The son of Cush. (Gen. x. 8, 9.) The character given of this man is that of a mighty hunter before the Lord.
He is generally supposed to have been the immediate son of Cush, and the youngest, or sixth, from the Scriptural phrase, “Cush begat Nimrod,” after the mention of his five sons, Gen 10:8. But the phrase is used with considerable latitude, like “father” and “son,” in Scripture. “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar: out of that land he went forth to invade Assyria; and built Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resin, between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city,” Gen 10:8-12. Though the main body of the Cushites was miraculously dispersed and sent by Providence to their destinations along the sea coasts of Asia and Africa, yet Nimrod remained behind, and founded an empire in Babylonia, according to Berosus, by usurping the property of the Arphaxadites in the land of Shinar; where “the beginning of his kingdom was Babel,” or Babylon, and other towns: and, not satisfied with this, he next invaded Assur, or Assyria, east of the Tigris, where he built Nineveh, and several other towns. The marginal reading of our English Bible, “He went out into Assyria,” or to invade Assyria, is here adopted in preference to that in the text: “And out of that land went forth Ashur, and builded Nineveh,” &c. The meaning of the word Nineveh may lead us to his original name, Nin, signifying “a son,” the most celebrated of the sons of Cush. That of Nimrod, or “Rebel,” was probably a parody, or nickname, given him by the oppressed Shemites, of which we have several instances in Scripture. Thus nahash, the brazen “serpent” in the wilderness, was called by Hezekiah, in contempt, nehushtan, “a piece of brass,” when he broke it in pieces, because it was perverted into an object of idolatrous worship by the Jews, 2Ki 18:4. Nimrod, that arch rebel, who first subverted the patriarchal government, introduced also the Zabian idolatry, or worship of the heavenly host; and, after his death, was deified by his subjects, and supposed to be translated into the constellations of Orion, attended by his hounds, Sirius and Canicula, and still pursuing his favourite game, the great bear; supposed also to be translated into ursa major, near the north pole; as admirably described by Homer,—
“And the bear, surnamed also the wain, by the Egyptians, who is turning herself about there, and watching Orion.” Homer also introduces the shade of Orion, as hunting in the Elysian fields,—
“Next, I observed the mighty Orion
Chasing wild beasts through an asphodel mead, Which himself had slain on the solitary mountains: Holding in his hands a solid brazen mace, ever unbroken.”
The Grecian name of this “mighty hunter” may furnish a satisfactory clue to the name given him by the impious adulation of the Babylonians and Assyrians. ‘
At a village called Bala-deva, or Baldeo in the vulgar dialect, thirteen miles east by south from Muttra, in Hindustan, there is a very ancient statue of Bala Rama, in which he is represented with a ploughshare in his left hand, and a thick cudgel in his right, and his shoulders covered with the skin of a tiger. Captain Wilford supposes that the ploughshare was designed to hook his enemies: but may it not more naturally denote the constellation of the great bear, which strikingly represents the figure of a plough in its seven bright stars; and was probably so denominated by the earliest astronomers, before the introduction of the Zabian idolatry, as a celestial symbol of agriculture? The thick cudgel corresponds to the brazen mace of Homer. And it is highly probable that the Assyrian Nimrod, or Hindu Bala, was also the prototype of the Grecian Hercules, with his club and lion’s skin.
Nimrod is said to have been “a mighty hunter before the Lord;” which the Jerusalem paraphrast interprets of a sinful hunting after the sons of men to turn them off from the true religion. But it may as well be taken in a more literal sense, for hunting of wild beasts; inasmuch as the circumstance of his being a mighty hunter is mentioned with great propriety to introduce the account of his setting up his kingdom; the exercise of hunting being looked upon in ancient times as a means of acquiring the rudiments of war; for which reason the principal heroes of Heathen antiquity, as Theseus, Nestor, &c, were, as Xenophon tells us, bred up to hunting. Beside, it may be supposed, that by this practice Nimrod drew together a great company of robust young men to attend him in his sport, and by that means increased his power. And by destroying the wild beasts, which, in the comparatively defenceless state of society in those early ages, were no doubt very dangerous enemies, he might, perhaps, render himself farther popular; thereby engaging numbers to join with him, and to promote his chief design of subduing men, and making himself master of many nations.
