The actions of the members of the generation of the Dispersion, who were the builders of the Tower of Babel, are cited in the Torah in brief and not fully explained. The Sages elaborated on the motives of the builders of the tower, its nature, the manner of its construction, and the punishment for its builders.

Nimrod said to his people: Come, let us build a great city for ourselves, and settle within it, lest we be dispersed upon the face of the entire land like our predecessors. And we will build a great tower within it, one that will rise to the heavens, as the power of the Holy One, blessed be He, to destroy is only with water, and we will become famous in the world…. Rabbi Pinhas says: There were no stones there to construct the city and the tower. What did they do? They made bricks and burned them, like a potter does, until they built the tower to a height of seven (Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer [Higer] 24)