Nimrod, a mighty hunter,

B. C. cir. 2328.

A. M. cir. 1676. vilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, | and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.

founds several cities.

B. C. cir. 2259.

Babel, and Erech, and Accad, A. M. cir. 1745. and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 Out of that land went A. M. cir. 1700. B. C. cir. 2304 forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, 12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,

14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (TM out of Or, he went out into Assyria.- Or, the streets of the city

m 1 Chron. i. 12.

Verse 10. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel] babel signifies confusion; and it seems to have been a very proper name for the commencement

Verse 8. Nimrod] Of this person little is known, as he is not mentioned except here and in 1 Chron. i. 10, which is evidently a copy of the text in Genesis. He is called a mighty hunter before the Lord; and from ver. 10, we learn that he founded a kingdom which included the cities Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Though the words are not definite, it is very likely he was a very bad man. His name Nimrod comes from 7 marad, he rebelled; and the Targum, on 1 Chron. i. 10, says: Nimrod began to be a mighty man in sin, a murderer of innocent men, and a rebel before the Lord. The Jerusalem Targum says: "He was mighty in hunting (or in prey) and in sin before God, for he was a hunter of the children of men in their languages; and he said unto them, Depart from the religion of Shem, and cleave to the institutes of Nimrod." The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel says: "From the foundation of the world none was ever found like Nimrod, powerful in hunting, and in rebellions against the Lord." The Syriac calls him a warlike giant. The word 7 tsayid, which we render hunter, signifies prey; and is applied in the Scriptures to the hunting of men by persecution, oppression, and tyranny. Hence it is likely that Nimrod, having acquired power, used it in tyranny and oppression; and by rapine and violence founded that domination which was the first distinguished by the name of a kingdom on the face of the earth. How many kingdoms have been founded in the same way, in various ages and nations from that time to the present! From the Nimrods of the earth, God deliver the world!

Mr. Bryant, in his Mythology, considers Nimrod as the principal instrument of the idolatry that afterwards prevailed in the family of Cush, and treats him as an arch rebel and apostate. Mr. Richardson, who was the determined foe of Mr. Bryant's whole system, asks, Dissertation, p. 405, "Where is the authority for these aspersions? They are nowhere to be discovered in the originals, in the versions, nor in the paraphrases of the sacred writings." If they are not to be found either in versions or paraphrases of the sacred writings, the above quotations are all false.

apostasy from God, and to have been supported by tyranny, rapine, and oppression.

In the land of Shinar.] The same as mentioned chap. xi. 2. It appears that, as Babylon was built on the river Euphrates, and the tower of Babel was in the land of Shinar, consequently Shinar itself must have been in the southern part of Mesopotamia.

Verse 11. Out of that land went forth Asshur] The marginal reading is to be preferred here. He-Nimrod, went out into Assyria and built Nineveh; and hence Assyria is called the land of Nimrod, Mic. v. 6. Thus did this mighty hunter extend his dominions in every possible way. The city of Nineveh,the capital of Assyria, is supposed to have had its name from Ninus, the son of Nimrod; but probably Ninus and Nimrod are the same person. This city, which made so conspicuous a figure in the history of the world, is now called Mossul; it is an inconsiderable place, built out of the ruins of the ancient Nineveh.

Rehoboth, and Calah, &c.] Nothing certain is known concerning the situation of these places; conjecture is endless, and it has been amply indulged by learned men in seeking for Rehoboth in the Birtha of Ptolemy, Calah in Calachine, Resen in Larissa, &c., &c.

Verse 13. Mizraim begat Ludim] Supposed to mean the inhabitants of the Mareotis, a canton in Egypt, for the name Ludim is evidently the name of a people.

Anamim] According to Bochart, the people who inhabited the district about the temple of Jupiter Ammon.

Lehabim] The Libyans, or a people who dwelt on the west of the Thebaïd, and were called LibyoEgyptians.

Naphtuhim] Even the conjecturers can scarcely fix a place for these people. Bochart seems inclined to place them in Marmarica, or among the Troglodytæ.

