Genesis 10:8

Genesis 10:8

 

And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

 

a. NLT: Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, who was the first heroic warrior on earth. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

 

b. ASV: And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

 

c. YLT:  And Cush hath begotten Nimrod;  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

 

d. Amplified Bible:  Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first to be a mighty man on the earth. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

 

e. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: And Cush begot Nimrod. He was the first to be a mighty man on earth. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

1. “And Cush begat Nimrod…”

 

a. [And] Cush [Strong: 3568 Kuwsh koosh probably of foreign origin; Cush (or Ethiopia), the name of a son of Ham, and of his territory; also of an Israelite:--Chush, Cush, Ethiopia.]

 

b. begat [Strong: 3205 yalad yaw-lad'  a primitive root; to bear young; causatively, to beget; medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show lineage:--bear, beget, birth((-day)), born, (make to) bring forth (children, young), bring up, calve, child, come, be delivered (of a child), time of delivery, gender, hatch, labour, (do the office of a) midwife, declare pedigrees, be the son of, (woman in, woman that) travail(-eth, -ing woman).]

 

c. Nimrod [Strong: 5248 Nimrowd nim-rode' or Nimrod {nim-rode'}; probably of foreign origin; Nimrod, a son of Cush:--Nimrod.] [Gesenius: Nimrod = "rebellion" or "the valiant" the son of Cush, grandson of Ham, and great grandson of Noah; a mighty hunter, he established an empire in the area of Babylon and Assyria].

 

1). UNGER’S BIBLE DICTIONARY: In the Bible Nimrod’s appears as a great personality in whom earthly imperial power first appears in human history. That his character is evil appears from several observations. Earthly kingship initially comes into existence among the Hamatic peoples, upon one branch of which a prophetic curse was pronounced and in the entire family of which there is an absence of divine blessing (Genesis 9:25, 27). Nimrod is the establisher of Babylon, which is outlined in Scripture both in type and prophecy as a religiously and morally evil system (Isaiah 21:9; Jeremiah 50:24; 51:64; Revelation 16:19; 17:5; 18:3). Nimrod’s name no doubt suggested to the Israelites the idea of ‘rebel’ against God. The name Nimrod in the divine account is definitely meant to suggest the concept of rebellion as descriptive of the character of this first world empire builder.

 

2). After the flood the lengthy ages that men were living to, steadily decreased. Looking at the averages of the ages in Genesis 11, it is probable that Nimrod was born between 30 and 50 years after the flood. Again, looking at the ages of comparative generations, it is safe to assume that Nimrod lived for at least 400 years. Nimrod was the grandson of Ham. Salah was the grandson of Shem and he lived for 433 years.

 

a). Genesis 11:14, 15 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

11:15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

 

3). A fascinating revelation is found in a timeline according to Dake [see my notes on Genesis 11:10-26], that Abraham was born 352 years after the flood. The fascinating part is that looking at the comparative ages of the people born during this time after the flood, is that Abraham and Nimrod were probably contemporaries for possibly about 100 years!

 

2. “…he began to be a mighty one in the earth.”

 

a. [he[ began [Strong: 2490 chalal khaw-lal'  a primitive root (Compare 2470); properly, to bore, i.e. (by implication) to wound, to dissolve; figuratively, to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by an "opening wedge"); denom. (from 2485) to play (the flute):--begin (X men began), defile, X break, defile, X eat (as common things), X first, X gather the grape thereof, X take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.] [Gesenius: to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin, to profane oneself, defile oneself, pollute oneself, ritually, sexually, to be polluted, be defiled, to profane, make common, defile, pollute, to violate the honour of, dishonor, to violate (a covenant), to treat as common, to profane (name of God), to let be profaned, to begin, to be begun, to wound (fatally), bore through, pierce, bore, to pierce, to be slain, to wound, pierce, to be wounded, to play the flute or pipe.]

 

1). The beginning of his being “a mighty one in the earth” starts in Babel and then spreads to other cities.

 

a). Genesis 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. He was the leader inspiring the building of the tower of Babel described in Genesis 11.

 

b. [to] be [Strong: 1961 hayah haw-yaw: a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

 

c. [a] mighty one [Strong: 1368 gibbowr ghib-bore' or (shortened) gibbor {ghib-bore'};  intensive from the same as 1397; powerful; by implication, warrior, tyrant:-- champion, chief, X excel, giant, man, mighty (man, one), strong (man), valiant man.]

 

1). Combine his name with his description and you have a rebel against God becoming a tyrant in the earth.

 

d. {in the} earth [Strong: 776 'erets eh'-rets: from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):--X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X natins, way, + wilderness, world.]