What is the Meaning of the name Nimrod?

The name “Nimrod” has now come to mean a great hunter since Nimrod was identified as a mighty hunter in Genesis 10:9. However, the name probably had a different meaning in the original language.

Some scholars posit that Nimrod actually came from a Semitic root, a language similar to ancient Hebrew. The root appears to be a word roughly Romanized to marad, meaning “to rebel.”

Because of this, Nimrod is often thought to have been a rebel against the Lord. The phrasing in the Bible that says he was a mighty hunter “before the Lord” (e.g. Genesis 10:9) might more literally be translated “to the face of the Lord”—in other words, in opposition to God. This possible translation may back up Nimrod’s name as The Rebel.

Who Was Nimrod in History?

Theories abound about Nimrod’s life, from Jewish stories and legends to modern interpretations. We will begin with a few things that we can gather with more surety from the biblical text itself.

The genealogies in Genesis 10 and 1 Chronicles 1 distinctly list Nimrod’s lineage. His father was Cush, the son of Noah’s son Ham. Thus, Noah was Nimrod’s great-grandfather.

Only a few generations had passed since the Flood that destroyed the world and washed away all of humanity other than Noah and his family. Due to Ham’s unfortunate behavior in Genesis 9:18-27, Noah cursed Ham’s son Canaan, who was presumably Nimrod’s uncle. However, it does not appear that Noah directly cursed Ham’s other sons. Cush, then, may not have been under the curse.

Nimrod, according to Genesis 20:8, was a “mighty warrior.” The Hebrew word here, gibbor, could potentially also mean “tyrant,” though it is used many other times in the Bible simply to refer to strong warriors or champions, so the potential conclusion that he was tyrannical is tenuous.

Nimrod was presumably some sort of king, as the Bible records the “centers of his kingdom” in Genesis 10:10-12. These include the great cities of Babylon and Nineveh. His kingdom appears to have extended across Sumer, then called Shinar.

After Nimrod established cities in Shinar, Genesis 10:11 records that he went to Assyria built great cities there, including Nineveh.