Nim´rod, a son of Cush, the eldest son of Ham (Gen 10:8-10). Five sons of Cush are enumerated in Gen 10:7 in the more usual manner of this chapter: but a change of phrase introduces Nimrod. This difference may indicate that while, in relation to the other five, the names have a national and geographical reference, this appellation is exclusively personal. It denotes intensively the extremely impious rebel. Hence we conceive that it was not his original proper name, but was affixed to him afterwards, perhaps even after his death, as a characteristic appellative.
No other persons connected with this work must be considered as answerable for the opinion which the writer of this article thinks to rest upon probable grounds, that the earlier part of the book of Genesis consists of several independent and complete compositions, of the highest antiquity and authority, marked by some differences of style, and having clear indications of commencement in each instance. If this supposition be admitted, a reason presents itself for the citation of a proverbial phrase in Gen 10:9. The single instance of minute circumstantiality, in so brief a relation, seems to imply that the writer lived near the age of Nimrod, while his history was still a matter of traditional notoriety, and the comparison of any hero with him was a familiar form of speech. It is also supposed that those, not fragments, but complete, though short and separate compositions (of which eight or more are hypothetically enumerated in J. Pye Smith’s Scripture and Geology, p. 202), were, under Divine authority, prefixed by Moses to his own history. Their series has a continuity generally, but not rigorously exact. If we place ourselves in such a point of time, suppose the age succeeding Nimrod, which might be the third century after the Deluge, we may see how naturally the origination of a common phrase would rise in the writer’s mind; and that a motive of usefulness would be suggested with it. But both these ideas involve that of nearness to the time; a period in which the country traditions were yet fresh, and an elucidation of them would be acceptable and consonant to general feeling. The following is a close translation of the passage in which mention is made of Nimrod:—’And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a hero in the earth [or in the land]: he was a hero at the chase in the presence of Jehovah; on which account the saying is, Like Nimrod, the hero of the chase, in the presence of Jehovah. And the chief [city] of his dominion was Babel; and [he founded] Ezek and Akkad, and Kalneh, in the land of Shinar.’
Interpreters, with scarcely an exception, from the Septuagint and the Targums down to our own times, understand the whole case thus: that Nimrod was a man of vast bodily strength, and eminent for courage and skill in the arts of hunting down and capturing or killing the dangerous animals, which probably were both very numerous and frequently of enormous size; that, by these recommendations, he made himself the favorite of bold and enterprising young men, who readily joined his hunting expeditions; that hence he took encouragement to break the patriarchal union of venerable and peaceful subordination, to set himself up as a military chieftain, assailing and subduing men, training his adherents into formidable troops, by their aid subduing the inhabitants of Shinar and its neighboring districts; and that, for consolidating and retaining his power, now become a despotism, he employed his subjects in building forts, which became towns and cities, that which was afterwards called Babel being the principal. Combining this with the contents of Genesis 11, we infer that Nimrod either was an original party in the daring impiety of building the tower, or subsequently joined himself to those who had begun it. The former fact is positively affirmed by Josephus; but it is not probable that he could have any other evidence than that of the general interpretation of his countrymen. The late Mr. Rich, not thirty years ago, in the extensive plain where lie buried the ruins of Babylon, discovered the very remarkable mound with remains of buildings on its summit (of which see the figure in the article Babel), which even now bears the name of Birs Nimrod; and this may well be regarded as some confirmation of the common opinion.
As a great part of the ancient mythology and idolatry arose from the histories of chiefs and sages, decorated with allegorical fables, it is by no means improbable that the life and actions of Nimrod gave occasion to stories of this kind. Hence, some have supposed him to have been signified by the Indian Bacchus, deriving that name from Bar-Chus, ’son of Cush;’ and, it is probable, by the Persian giant Gibber (answering to the Hebrew Gibbor, ’mighty man,’ ’hero,’ in Gen 10:8-9); and by the Greek Orion, whose fame as a ’mighty hunter’ is celebrated by Homer, in the Odyssey, xi. 571-4. The Persian and the Grecian fables are both represented by the well-known and magnificent constellation.
