NIMROD
(Nimʹrod) [possibly, we will rebel, or, let us rebel].
Son of Cush, who was a principal progenitor of the dark-complexioned branch of the human family. (1 Chron. 1:10; compare Jeremiah 13:23.) Nimrod was the founder and king of the first empire to come into existence after the Flood. He distinguished himself as a mighty hunter “before” (in an unfavorable sense; Heb., liph·nehʹ; “against” or “in opposition to”; compare Numbers 16:2; 1 Chronicles 14:8; 2 Chronicles 14:10) or “in front of” Jehovah. (Gen. 10:9, NW, 1953 ed., ftn.) Although in this case some scholars attach a favorable sense to the Hebrew preposition meaning “in front of,” the Jewish Targums, the writings of the historian Josephus and also the context of Genesis chapter 10 suggest that Nimrod was a mighty hunter in defiance of Jehovah.
The beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom included the cities of Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh, all in the land of Shinar. (Gen. 10:10) Therefore it was likely under his direction that the building of Babel and its tower began. This conclusion is also in agreement with the traditional Jewish view. Wrote Josephus: “[Nimrod] gradually changed the government into tyranny,—seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! . . . Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower.”—Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, chap. IV, pars. 2, 3.
It appears that after the building of the Tower of Babel Nimrod extended his domain to the territory of Assyria and there built “Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: this is the great city.” (Gen. 10:11, 12; compare Micah 5:6.) Since Assyria evidently derived its name from Shem’s son Asshur, Nimrod, as a grandson of Ham, must have invaded Shemite territory. So it would seem that Nimrod made the start in becoming a mighty one or hero, not only as a hunter of animals, but also as a warrior, a man of aggression. (Gen. 10:8) Observes the Cyclopædia by M’Clintock and Strong (Vol. VII, p. 109): “That the mighty hunting was not confined to the chase is apparent from its close connection with the building of eight cities. . . . What Nimrod did in the chase as a hunter was the earlier token of what he achieved as a conqueror. For hunting and heroism were of old specially and naturally associated . . . The Assyrian monuments also picture many feats in hunting, and the word is often employed to denote campaigning. . . . The chase and the battle, which in the same country were connected so closely in aftertimes, may therefore be virtually associated or identified here. The meaning then will be, that Nimrod was the first after the flood to found a kingdom, to unite the fragments of scattered patriarchal rule, and consolidate them under himself as sole head and master; and all this in defiance of Jehovah, for it was the violent intrusion of Hamitic power into a Shemitic territory.”
If Nimrod’s name is correctly defined as “we will rebel” or “let us rebel,” doubtless it came to be applied to him after he began his rebellion.
Concerning the deification of Nimrod, see GODS AND GODDESSES (Babylonian Deities).