USAGE: Initial "and" (was Re: The Babel Text)

Speaking of the Babel text - the English begins with the word "and",
which seems particularly common in Biblical translations and, in
general, verse:

        And all the land was one language and few words.

What exactly does the "and" signify here?  I'm a native English speaker,
but I still don't really know.  It's obviously not joining anything
together, really.  Logically, it seems to be doing nothing at all, and
yet there's a subtle at least connoative difference between the anded
and andless versions.

Thoughts?

-Mark

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