Rebellion, impiety, a son of Cush and grandson of Ham, proverbial from the earliest times as a mighty hunter, Gen 10:8-10 1Ch 1:10 . He seems to have feared neither God nor man; to gather around him a host of adventurers, and extended his conquests into the land of Shinar, where he founded or fortified Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh. According to one interpretation of Gen 10:11, he also founded Nineveh and the Assyrian empire; though this is usually understood to have been done by Asshur, when expelled by Nimrod from the land of Shinar, Mic 5:6 . Nimrod is supposed to have begun the tower of Babel; and his name is still preserved by a vast ruinous mound, on the site of ancient Babylon. See BABEL.\par
Nim’rod. (rebellion; or the valiant). A son of Cush and grandson of Ham. The events of his life are recorded in Gen 10:8; ff., from which we learn
(1) that he was a Cushite;
(2) that he established an empire in Shinar, (the classical Babylonia), the chief towns being Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh; and
(3) that he 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.
Cush’s son or descendant, Ham’s grandson (Gen 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 Gen 6:4; Gen 6:13; Isa 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 Gen 27:7 "bless thee before Jehovah," i.e. as in His presence, Psa 56:13 "walk before God." Septuagint translated "against Jehovah"; so in Num 16:2
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" (Pro 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.
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
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
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 Gen 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.
Nimrod (nĭm’rŏd), rebellion; or the valiant, A son of Gush and grandson of Ham. Gen 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.
[Nim’rod]
Son or descendant of Cush, the son of Ham. He was ’mighty upon the earth,’ and ’a mighty hunter,’ using force and craft to bring man as well as beasts under his sway. The words ’before the Lord’ probably signify imperial energy and usurped authority in independence of Jehovah. "The beginning of his kingdom was Babel" with other towns in the land of Shinar. And "out of that land went forth Asshur," or ’he went out to Assyria,’ and built Nineveh and other cities. So that Nimrod and his descendants were those who founded both Babylon and Nineveh. Babylonia was also called the land of Nimrod, which shows that the descendants of Ham settled in the East as well as in Egypt in the South. Those in the East afterwards gave place in a great measure to the descendants of Shem. Gen 10:8-11; 1Ch 1:10; Mic 5:6.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, M. Seligsohn, Wilhelm Bacher, Executive Committee of the Editorial Board.
—Biblical Data:
Son of Cush and grandson of Ham; his name has become proverbial as that of a mighty hunter. His "kingdom" comprised Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Sinar, otherwise known as the land of Nimrod (Gen. x. 8-10; I Chron. i. 10; Micah v. 5 [A. V. 6]).
—In Rabbinical Literature:
Nimrod is the prototype of a rebellious people, his name being interpreted as "he who made all the people rebellious against God" (Pes. 94b; comp. Targ. of pseudo-Jonathan and Targ. Yer. to Gen. x. 9). He is identified with Cush and with Amraphel, the name of the latter being interpreted as "he whose words are dark" (
; Gen. R. xlii. 5; for other explanations see below). As he was the first hunter he was consequently the first who introduced the eating of meat by man. He was also the first to make war on other peoples (Midr. Agadah to Gen. x. 9).
His Feats as a Hunter.
Nimrod was not wicked in his outh. On the contrary, when a young man he used to sacrifice to Yhwh the animals which he caught while hunting ("Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Noaḥ," pp. 9a et seq., Leghorn, 1870). His great success in hunting (comp. Gen. x. 9) was due to the fact that he wore the coats of skin which God made for Adam and Eve (Gen. iii. 21). These coats were handed down from father to son, and thus came into the possession of Noah, who took them with him into the ark, whence they were stolen by Ham. The latter gave them to his son Cush, who in turn gave them to Nimrod, and when the animals saw the latter clad in them, they crouched before him so that he had no difficulty in catching them. The people, however, thought that these feats were due to his extraordinary strength, so that they made him their king (Pirḳe R. El. xxiv.; "Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.; comp. Gen. R. lxv. 12).
