Difference between revisions of "Nimrod"

<p> Cush's son or descendant, Ham's grandson (&nbsp;Genesis 10:8). "Nimrod began to be a mighty one in the earth," i.e. he was the first of Noah's descendants who became renowned for bold and daring deeds, the Septuagint "giant" (compare &nbsp;Genesis 6:4; &nbsp;Genesis 6:13; &nbsp;Isaiah 13:3). "He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah," so that it passed into a proverb or the refrain of ballads in describing hunters and warriors, "even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before Jehovah." Not a mere [[Hebrew]] superlative, but as in &nbsp;Genesis 27:7 "bless thee before Jehovah," i.e. as in His presence, &nbsp;Psalms 56:13 "walk before God." Septuagint translated "against Jehovah"; so in &nbsp;Numbers 16:2 lipneey , "before," means opposition. The Hebrew name Nimrod means "let us rebel," given by his contemporaries to Nimrod as one who ever had in his mouth such words to stir up his band to rebellion. Nimrod subverted the existing patriarchal order of society by setting up a chieftainship based on personal valor and maintained by aggression. The chase is an image of war and a training for it. </p> <p> The increase of ferocious beasts after the flood and Nimrod's success in destroying them soon gathered a band to him. From being a hunter of beasts he became a hunter of men. "In defiance of Jehovah," as virtually" before Jehovah" (&nbsp;Proverbs 15:11) means, Nimrod, a Hamite intruded into Shem's portion, violently set up an empire of conquest, beginning with Babel, ever after the symbol of the world power in its hostility to God. From that land he went forth to [[Asshur]] and builded Nineveh. The later Babylonians spoke Semitic, but the oldest inscriptions are Turanian or Cushite. Tradition points to Babylon's [[Cushite]] origin by making [[Belus]] son of [[Poseidon]] (the sea) and [[Libya]] (Ethiopia): [[Diodorus]] Siculus i. 28. [[Oannes]] the fish god, Babylon's civilizer, rose out of the Red Sea (Syncellus, Chronog. 28). "Cush" appears in the [[Babylonian]] names Cissia, Cuthah, Chuzistan (Susiana). Babylon's earliest alphabet in oldest inscriptions resembles that of Egypt and Ethiopia; common words occur, as Mirikh, the Meroe of Ethiopia, the [[Mars]] of Babylon. </p> <p> Though Arabic is Semitic, the Mahras' language in southern [[Arabia]] is non-Semitic, and is the modern representative of the ancient Himyaric whose empire dates as far back as 1750 B.C. The Mahras is akin to the Abyssinian Galla language, representing the Cushite or Ethiopic of old; and the primitive Babylonian Sir H. Rawlinson from inscriptions decides to resemble both. The writing too is pictorial, as in the earliest ages of Egypt. The [[Egyptian]] and Ethiopic hyk (in hyk-sos , the "shepherd kings"), a "king," in Babylonian and Susianian is khak . "Tyrhak" is common to the royal lists of Susiana and Ethiopia, as "Nimrod" is to those of [[Babylon]] and Egypt. Ra is the Cushite supreme god of Babylon as Ra is the sun god in Egypt. (See [[Babel]] .) Nimrod was the Bel, Belus, or Baal, i.e. lord of Babel, its founder. Worshipped ''(As The [[Monuments]] Testify)'' as Bilu Nipra or [[Bel]] Nimrod, i.e, the god of the chase; the Talmudical Nopher, now Niffer. [[Josephus]] (Ant. 1:4) and the tortures represent him as building, in defiance of Jehovah, the Babel tower. </p> <p> If so ''(Which His [[Rebellious]] Character Makes Likely)'' he abandoned Babel for a time after the miraculous confusion of tongues, and went and founded Nineveh. Eastern tradition pictures hint a heaven-storming giant chained by God, among the constellations, as Orion, Hebrew Κeciyl , "fool" or "wicked." [[Sargon]] in an inscription says: "350 kings of [[Assyria]] hunted the people of Bilu-Nipru"; probably meaning the Babylon of Nimrod, nipru "hunter", another form of Nebrod which is the Septuagint form of Nimrod. His going to Assyria (&nbsp;Genesis 10:10-11-12) accords with Micah's designating Assyria "the hind of Nimrod" (&nbsp;Micah 5:6). Also his name appears in the palace mound of Nimrud. The fourfold group of cities which Nimrod founded in [[Babylonia]] answer to the fourfold group in Assyria. So Κiprit Αrba , "king of the four races," is an early title of the first monarchs of Babylon; [[Chedorlaomer]] appears at the head of four peoples; "king of the four regions" occurs in Nineveh inscriptions too; after Sargon's days four cities had the pre-eminence (Rawlinson, 1:435, 438,4 47). </p> <p> The early seat of empire was in the southern part of Babylonia, where Niffer represents either Babel or Calneh, Warka Erech, Mugheir Ur, Senkereh Ellasar. The founder (about 2200 B.C.) or embellisher of those towns is called Kinzi Akkad, containing the name [[Accad]] of &nbsp;Genesis 10:1. Tradition mentions a Belus king of Nineveh, earlier than Ninus; Shamas Iva (1860 B.C.), son of Ismi [[Dagon]] king of Babylon, founded a temple at Kileh Shergat (Asshur); so that the [[Scripture]] account of Babylon originating the Assyrian cities long before the Assyrian empire of the 13th century B.C. is confirmed. (Layard, Nineveh 2:231). Sir H. Rawlinson conjectures that Nimrod denotes not an individual but the "settlers," and that Rehoboth, Calah, etc., are but sites of buildings afterward erected; but the proverb concerning Nimrod and the history imply an individual; the Birs (temple) Nimrud, the Sukr ''(Dam [[Across]] The Tigris)'' el Nimrud, and the mound Nimrud, all attest the universal recognition of him as the founder of the empire. </p>

