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Genesis Chapter 11 includes a few short verses about the Tower of Babel:

1 And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another: 'Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4 And they said: 'Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said: 'Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. 7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.'

8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Is the Tower of Babel and its destruction mentioned or discussed in any other Jewish texts?

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Are you looking for discussions of the tower in other parts of the Old Testament (Tanach), in Talmudic literature, or in later rabbinic literature? It is certainly discussed at length in the biblical commentaries. And are you looking just to find out if and where it is discussed, or looking for a summary of well-known sources? – jake May 30 '11 at 23:26
@jake: I'm looking for wherever it's discussed beyond the short passage in the Old Testament. Preferably from sources written around the same time frame. Ideally, the answer would include links to the sources where I could read more about this story/event. – Scott Mitchell May 31 '11 at 3:29
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See the note at the top of this WP article. I'd prefer (and I think I speak for many/most here) if around here, you'd use a term, such as "Tanach," "Hebrew Bible," or given the local context, just "Bible," rather than the loaded term "Old Testament." – Isaac Moses♦ May 31 '11 at 5:48
@Isaac: I apologize, I was ignorant of the appropriate terminology. – Scott Mitchell May 31 '11 at 15:55
No problem; thanks for your understanding. I already updated the question; I was responding now to your comment, which you might as well leave as-is, along with the ensuing discussion. – Isaac Moses♦ May 31 '11 at 15:57
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You can read the Soncino Translation of Midrash Rabba's comments on the Tower of Babel and the Generation of Separation here.

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Rabbi Yonason Eibshitz(Tiferes Yehonason) has a very interesting pshat on migdal bavel. – sam Apr 23 at 1:10
@Sam, care to share it? – Seth J Apr 23 at 1:19
It is a very long piece but bkitzur he explains that they needed to build a tower to get to a certain point where the air wasn't murky and from there they would fly their flying craft(he explains in detail) which they had the technology for. Their plan was to escape another flood and fly to the moon with the technology they had, and build a residence(see it inside for more detail). – sam Apr 23 at 1:32
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up vote 1 down vote

This article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel is pretty extensive, and mentions several other sources; none in the Biblical canon, but some such as the Book of Jubilees and Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews are certainly related enough to be considered of Jewish context.

There are some other non-jewish references mentioned as well, of similar myths, that may eventually be talking about the same story.

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Welcome to Judaism.SE and thanks for your informative answer! It looks like the asker is looking for older sources than those (Although that detail doesn't appear in the question, it is indicated in the comments.), but they by most accounts qualify as legitimate Jewish sources nonetheless. – WAF♦ Jun 28 '11 at 12:40
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