Made King.
According to another account, when Nimrod was eighteen years old, war broke out between the Hamites, his kinsmen, and the Japhethites. The latter were at first victorious, but Nimrod, at the head of a small army of Cushites, attacked and defeated them, after which he was made king over all the people on earth, appointing Terah his minister. It was then, elated by so much glory, that Nimrod changed his behavior toward Yhwh and became the most flagrant idolater. When informed of Abraham's birth he requested Terah to sell him the new-born child in order that he might kill it (see Jew. Encyc. i. 86a, s.v. Abraham in Rabbinical Literature). Terah hid Abraham and in his stead brought to Nimrod the child of a slave, which Nimrod dashed to pieces ("Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.).
Nimrod is generally considered to have been the one who suggested building the Tower of Babel and who directed its construction. God said: "I made Nimrod great; but he built a tower in order that he might rebel against Me" (Ḥul. 89b). The tower is called by the Rabbis "the house of Nimrod," and is considered as a house of idolatry which the owners abandoned in time of peace; consequently Jews may make use of it ('Ab. Zarah 53b). After the builders of the tower were dispersed Nimrod remained in Shinar, where he reestablished his kingdom. According to the "Sefer ha-Yashar" (l.c.), he at this time acquired the name "Amraphel" in allusion to the fall of his princes (
) during the dispersion. According to the Targum of pseudo-Jonathan (to Gen. x. 11), however, Nimrod had left Babylonia before the building of the tower, and had gone to Assyria, where he built four other cities, namely, Nineveh, Rehobot, Calah, and Resen (comp. Naḥmanides ad loc.).
Nimrod's Dream.
The punishment visited on the builders of the tower did not cause Nimrod to change his conduct; he remained an idolater. He particularly persecuted Abraham, who by his command was thrown into a heated furnace; and it was on this account, according to one opinion, that Nimrod was called "Amraphel" (
= "he said, throw in"; Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. xiv. 1; Gen. R. xlii. 5; Cant. R. viii. 8). When Nimrod was informed that Abraham had come forth from the furnace uninjured, he remitted his persecution of the worshiper of Yhwh; but on the following night he saw in a dream a man coming out of the furnace and advancing toward him with a drawn sword. Nimrod thereupon ran away, but the man threw an egg at him; this was afterward transformed into a large river in which all his troops were drowned, only he himself and three of his followers escaping. Then the river again became an egg, and from the latter came forth a small fowl, which flew at Nimrod and pecked out his eye. The dream was interpreted as forecasting Nimrod's defeat by Abraham, wherefore Nimrod sent secretly to kill Abraham; but the latter emigrated with his family to the land of Canaan. Ten years later Nimrod came to wage war with Chedorlaomer, King of Elam, who had been one of Nimrod's generals, and who after the dispersion of the builders of the tower went to Elam and formed there an independent kingdom. Nimrod at the head of an army set out with the intention of punishing his rebellious general, but the latter routed him. Nimrod then became a vassal of Chedorlaomer, who involved him in the war with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, with whom he was defeated by Abraham ("Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.; comp. Gen. xiv. 1-17).
Nimrod was slain by Esau, between whom and himself jealousy existed owing to the fact that they were both hunters (Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. xxv. 27; "Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Toledot," p. 40b; Pirḳe R. El. l.c.; comp. Gen. R. lxv. 12).
