Dictionary of Meaning

<<Back
Please select a letter:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0-9

Nimrod (king)

*** Shopping-Tip: Nimrod (king)
:''For other uses, see the disambiguation page Nimrod.'' In the Bible and in legend, '''Nimrod''' (Standard Hebrew '''נִמְרוֹד''' '''Nimrod''', Tiberian Hebrew '''נִמְרֹד''' '''Nimrōḏ'''), son of Cush (Bible) Cush, son of Ham, son of Noah Ham, son of Noah, was a Mesopotamian monarch and "a mighty hunter before the Lord". He is mentioned in the ''Table of Nations'' (Genesis 10), in the Books of Chronicles First Book of Chronicles, and in the Book of Micah. In the Bible he is an obscure figure; in later interpretations, as recorded by Josephus and the rabbis who compiled the midrash, he is the subject of innumerable legends. The most prominent of these was the story that he built the Tower of Babel.

Biblical accounts
Mention of Nimrod in the Bible is rather limited. He is called the first to become "a mighty one on the earth" and "the mighty hunter before the LORD." He is said to be the founder and king of the first empire after the Flood, and his realm is connected with the Mesopotamian towns Babylon (Babel), Uruk, Akkad, Calneh, Nineveh, Resen, Rehoboth-Ir and Calah. ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/gen/10/8-10 Gen. 10:8-10])

Traditions and legends
According to Hebrew traditions, he was of Mizraim by his mother, but came from Cush son of Ham and expanded Asshur which he inherited. His name has become proverbial as that of a "mighty hunter". His "kingdom" comprised Babel (Sumerian logogram ''Nun.Ki.''), Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar, otherwise known as the land of Nimrod. (Gen. 10:8-10; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_chr/1/10 Chron. 1:10]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/micah/5/6 Micah 5:6]) Josephus says: "Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also 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 on his power..." "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, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion..." One tradition, of unknown provenance, suggests that Nimrod died a violent death. Another tradition, also of unknown provenance, says that he was killed by a wild animal. Still another, its origin equally obscure, says that Shem killed him because he had led the people into the worship of Baal. Still another ascribes his death to Esau (grandson of Abraham). According to a medieval Hungary Hungarian chronicle (Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum), the ancestors of Huns and Magyars (''Hunor'' and ''Magor'' respectively) were the twin sons of ''Menrot'' (son of ''Tana'') and ''Eneth''. In different versions of this legend ''Menrot'' was referred to as '''Nimrod''', the son of '''Kush'''. According to some scholars ''Tana'' or ''Kush'' could be perhaps Etana the king of Kish. This is a possible parallel to the Kushan Scythian ancestor ''Kush-Tana''. In Armenia Armenian legend, Haik, the founder of the Armenian people, defeated Nimrod in battle near Lake Van. In the ''Divine Comedy'', Dante portrays Nimrod as a giant, one of the guardians of the well containing the ninth circle of Hell. In the ''Book of Mormon'', a Meso-american valley is named Nimrod, "being called after the mighty hunter." ([http://scriptures.lds.org/ether/2/1,4 Ether 2:1, Ether 2:4])

