זוהר בראשית — דף עה ע”א

The Zohar explains that the wicked, like the troubled sea, bring forth mire and mud from their mouths. On “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens,” it says that “come” is a mere invitation, that all came with an evil counsel and in folly, and Rabbi Abba adds that with a wicked wisdom they wished to exchange the supernal glory for a foreign glory. Arriving at the plain in the land of Shinar, they thought they had found a place to strengthen themselves. “The Lord came down to see” is one of the ten descents of the Divine Presence, and the examination of judgment begins with the upper degrees and then the lower. Rabbi Shimon opens with the verse: “the gate of the inner court facing east shall be shut the six working days.”