NIMROD(Nεβpωδ, LXX.), apart from the mere mention of his name in Micah v. 5 (A.V., v. 6), occurs only once in Scripture, namely, in Gen. x. 8-12 (1 Chron. i. 10), where, in a Jehovistic portion of the genealogy of the nations there given, we are told that “Cush begat Nimrod, who was the first mighty one in the earth (he was a mighty hunter before Jehovah, wherefore it is said—A mighty hunter before Jehovah even as Nimrod), 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 into Asshur and builded Nineveh,” &c. Just as Enos was the first to call upon the name of Jehovah, and Noah the first to plant vines, so is Nimrod the first mighty ruler in the earth, and as such at the same time a mighty hunter before Jehovah, after the manner of the Oriental sovereigns of old. By the Hebrews the Assyrio-Babylonian empire was at all periods regarded as the prototype of the worldly power; and it is of this kingdom that Nimrod here figures as the founder—not in its prehistorical but in its historical form as actually subsisting at the time of the writer. This is apparent, not only from the general character of the genealogical table, but also from the enumeration of the cities in the land of Shinar and Asshur. As founder of the kingdom, Nimrod represents both kingdom and people; the genealogy knows no distinction between the hero and the nation,—the latter is the family of the former. When, therefore, Nimrod is said to be descended from Cush, the mighty nation of Asshur and Babel (which in Gen. x. 22 is regarded as belonging to...

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. x, 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. x, 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 ...