Interpretations
Though not clearly stated in the Bible, Nimrod has since ancient times traditionally been interpreted to be the one who led the people to build the Tower of Babel. Since his kingdom included the towns in Shinar, it is believed likely that it was under his direction that the building began. This is the view adopted in the Targums and later texts such as the writings of Josephus. Some extrabiblical sources, however, assert to the contrary, that he left the district before the building of the tower. It is further often assumed that his rulership included war and terror, and that he was a hunter not only of animals, but also a person who used aggression against other humans. The Hebrew translated "before" in the phrase "Mighty hunter ''before'' the LORD" is commonly analysed as meaning literally "in the Face of" in this interpretation, to suggest a certain rebelliousness in the establishment of a human government. Since some of the towns mentioned were in the territory of Assyria, which is connected to Shem's son Asshur, Nimrod is sometimes speculated to have invaded territory that did not belong to him. However, various translations of the Hebrew text leave it ambiguous as to whether the towns in Assyria were founded by Nimrod or by Asshur. Historians and mythographers have tried to link the Biblical Nimrod to figures from other mythologies and from history, with varying success. One such identification is with Ningirsu, and Ninurta who inherited his role, the Sumerian and later Akkadian god of war, hunting, and agriculture; or Nergal, God of Death and the Plague, who was sometimes called Lugal-Amarada or Lugal-Marad or Ni-Marad. Lugal Marad name means "king of Marad," a city, whose name means "Rebellion" in Akkadian, as yet unidentified. The name Ni-Marad, in Akkadian means "Lord of Marad". The chief deity of this place, therefore, seems to have been Nergal, of whom, therefore, Lugal-Marad or Ni-Marad is another name. Marduk (Merodach) shared attributes with these earlier gods, is also included as a possible archetype for Nimrod. Nimrod's imperial ventures described in ''Genesis'' may be based on the conquests of the Kings of Assyria Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (Dalley et al., 1998, p. 67). Alexander Hislop, in his anti-Catholicism anti-Catholic tract ''The Two Babylons'' ([http://philologos.org/__eb-ttb/sect221.htm Chapter 2, Section II, Sub-Section I]) decided that Nimrod was to be identified with Ninus, who according to Greek mythology Greek legend was a Mesopotamian king and husband of Semiramis (see below); with a whole host of deities throughout the Mediterranean world, and with the Persian Zoroaster. For the latter, he may have followed the identification of '''Nebrod''' (the Septuagint's transliteration of Nimrod) found in the Clementine literature Clementine homilies ([http://ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-08/anf08-53.htm Homily IX]). David Rohl, like Hislop, identified Nimrod with a complex of Mediterranean deities; among those he picked were Asar, Baal, Dumuzi, and Osiris. In Rohl's theory, Enmerkar the founder of Uruk was the original inspiration for Nimrod, because the story of ''Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta'' (see: [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr1823.htm]) bears a few similarities to the legend of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, and because the -KAR in Enmerkar means "hunter". Someone (''possibly Rohl'') has identified Nimrod with Resheph of northern Semitic mythology. In some ''interpretatio graeca interpretationes graeca'' he was identified with the hunter Orion (mythology) Orion, and thus with the Orion (constellation) constellation Orion. At the beginning of the 20th century he was linked either with the late god in Sumerian mythology, Marduk, or by some Gilgamesh or his predeccesor Enmerkar. . (See the Jewish Encyclopedia linked below) Some believe that if Nimrod is responsible for the Tower of Babel that he is responsible for beginning most ancient religions. References to Nimrod like characters can be found in Greek Mythology, Egyptian Mythology, Muslim, Babylonian Mythology, and many more. It is true that the resemblance between these characters is interesting and that several links have been made by David Rohl and Alexander Hislop, but evidence to support this theory is yet not enough to entertain most scholars.

Cultural references
*The Pixies have a song titled ''Nimrod's Son'' from their ''Come on Pilgrim'' (EP).
*The name took on connotations of a dolt when hunter Elmer Fudd was called "Nimrod" by Bugs Bunny in the popular Warner Bros. cartoons. Long before that, there are recorded instances of its use as a slang word to mean simply "hunter" (from the Genesis account). Fudd's dimwitted personality may have lent much to its proliferation as an insult. *The perfect killing machine (Sentinel robot) in the X-Men Universe is called Nimrod (comics) Nimrod. It was like its namesake: the ultimate hunter. *A fictional historical nation in the PlayStation role-playing game RPG ''Xenogears'' is named Nimrod. *The god-like double-voiced figure in the PlayStation 2 action/adventure/puzzle video game ''Shadow of the Colossus'', Dormin, is derived from the story of Nimrod. Dormin is Nimrod spelled backwards. *Green Day has an album entitled ''Nimrod (album) Nimrod''. *The alien-like creature in the NBC TV-show ''Surface (TV series) Surface'' is also called Nimrod. *A monster from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is named Nimrod, although not in the sense as being a hunter figure.

References
*''The Legacy of Mesopotamia''; Stephanie Dalley et al. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998) *''Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery''; Stephen R. Haynes (NY, Oxford University Press, 2002)

External links

- Nimrod, entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia
- WebBible entry
- ''Against World Powers: A Study of the Judeo-Christian Struggle in History and Prophecy'' - Modern Christian writings, redolent of apocalypticism, which follow David Rohl's view on the legends of Nimrod, but add the theory that he was an agent of Satan. Another page from this site summarizes [http://www.redmoonrising.com/agenda.htm Rohl's theory of Nimrod and Enmerkar] Category:Characters in Paradise Lost Category:Torah people ang:Nebrond ca:Nimrod de:Nimrod (Griechische Mythologie) es:Nimrod fr:Nimrod it:Nimrod he:נמרוד nl:Nimrod no:Nimrod pl:Nimrod (władca) pt:Nimrod (rei) fi:Nimrod (Mesopotamia) sv:Nimrod tr:Nemrut

*** Shopping-Tip: Nimrod (king)