm sea keeps its mud settled on the bottom, a person devoted to God keeps base animal impulses suppressed, but spiritual disconnection causes those hidden corruptions to surge up and spill out, like a drunkard losing control. The second teaching, from Rabbi Abba, addresses the Tower of Babel narrative, arguing that the builders' true intent was not architectural ambition but a deliberate rejection of God in favor of worshipping a self-made deity — the word "shem" (name) is interpreted as a stand-in for a divine being they wished to fabricate for themselves, rooted in proximity to worldly pleasures and a desire to avoid dispersal. A notably distinctive claim is that the builders' project was demonically inspired and oriented toward Satanic worship rather than mere hubris. Both teachings share a common framework: visible, external behavior (stormy water, tower-building speech) is treated as a symptom of a deeper spiritual disorder, and biblical language is read as concealing layered occult meaning accessible only through close esoteric interpretation.