1 Chronicles 1:10

10 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty hunter on earth. (NIV)



In the parallel verses in Genesis, Nimrod is called a “mighty warrior on the earth” (Gen. 10:8) and a “mighty hunter before the LORD” (Gen. 10:9). In the years after the flood, as the world was being resettled, Nimrod’s tribe was centered in southern Mesopotamia. This was the area of Babylon, Erech, and Akkad (Gen. 10:10). Nimrod himself extended his borders north toward the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates, building the huge city of Nineveh (northeast across the Tigris from Mosul), Calah (just southeast of today’s Mosul) and the unidentified cities of Rehoboth Ir and Resen.

Link to a 1902 Encyclopedia article with archaeological sketches of the area:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/N/NIN/country-round-nineveh-fig1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/N/NIN/nineveh.html&h=423&w=333&sz=52&hl=en&start=12&um=1&usg=__13U-fiKkNLRRzjTuzlYU9Ggr680=&tbnid=tokeJRr9fv_NrM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=99&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnineveh%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SUNA_enUS252US253%26sa%3DN

Although Nimrod is sometimes thought to be one and the same with Gilgamesh king of Uruk, we can’t really make that distinction from what we have about Nimrod in Scripture. As a matter of interest, Gilgamesh was the fifth king or chieftain of Uruk. A list of very early kings of the region does exist (with reigns lasting 20,000 to 40,000 years each), but it breaks off with the phrase, “Then the flood swept over.” A Kish dynasty was later replaced by the Eana dynasty, whose first king was drowned but whose second king, Emmerkar, built the city of Uruk. Emmerkar was followed by Lugulbanda the Shepherd, Dumuzi the Fisherman, and Gilgamesh.

Although many of names in 1 Chronicles are actually regions or whole nations, Nimrod himself is certainly an actual man. The Jewish writings outside the Bible call him Nimrod “the Evil” (הרשע). To Muslims he is Nimrod “al-Jabbar,” the Thug or Compeller.

There is no direct mention of any of Nimrod’s actions in the Bible. He isn’t accused of any particular sin. But the subtle hints in his titles, “a mighty hunter/warrior on earth” tell us that not everything this man did was in line with God’s plan. Perhaps, taken by himself, he wasn't that bad of a guy. But his failure came with the legacy he left for those who came later. He established a pattern in his life that caused his people to veer away from God later on, much like Voltaire (whom even Mozart described as the “arch-scoundrel”).

The lesson we learn from Nimrod, if no other, is to take care how we instruct our children. What are we passing down to them? Is it our faith? Is it something else?

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” ( — Jesus, Luke 18:16)