Meaning of NIMROD

"rebel".
Son of Cush. Vigorous hunter, powerful monarch, who reigned in Babel, Erech, Akkad and Calne, cities of the country of Shinar (Gen. 10:8-10; Mi. 5:6).

He is only known, although attempts have been made to identify him with Gilgamesh, a Babylonian hero, of whom legend and epic have perpetuated the memory. But there is no evidence that this identification is correct.

It may be more plausible to relate Babylonian Cush to the very ancient kingdom of the city of Kish, founded around 2,500 BC, and from which the Babylonian kings of the third millennium took their title of "kings of the world."

The dynasty of Kish is the first in the list of Mesopotamian dynasties established immediately after the flood; consists of twenty-three kings (cf. Jack Finegan: "Light from the Ancient Past", 1946, p. 31; Thorkild Jacobsen, "The Sumerian King List, Assyriological Studies XI", Chicago, 1939).

Furthermore, the way in which Nimrod's name is associated with other Mesopotamian cities seems to bear witness to his ancient popularity (e.g.: Birs Nimrud; Tell Nimrud near Baghdad; Mount Nimrud, ancient Calah ).

Babylonian and Assyrian art has left us numerous hunting scenes that agree with the image we have of Nimrod in Genesis as a vigorous hunter.