—Critical View:
Two prominent theories are now held in regard to Nimrod's identity: one, adopted by G. Smith and Jeremias, is that Nimrod is to be identified with the Babylonian hero Izdubar or Gishdubar (Gilgamesh); the second, that of Sayce,Pinches, and others, identifies Nimrod with Marduk, the Babylonian Mercury. The former identification is based on the fact that Izdubar is represented in the Babylonian epos as a mighty hunter, always accompanied by four dogs, and as the founder of the first great kingdom in Asia. Moreover, instead of "Izdubar"—the correct reading of which had not yet been determined—Jeremias saw the possibility of reading "Namra Udu" (shining light), a reading which would have made the identification with Nimrod almost certain. Those who identify Nimrod with Marduk, however, object that the name of Izdubar must be read, as is now generally conceded, "Gilgamesh," and that the signs which constitute the name of Marduk, who also is represented as a hunter, are read phonetically "Amar Ud"; and ideographically they may be read "Namr Ud"—in Hebrew "Nimrod." The difficulty of reconciling the Biblical Nimrod, the son of Cush, with Marduk, the son of Ea, may be overcome by interpreting the Biblical words as meaning that Nimrod was a descendant of Cush.
Two other theories may be mentioned: one is that Nimrod represents the constellation of Orion; the other is that Nimrod stands for a tribe, not an individual (comp. Lagarde, "Armenische Studien," in "Abhandlungen der Göttinger Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften," xxii. 77; Nöldeke, in "Z. D. M. G." xxviii. 279).
Bibliography:
Cheyne and Black, Encyc. Bibl.;
Joseph Grivel, in Transactions Soc. Bibl. Arch. iii. 136 et seq.;
Sayce, ib. ii. 243 et seq.;
Jeremias, Izdubar Nimrod, Introduction, Leipsic, 1891;
Pinches, The Old Testament, pp. 127-131;
Rubin, Birusi ha-Kasdi, pp. 71-72, Vienna, 1882.
—In Arabic Literature:
By the Arabs Nimrod is considered as the supreme example of the tyrant ("al-jabbar"). There is some confusion among Arabian historians as to Nimrod's genealogy. According to one authority he was the son of Mash the son of Aram, and consequently a Semite; he built the Tower of Babel and also a bridge over the Euphrates, and reigned five hundred years over the Nabatæans, his kinsmen. But the general opinion is that he was a Hamite, son of Canaan the son of Cush, or son of Cush the son of Canaan (Ṭabari gives both); that he was born at the time of Reu, and was the first to establish fire-worship. Another legend is to the effect that there were two Nimrods: the first was the son of Cush; the second was the well-known tyrant and contemporary of Abraham; he was the son of Canaan and therefore a great-grandson of the first Nimrod. According to Mas'udi ("Muruj al-Dhahab," ii. 96), Nimrod was the first Babylonian king, and during a reign of sixty years he dug many canals in 'Iraḳ.
Nimrod and Abraham.
The author of the "Ta'rikh Muntaḥab" (quoted by D'Herbelot in his "Bibliothèque Orientale") identifies Nimrod with Daḥḥak (the Persian Zoḥak), the first Persian king after the Flood. But Al-Kharizmi ("Mafatiḥ al-'Ulum," quoted by D'Herbelot) identifies him with Kai Kaos, the second king of the second Persian dynasty. Nimrod reigned where Bagdad is now situated, and at first he reigned with justice (see Nimrod in Rabbinical Literature); but Satan perverted him, and then he began to persecute all the worshipers of God. His chief vizier was Azar (Terah), the father of Abraham; and the midrashic legends of Abraham's birth in which Nimrod is mentioned, as well as those concerning Nimrod's persecution of Abraham—whom he cast into a furnace—are narrated also by the Mohammedans (see Abraham in Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature and in Mohammedan Legend).
