![]() The ancient Semitic language Akkadian is named after this city. It refers to the city of Akkad (Sumerian Agade), which was capital of the Sargonic dynasty’s empire in the late 24 th to early 21 st centuries B.C.E. The name Shinʿar refers to southern Mesopotamia, more or less equivalent to the Mesopotamian “Sumer and Akkad,” in which (almost) all the cities listed are found.īabylon is the capital of the empire which would eventually destroy Judah it is in southern Mesopotamia.Īccad is mentioned in the Bible only here. In Genesis, the tower of Babel was built in “a valley in the land of Shinʿar” (Gen 11:2), and Shinʿar is the home of King Amraphel in Genesis 14:1, 9. The land of Shinʿar is mentioned seven other times in the Bible. Gen 10:10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babylon and Erech and Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinʿar. Nimrod’s Kingdom Begins in Southern Mesopotamia The anecdote then shifts from describing Nimrod as hunter to king. This Nimrod, the “mighty hunter before YHWH” is never mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. Gen 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before YHWH therefore it is said: “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before YHWH.” The idea of his being “the founder” of some profession works even better with the opening of the next verse, which describes him as a mighty hunter, perhaps making him the first hunter. The NRSV translates “he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior,” suggesting a role for him similar to Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-cain, “fathers” of all herders, musicians and metalworkers in Genesis 4:20–22, namely the originators of these professions. The word החל means “began,” but “he began to be mighty” makes little sense in this context. בָּאָרֶץ/ baʾareṣ-This could be translated “on earth,” giving Nimrod’s might universal significance, or “in the land,” in the sense of his country, making him a local hero.īeginning to be Mighty-Verse 8 tells us that Nimrod הֵחֵל לִהְיוֹת גִּבֹּר בָּאָרֶץ. גִּבֹּר / gibbōr-The noun גִּבֹּר could mean anything from “giant” (so translated in the Septuagint) to “hero” to “mighty man/warrior” to “champion” to “man of power” to “potentate.” Gen 10:8 And Cush begot Nimrod he began to be a mighty man on earth.Ī number of phrases in the passage are difficult to interpret. ![]() 19, which the NJPS translation puts in parentheses-and outlines the borders of Canaan. The Table of Nations has two digressions that appear to be supplements. Nimrod the Hunter: A Digression from the Nations List Many scholars would assign its core to the Priestly source of the Pentateuch due to its language and literary style, and the function it serves in the primeval narrative. The picture that emerges, uniquely in the ancient world, is of all of humanity as a single extended family. Gen 10:32 These are the groupings of Noah's descendants, according to their origins, by their nations and from these the nations branched out over the earth after the Flood. Generally speaking, the descendants of Japheth mostly represent nations and lands that are situated northeast, north and northwest of the Land of Israel, the descendants of Ham represent nations that are situated to its south (and include Canaan itself), while the descendants of Shem are mostly situated to the east of the Land of Israel-making the Land of Israel into “the center of the world.” Accordingly, scholars refer to this chapter as the “Table of Nations.” Many of the names of these descendants are names of nations, tribes, lands and cities, known to us from elsewhere in the Bible and from extra-biblical sources: Yavan (Greece), Madai (Medea), Ashkenaz (not Germany, but perhaps the Scythians, a nomadic steppe people north of the Caspian Sea), Cush (Nubia), Mizraim (Egypt), Canaan and so forth. ![]() Following the great flood, which destroys all of humanity except the family of Noah, Genesis 10 presents a family tree in the form of a branched or segmented genealogy, tracing the 70 male descendants of Noah’s three sons, Japheth, Ham and Shem. ![]()
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