<p> [[Nimrod]] (''Nĭm'Rŏd'' ), ''Rebellion;'' or ''The Valiant,'' A son of [[Gush]] and grandson of Ham. &nbsp;Genesis 10:8 ff. He established an empire in Shinar, the classical Babylonia, the chief towns being Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh: and extended this empire northward along the course of the Tigris over Assyria, where he founded a second group of capitals, Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen. </p>

<p> ''''' nim´rod ''''' ( נמרד , <i> ''''' nimrōdh ''''' </i> ; Νεβρώδ , <i> ''''' Nebrṓd ''''' </i> ): A descendant of Ham, mentioned in "the generations of the sons of Noah" (&nbsp; Genesis 10; compare &nbsp;1 Chronicles 1:10 ) as a son of Cush. He established his kingdom "in the land of Shinar," including the cities "Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh" (&nbsp;Genesis 10:10 ), of which only Babel, or Babylon, and Erech, or Uruk, have been identified with certainty. "The land of Shinar" is the old name for Southern Babylonia, afterward called [[Chaldea]] ( <i> ''''''erec''''' </i> <i> '''''kasdı̄m''''' </i> ), and was probably more extensive in territory than the <i> '''''Šumer''''' </i> of the inscriptions in the ancient royal title, "King of Shumer and Accad," since Accad is included here in Shinar. Nimrod, like other great kings of Mesopotamian lands, was a mighty hunter, possibly the mightiest and the prototype of them all, since to his name had attached itself the proverb: "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before <i> '''''Yahweh''''' </i> " (&nbsp;Genesis 10:9 ). In the primitive days of Mesopotamia, as also in Palestine, wild animals were so numerous that they became a menace to life and property (&nbsp;Exodus 23:29; &nbsp;Leviticus 26:22 ); therefore the king as benefactor and protector of his people hunted these wild beasts. The early conquest of the cities of Babylonia, or their federation into one great kingdom, is here ascribed to Nimrod. Whether the founding and colonization of Assyria (&nbsp;Genesis 10:11 ) are to be ascribed to Nimrod will be determined by the exegesis of the text. English [[Versions]] of the Bible reads: "Out of that land he (i.e. Nimrod) went forth into Assyria, and builded Nineveh," etc., this translation assigning the rise of Assyria to Nimrod, and apparently being sustained by &nbsp;Micah 5:5 , &nbsp;Micah 5:6 (compare J. M. P. Smith, "Micah," <i> ICC </i> , in the place cited.); but American Revised Version, margin renders: "Out of that land went forth <i> '''''Asshur''''' </i> , and builded Nineveh," which translation is more accurate exegetically and not in conflict with &nbsp;Micah 5:6 , if in the latter "land of Nimrod" be understood, not as parallel with, but as supplemental to, Assyria, and therefore as Babylon (compare commentaries of Cheyne, Pusey, S. Clark, in the place cited.). </p> <p> Nimrod has not been identified with any mythical hero or historic king of the inscriptions. Some have sought identification with Gilgamesh, the flood hero of Babylonia (Skinner, Driver, Delitzsch); others with a later Kassite king (Haupt, Hilprecht), which is quite unlikely; but the most admissible correspondence is with Marduk, chief god of Babylon, probably its historic founder, just as Asshur, the god of Assyria, appears in &nbsp;Micah 5:11 as the founder of the Assyrian empire (Wellhausen, Price, Sayce). [[Lack]] of identification, however, does not necessarily indicate mythical origin of the name. See [[Astronomy]] , II., 11.; Babylonia And Assyria , [[Religion]] Of , IV., 7.; [[Merodach]]; Orion . </p>