Nimrod is referred to in the Koran (xxi. 68-69). When Nimrod saw Abraham come unharmed from the furnace, he said to him: "Thou hast a powerful God; I wish to offer Him hospitality." Abraham told him that his God needed nobody's hospitality. Nevertheless Nimrod ordered thousands of horned and small cattle brought, and fowl and fish, and sacrificed them all to God; but God did not accept them. Humiliated, Nimrod shut himself in his palace and allowed no one to approach him. According to another tradition, Nimrod challenged Abraham, when the latter came out of the furnace, to fight with him. Nimrod gathered a considerable army and on the appointed day was surprised to find Abraham alone. Asked where his army was, Abraham pointed to a swarm of gnats, which routed Nimrod's troops (see, however, below). Nimrod assembled his ministers and informed them of his intention to ascend into the heavens and strike down Abraham's God. His ministers having told him that it would be difficult to accomplish such a journey, the heavens being very high, Nimrod conceived the idea of building a high tower, by means of which he might accomplish his purpose (comp. Sanh. 109a). After many years had been spent in the construction of the tower, Nimrod ascended to its top, but he was greatly surprised to find that the heavens were still as remote from him as when he was on the ground. He was still more mortified on the following day, when the tower collapsed with such a noise that the people fainted with terror, those that recovered losing their speech (an allusion to the confusion of tongues).
Undaunted by this failure, Nimrod planned another way to reach the heavens. He had a large chest made with an opening in the top and another in the bottom. At the four corners of the chest stakes were fixed, with a piece of flesh on each point. Then four large vultures, or, according to another source, four eagles, previously fed upon flesh, were attached to the stakes below the meat. Accompanied by one of his most faithful viziers, Nimrod entered the chest, and the four great birds soared up in the air carrying the chest with them (comp. Alexander's ascent into the air; Yer. 'Ab. Zarah iii. 42c; Num. R. xiii. 13). The vizier opened alternately the upper and lower doors of the chest in order that by looking in both directions he might know whether or not he was approaching heaven. When they were so high up that they could see nothing in either direction Nimrod took his bow and shot arrows into the sky. Gabriel thereupon sent the arrows back stained with blood, so that Nimrod was convinced that he had avenged himself upon Abraham's God. After wandering in the air for a certain length of time Nimrod descended, and the chest crashed upon the ground with such violencethat the mountains trembled and the angels thought an order from God had descended upon the earth. This event is alluded to in the Koran (xiv. 47): "The machinations and the contrivances of the impious cause the mountains to tremble." Nimrod himself was not hurt by the fall.
After these adventures Nimrod continued to reign wickedly. Four hundred years later an angel in the form of a man appeared to him and exhorted him to repent, but Nimrod declared that he himself was sole ruler and challenged God to fight with him. Nimrod asked for a delay of three days, during which he gathered a considerable army; but this was exterminated by swarms of gnats. One of these insects is said to have entered Nimrod's nose, reached the chambers of his brain, and gnawed at it. To allay the pain Nimrod ordered some one to strike with a hammer upon an anvil, in order that the noise might cause the gnat to cease gnawing (comp. the same story in connection with Titus in Giṭ. 56b). Nimrod died after forty years' suffering.
Bibliography:
D'Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale;
Hughes, Dictionary of Islam;
Mas'udi, Muruj al-Dhahab, ed. Barbier de Meynard, i. 78, 81-83; ii. 96; iii. 240;
Mirkhond, Raudat al-Safa, English transl. by Rehatsek, part i. vol. i., pp. 126-128, 134-144;
Ṭabari, Chroniques, French transl. by Zotenberg, i. 120, 136 et seq., 148-150, Paris, 1867.
NIMROD (Gen 10:8-12, 1Ch 1:10, Mic 5:6).—A legendary personage, described in Gen 10:8 ff. as the first of the ‘heroes,’ ‘a mighty hunter before the Lord,’ the ruler of four ancient Babylonian cities, and the founder of the Assyrian Empire. In the statement that he was begotten by Cush, we have probably a reference to the Kash or Kasshu who conquered Babylonia about the 17th cent. b.c., and set up a dynasty which lasted 600 years: the rise of Assyria is said to date from the decline of Babylonia under the later Kassite kings. The nearest Babylonian parallel to the figure of Nimrod as yet discovered is Gilgamesh, the tyrant of Erech, whose adventures are recorded in the famous series of tablets to which the Deluge-story belongs, and who is supposed to be the hero so often represented on seals and palace-reliefs in victorious combat with a lion. It was at one time hoped that the actual name Nimrod might be recovered from the ideogram commonly read as iz. du. bar; and though this expectation has been dispelled by the discovery of the true pronunciation Gitgamesh, there is enough general resemblance to warrant the belief that the original of the Biblical Nimrod belongs to Babylonian lore. The combination of warlike prowess with a passion for the chase is illustrated by the numerous hunting scenes sculptured on the monuments; and it may well be imagined that to the Hebrew mind Nimrod became an ideal personation of the proud monarchs who ruled the mighty empires on the Euphrates and the Tigris.
