Sforno on the Torah

It is the custom of shepherds to move from one place to another to find good pasture.

"Come let us make bricks" to build houses and sheep folds. And this was the idea of the individuals in the general public as it says "and one man said to his fellow."

"And they said, come let us build for ourselves a city." This was the idea of the leaders of the generation: to make Nimrod the king of all of humanity. "And a tower that reaches the heavens, and we will make a name for ourselves." We will make a name like a tower [i.e., solid]. The tale of the height of the place and size of the city will spread among all of humanity in a way that it will be considered by everyone to be the god of all gods, and all will seek it out. And the intention in this was that the king of that city would reign over all of humanity in that everyone would seek it out.

"God came down to see." Now, the usage of "going down to see" is used with the Blessed God when the matter is not yet appropriate for punishment, rather from the evil that will come out of it at the end of story, like the example of the wayward and rebellious son, of which they said that the Torah went to the conclusion of his ideas. Also similar is the situation with Sodom, where it is written "I will go down and see." Because their wickedness was not greater enough than the rest of the idol worshippers that they should be punished in this world, except in the matter of cruelty against the poor, from which total evil will come in the end, as it says "This was the sin of Sodom your sister: they did not strengthen the hand of the poor and indigent," and this too was the punishment of Israel when they were exiled as it says "I will see what their end will be."