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 by the Jews, 2 Kings xviii, 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,--
Ἄρκτον θ’, ἣν καὶ ἄμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν,
Ἤ τ’ αὐτου ϛρέφεται, καὶ τ’ Ὠρίωνα δοκεύει.
_Iliad_ xviii, 485.
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,--
Τὸν δὲ μέτ’, Ὠρίωνα πελώριον είσενόησα
Θῆρας ὁμοῦ εἰλεῦντα, κατ’ ἀσφοδελον λειμωνα·
Τοὺς αὐτος κατέπεφνεν ἐν οἰοπόλοισιν ὄρεσσι
Χερσὶν ἔχων ρὅπαλον παγχάλκεον, αἰὲν ἀαγές.
_Odyss._ xi, 571.
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. Ὠρίων nearly resembles, Ὀυρίαν, the oblique case of Ὀυρίας,
which is the Septuagint rendering of Uriah, a proper name in Scripture,
2 Sam. xi, 6–21. But Uriah, signifying the light of the Lord,” was an
appropriate appellation of that most brilliant constellation. He was
also called Baal, Beel, Bel, or Belus, signifying lord,” or master,” by
the Phenicians, Assyrians, and Greeks; and Bala Rama, by the Hindus. 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.
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 by the Jews, 2 Kings xviii, 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,--
Ἄρκτον θ’, ἣν καὶ ἄμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλέουσιν,
Ἤ τ’ αὐτου ϛρέφεται, καὶ τ’ Ὠρίωνα δοκεύει.
_Iliad_ xviii, 485.
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,--
Τὸν δὲ μέτ’, Ὠρίωνα πελώριον είσενόησα
Θῆρας ὁμοῦ εἰλεῦντα, κατ’ ἀσφοδελον λειμωνα·
Τοὺς αὐτος κατέπεφνεν ἐν οἰοπόλοισιν ὄρεσσι
Χερσὶν ἔχων ρὅπαλον παγχάλκεον, αἰὲν ἀαγές.
_Odyss._ xi, 571.
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. Ὠρίων nearly resembles, Ὀυρίαν, the oblique case of Ὀυρίας,
which is the Septuagint rendering of Uriah, a proper name in Scripture,
2 Sam. xi, 6–21. But Uriah, signifying the light of the Lord,” was an
appropriate appellation of that most brilliant constellation. He was
also called Baal, Beel, Bel, or Belus, signifying lord,” or master,” by
the Phenicians, Assyrians, and Greeks; and Bala Rama, by the Hindus. 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.