J. Skinner.
Descendant of Chus, represented as the founder of the Babylonian Empire (Genesis 10) and "a mighty hunter before the Lord," identified by some as Gilgamesh, the hero of the Babylonian epic. He reigned over Arach, Babylon, Achad, and Chalanne, and is described as builder of Ninive. From the supposed root of his name (Hebrew: marad, he revolted), he has been credited with having instigated the building of the Tower of Babel and as being the author of Babylonian idolatry.
Also NIMROD (nmrd of uncertain signification, LXX Nebród).The name of a descendant of Chus (Cush), son of Cham (Ham), represented in Gen., x, 8-12, as the founder of the Babylonian empire and as a mighty hunter before the Lord. This last may be taken in the strict sense — hunter of wild beasts, for such we know the Babylonian princes to have been; or in the sense of warrior, the original word gibbor having the meaning "hero".The name of Nemrod has not yet been discovered among those found in the cuneiform inscriptions, and the attempts made by Assyriologists to identify him with historical or legendary personages known to us through these sources rest on more or less plausible conjectures. Thus by some scholars (Delitsch, Hommel, P. Haupt, etc.) he is identified with Gilgamesh, the hero of the Babylonian epic. The latter, whose name appears frequently in the inscriptions, and who is often represented in the act of strangling a lion, is described in the poem as a powerful prince who subdues the monster ox-faced man Eabani and makes him his companion, after which he triumphs over the tyrant Humbaba, and slays a monster sent against him by the deities, Amu and Ishtar. Like the Biblical Nemrod he reigns over the city of Erech (Douai, Arach), but the texts fail to mention the other towns enumerated in Gen., x, 10, namely: Babylon, Achad, and Chalanne (Calneh). For the philological reasons underlying this hypothesis see Vigouroux, s. v., and Hastings, s. v. Nimrod. Sayce less plausibly identifies Nemrod with the Kassite king, Nazi-Murutas, and T. Pinches (in Hastings) considers him to be the same as Marduk, the great Babylonian deity. In Genesis, x, 11, we read: "Out of that land came forth Assur, and built Ninive …" This rendering of the Vulgate seems preferable to that of the Revised Version: "Out of that land he (Nimrod) went forth into Assyria and builded Niniveh." Be that as it may, we know from other sources that Assyria with its capital Nineveh was at first a Babylonian colony, and it may be said to have been founded by Nemrod in the sense that it was a development of the power and civilization of Chaldea. A great number of Oriental legends grew up around the meagre Biblical data concerning Nemrod. Thus with probable reference to the supposed root of the name (mrd marad, "he revolted"), he is credited with having instigated the building of the tower of Babel and of being the author of Babylonian idolatry. Another legend is to the effect that Abraham having refused to worship the statue of Nemrod was cast into a fiery furnace. A trace of this legend appears in II Esd., ix, 7, where the translator of the Vulgate renders the original "Ur of the Chaldees" (from which the Lord called Abraham), by "fire of the Chaldeans". It was only natural that the renown of Nemrod as a builder should have caused his name to be connected with nearly all of the principal mounds and ruins to be found in Mesopotamia.-----------------------------------HETZENAUER, Commentarius in librum Genesis (Graz and Vienna, 1910), 190 sqq.; HUMMELAUER, Commentarius in Genesis (Paris, 1908), 317 sqq.; A LAPIDE, Commentaria in Scrip. Sac. I (Paris, 1869), 166 sqq.JAMES F. DRISCOLL Transcribed by WGKofron With thanks to Fr. John Hilkert and St. Mary’s Church, Akron, Ohio The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XCopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
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 Mic 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.