Genesis 10:11

Out of that land went forth Ashur,.... It is a question whether Ashur is the name of a man or of a country; some take it in the latter sense, and render the words, "and out of that land he went forth

Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, Out of that land went forth Asshur.

Asshur; a man so called: either, 1. Asshur the son of Shem, who forsook the land, either being forced by or weary of Nimrod’ s tyranny and impiety, and erected another kingdom. But it is not probable either that Moses would here relate an exploit of a man whose birth is not mentioned till , or that one single son of Shem would be here disorderly placed among the sons of Ham. Or, 2. Another Asshur of Ham’ s race. But it seems most likely that Asshur is the name of a place or country, even of Assyria, which in the Hebrew is called Asshur; and that the words should be thus rendered, he, i.e. Nimrod, went forth out of his own land to Asshur, to war against it, and add it to his empire; for to go forth is commonly ascribed to those that go to war or to battle, as , , ; and the particle to is here understood as it is , , compared with , . Nineveh, a famous and vast city near the river Tigris, but so ruined by time, that the learned are not agreed about the place where it was situate. Of Rehoboth, see .

Genesis 10:11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,Ver. 11. Out of that land went forth Asshur.] Either because wickedness dwelt there, for Asshur was a son of Shem, and might have so much goodness in him; or else he was hunted thence by Nimrod, who made himself the first monarch, and had Babel, in the land of Shinar, or Chaldea, for the beginning of his kingdom.

(11, 12) Out of that land went forth Asshur.—So the LXX., Syriac, and Vulg.; but the Targum and most modern authorities rightly translate, “Out of that land he went forth into Assyria.” We have here nothing to do with Asshur the son of Shem (see Genesis 10:22), but are occupied with Nimrod and the Hamites, who, after firmly establishing themselves in Babylonia, subsequently extended their influence northward. This is confirmed by the cuneiform inscriptions, which prove that the southern portion of Mesopotamia was the chief seat of the Accadians, while in Assyria they came at an early date into collision with the Shemites, who drove them back, and ultimately subjugated them everywhere. It is not necessary to suppose that this spread of Hamite civilisation northward was the work of Nimrod personally; if done by his successors, it would, in Biblical language, be ascribed to its prime mover. The Assyrian cities were:— 1. Nineveh.—So happily situated on the Tigris that it outstripped the more ancient Babylon, and for centuries even held it in subjection.2. The City Rehoboth.—Translated by some Rehoboth-Ir, but with more probability by others, “the suburbs of the city:” that is, of Nineveh, thus denoting already the greatness of that town. 3. Calah.—A city rebuilt by Assur-natzir-pal, the father of Shalmaneser, and interesting as one of the places where the Assyrian kings established libraries (Chald. Gen., p. 26). The ruins are still called Nimroud. 4. Resen.—The “spring-head.” Of this town nothing certain is known. Canon Rawlinson places it at Selamiyah (Anc. Mon., 1:204), a large village half-way between Nineveh and Calah. As the vast ruins scattered throughout Mesopotamia are those of Assyrian buildings, Resen, though “a great city” in Hamite times, might easily pass into oblivion, if never rebuilt by the conquerors.

Verse 11. Out of that land went forth Asshur] The marginal reading is to be preferred here. He - Nimrod, went out into Assyria and built Nineveh; and hence Assyria is called the land of Nimrod, Micah 5:6. Thus did this mighty hunter extend his dominions in every possible way. The city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, is supposed to have had its name from Ninus, the son of Nimrod; but probably Ninus and Nimrod are the same person. This city, which made so conspicuous a figure in the history of the world, is now called Mossul; it is an inconsiderable place, built out of the ruins of the ancient Nineveh. Rehoboth, and Calah, c.] Nothing certain is known concerning the situation of these places conjecture is endless, and it has been amply indulged by learned men in seeking for Rehoboth in the Birtha of Ptolemy, Calah in Calachine, Resen in Larissa, &c., &c.

11. Out of that land, &c.] This verse preserves an historical tradition: (1) that the cities of Assyria were of later origin than those of Babylonia; (2) that they owed their existence to the development of the Babylonian power in a northerly direction; whether by conquest or by colonization we cannot tell. into Assyria] or “Asshur.” There is no difference in the Hebrew between the name of the country and that of its first capital (see Genesis 2:14). The city Asshur was distant about 300 miles from Babylon. The rendering of the R.V. marg. = A.V. went forth Asshur has no probability, though it has the support of LXX, Vulg., and Targ. Onk. Nineveh] Assyr. Nina, the modern Kouyunjik, situated on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite to the modern Mosul. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria in its most famous period, but it was not until about 1000 b.c. that it became the royal residence of Assyrian monarchs. Nothing historical is known of its earliest days. Rehoboth-Ir] Possibly to be identified, as some Assyriologists suggest, with Rêbit Nina, on the site of the modern Mosul, over against Nineveh. Calah] The modern Kellach, at the confluence of the upper Zab and the Tigris, some 20 miles S. of Nineveh. It stands on the ruined mounds of Nimrud. The capital of Assyria was transferred by Shalmaneser I, circ. 1300 b.c., from Asshur to Calah.

11, 12. Went forth Asshur — Rather, [Nimrod] went forth to Asshur [Assyria.] So reads the margin, after the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; (so Baumgarten, De Wette, A.