Verse 14. Pathrusim] The inhabitants of the Delta, in Egypt, according to the Chaldee paraphrase; but, according to Bochart, the people who inhabited the Thebaid, called Pathros in Scripture.

Casluhim] The inhabitants of Colchis; for almost all authors allow that Colchis was peopled from Egypt. Philistim] The people called Philistines, the con

Territories of the Canaanites.

A. M. cir. 1700. whom B. C. cir. 2304.

n

B. C. unknown.

16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,

B. C. cir. 2344.

A. M. unknown.

18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto P Gaza; as thou goest unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

" Heb. Tzidon.- Chap. xiii. 12, 14, 15, 17; xv. 18-21; Num. xxxiv. 2-12; Josh. xii. 7, 8.- -P Heb. Azzah.

stant plagues and frequent oppressors of the Israelites, whose history may be seen at large in the books of Samuel, Kings, &c.

Caphtorim.] Inhabitants of Cyprus according to Calmet.

Verse 15. Sidon] Who probably built the city of this name, and was the father of the Sidonians.

Heth] From whom came the Hittites, so remarkable among the Canaanitish nations.

Verse 16. The Jebusite-Amorite, &c.] Are well known as being the ancient inhabitants of Canaan, expelled by the children of Israel.

Verse 20. These are the sons of Ham after their families] No doubt all these were well known in the days of Moses, and for a long time after; but at this distance, when it is considered that the political state of the world has been undergoing almost incessant revolutions through all the intermediate portions of time, the impossibility of fixing their residences or marking their descendants must be evident, as both the names of the people and the places of their residences have been changed beyond the possibility of being recognized.

Verse 21. Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber] It is generally supposed that the Hebrews derived their name from Eber or Heber, son of Shem; but it appears much more likely that they had it from the circumstance of Abraham passing over (for so the word y abar signifies) the river Euphrates to come into the land of Canaan. See the history of Abraham, chap. xiv. 13.

Verse 22. Elam] From whom came the Elamites, near to the Medes, and whose chief city was Elymais: Asshur] Who gave his name to a vast province (afterwards a mighty empire) called Assyria.

Arphaxad] From whom Arrapachitis in Assyria was named, according to some; or Artarata in Armenia, on the frontiers of Media, according to others.

23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.

24 And Arphaxad begat Salah *; and Salah begat Eber.

Lud] The founder of the Lydians, in Asia Minor; or of the Ludim, who dwelt at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris, according to Arias Montanus. Aram.] The father of the Arameans, afterwards called Syrians.

Verse 23. Uz] Who peopled Cælosyria, and is supposed to have been the founder of Damascus.

Hul] Who peopled a part of Armenia.

Gether] Supposed by Calmet to have been the founder of the Itureans, who dwelt beyond the Jordan, having Arabia Deserta on the east, and the Jordan on the west.

Mash.] Who inhabited mount Masius in Mesopotamia, and from whom the river Mazeca, which has its source in that mountain, takes its name. Verse 24. Salah] The founder of the people of Susiana.

Eber.] See ver. 21. The Septuagint add Cainan here, with one hundred and thirty to the chronology. Verse 25. Peleg] From 15 palag, to divide, because in his days, which is supposed to be about one hundred years after the flood, the earth was divided among the sons of Noah. Though some are of opinion that a physical division, and not a political one, is what is intended here, viz., a separation of continents and islands from the main land; the earthy parts having been united into one great continent previously to the days of Peleg. This opinion appears to me the most likely, for what is said, ver. 5, is spoken by way of anticipation.

Verses 26-30. Joktan] He had thirteen sons who had their dwelling from Mesha unto Sephar, a mount of the east, which places Calmet supposes to be mount Masius, on the west in Mesopotamia, and the mountains of the Saphirs on the east in Armenia, or of the Tapyrs farther on in Media.

In confirmation that all men have been derived from one family, let it be observed that there are many

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