The quick answer
Who was Nimrod in the Bible?
Nimrod was a son of Cush, grandson of Ham, and great-grandson of Noah. Genesis describes him as a mighty one on the earth and a mighty hunter before Yahweh. The beginning of his kingdom included Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh in Shinar, making his profile one of the Bible’s earliest notices about organized human power after the Flood.
A famous explanation with an uncertain origin
What does the name Nimrod mean?
The Hebrew name Nimrod is often connected with the verb marad, “to rebel,” leading to meanings such as “rebel” or “we will rebel.” The connection is plausible wordplay, but the exact etymology is uncertain and Genesis never defines the name in a birth announcement.
Four details in a very short biography
Nimrod’s life from Cush’s family to a kingdom in Shinar
Genesis gives no childhood, wife, children, age, or death—only a compact profile of family, ability, and power.
Genesis 10:6–8
Born in the family line of Cush
Genesis 10:8–9
Becomes a mighty one and hunter
Genesis 10:10
Rules from four centers in Shinar
Genesis 10:11–12
Appears beside an Assyria translation question
The careful answer
How did Nimrod die?
The Bible does not record Nimrod’s age, death, or burial. Accounts in which Esau or another figure kills him belong to later traditions and cannot be presented as the biblical answer.
Nimrod’s family tree
Noah, Ham, Cush, and Nimrod
Four centers in Shinar
Which cities were in Nimrod’s kingdom?
Genesis names four places as the beginning of his kingdom without giving a reign length, dynasty, or political biography.
Babel
The first center named in Nimrod’s kingdom and the setting connected with the following tower story.
Erech
Commonly associated with ancient Uruk, one of Mesopotamia’s major early cities.
Accad
The biblical name associated with Akkad, though its exact archaeological site remains uncertain.
Calneh
Named as a fourth center; translations and notes differ over its identification and even its reading.
A title that became a proverb
What does “a mighty hunter before the Lord” mean?
The phrase presents Nimrod as an exceptional, widely known hunter. “Before Yahweh” can express being in God’s sight or presence and may intensify the reputation. Some readers hear a defiant tone, but the sentence does not explicitly say he hunted people or opposed God.
Power beyond hunting
The broader term can describe strength, a warrior, or a powerful figure.
Genesis 10:8A renowned ability
His hunting reputation becomes the basis of a remembered saying.
Genesis 10:9Interpret with restraint
The phrase alone does not settle whether the description is praise, neutrality, or defiance.
Genesis 10:9Connection is not identification
Did Nimrod build the Tower of Babel?
The Bible does not directly say Nimrod built the tower. Genesis places Babel within the beginning of his kingdom, then tells the tower story in Shinar. That proximity explains the later association, but Genesis 11 names no king or individual leader.
Babel belongs to his kingdom context
The city is the first center named in the Shinar list.
Genesis 10:10The tower builders are collective
Genesis describes people saying “Come” and “Let’s build” without naming Nimrod.
Genesis 11:1–4Nimrod becomes the tower’s ruler
The direct leadership role develops in interpretation beyond the biblical wording.
Nimrod is absent from Genesis 11Continue without duplication
Nimrod’s profile ends where the Tower of Babel story begins
Moral verdicts require careful labels
Was Nimrod evil?
Genesis never directly calls Nimrod evil, a tyrant, or a rebel against God. Those portraits may draw on interpretations of his name, power, Babel setting, and later stories. They can be discussed as tradition, but not quoted as the plain wording of Genesis 10.
Mighty hunter and ruler
These are the roles Genesis actually supplies.
Genesis 10:8–10No explicit moral adjective
The passage does not call him righteous, wicked, faithful, or rebellious.
Genesis 10:8–12Tyrant and rebel portraits
These expanded biographies should remain visibly separated from Scripture.
Compare each claim with the textOne name, three English uses
Why does “nimrod” mean “idiot” today?
English borrowed the biblical name first for an impressive hunter. Later ironic use produced the informal insult “idiot” or “jerk.” That modern slang should not be read backward into the Hebrew name or used as a description of the biblical character.
Nimrod
A mighty hunter and ruler in Genesis.
Genesis 10:8–10A hunter
An older figurative use based on the biblical reputation.
Historical English usageAn idiot or jerk
A later ironic sense, not the biblical name meaning.
Informal EnglishRead the claim carefully
What Scripture says—and what later tradition adds
Nimrod was a mighty hunter and kingdom builder.
Genesis directly gives both the hunting reputation and the four Shinar centers of his kingdom.
Genesis 10:8–10Nimrod or Asshur may be the subject of Genesis 10:11.
Modern translations often continue with Nimrod, while some older versions read Asshur as the builder of Nineveh and nearby cities.
Genesis 10:11–12The tower story never names Nimrod.
Babel and Shinar connect the contexts, but Genesis 11 describes the builders collectively.
Genesis 10:10; 11:1–9The Bible gives no moral verdict or death account.
It never directly calls Nimrod evil and never records his wife, children, age, death, or burial.
Genesis 10:8–12; 1 Chronicles 1:10Nimrod’s later biography is much larger than his biblical profile.
Stories about rebellion, tyranny, Abraham, the tower, and his death developed outside the two brief biblical notices.
Compare the claims with Genesis 10:8–12This profile owns Nimrod’s identity, name, hunting title, kingdom, moral interpretations, and later traditions. The Tower of Babel story owns the complete Genesis 11 narrative, while Ham’s profile owns the wider family line.