This chapter is a story traditionally referred to as the "Tower of Babel."
This chapter seeks to answer the questions: why do people speak different languages? how did people become so dispersed across the earth? God's punishment described in this chapter may also explain why the world has racial and ethnic divisions.
The statement "Yahweh came down to see" is a type of personification. Yahweh always knows what happens on earth. This statement indicates that Yahweh is about to bring judgment on mankind. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-personification]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/judge]])