In
Jewish and
Christian tradition, Nimrod is considered the leader of those who built the Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar, although the Bible never states this. Nimrod's kingdom included the cities of Babel, Uruk, Akkad, and perhaps Calneh, in Shinar (Gen 10:10).
Josephus believed that the building of Babel and its tower probably began under his direction; this is also the view found in the
Talmud (
Hullin 89a,
Pesahim 94b,
Erubin 53a,
Avodah Zarah 53b), and later
midrash such as
Genesis Rabba. Several of these early Judaic sources also assert that the king
Amraphel, who wars with Abraham later in Genesis, is none other than Nimrod himself. Josephus wrote: Since Akkad was destroyed and lost with the
collapse of the Akkadian Empire in the period 2200–2154 BC (
long chronology), the stories mentioning Nimrod seem to recall the late
Early Bronze Age. The association with Erech (Babylonian
Uruk), a city that lost its prime importance around
2000 BCE as a result of struggles between
Isin,
Larsa and
Elam, also attests the early provenance of the stories of Nimrod. According to some modern-day theorists, their placement in the Bible suggests a Babylonian origin—possibly inserted during the
Babylonian captivity. In
Pseudo-Philo (dated c. 70 CE), Nimrod is made leader of the Hamites, while
Joktan as leader of the Semites, and Fenech as leader of the Japhethites, are also associated with the building of the Tower. Versions of this story are again picked up in later works such as
Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius (7th century). The
Book of Jubilees mentions the name "
Nebrod" (the Greek form of Nimrod) only as being the father of
Azurad, the wife of
Eber and mother of
Peleg (8:7). This account would thus make Nimrod an ancestor of Abraham, and hence of all
Hebrews. The
Babylonian Talmud (
Gittin 56b) attributes
Titus's death to an insect that flew into his nose and picked at his brain for seven years in a repetition of another legend referring to the biblical King Nimrod. An early
Arabic work known as
Kitab al-Magall or the Book of Rolls (part of
Clementine literature) states that Nimrod built the towns of Hadāniūn,
Ellasar,
Seleucia,
Ctesiphon, Rūhīn,
Atrapatene, Telalān, and others, that he began his reign as king over earth when
Reu was 163, and that he reigned for 69 years, building
Nisibis, Raha (
Edessa) and
Harran when
Peleg was 50. It further adds that Nimrod "saw in the sky a piece of black cloth and a crown". He called upon Sasan the weaver and commanded him to make him a crown like it, which he set jewels on and wore. He was allegedly the first king to wear a crown. "For this reason people who knew nothing about it, said that a crown came down to him from
heaven." Later, the book describes how Nimrod established fire worship and idolatry, then received instruction in
divination for three years from Bouniter, the
fourth son of Noah. In the
Recognitions (R 4.29), one version of the Clementines, Nimrod is equated with the legendary Assyrian king
Ninus, who first appears in the
Greek historian
Ctesias as the founder of Nineveh. However, in another version, the
Homilies (H 9:4–6), Nimrod is made to be the same as
Zoroaster. The
Syriac Cave of Treasures (c. 350) contains an account of Nimrod very similar to that in the
Kitab al-Magall, except that
Nisibis,
Edessa and
Harran are said to be built by Nimrod when Reu was 50, and that he began his reign as the first king when Reu was 130. In this version, the weaver is called
Sisan, and the fourth son of Noah is called
Yonton.
Jerome, writing c. 390, explains in
Hebrew Questions on Genesis that after Nimrod reigned in Babel, "he also reigned in Arach [Erech], that is, in Edissa; and in Achad [Accad], which is now called Nisibis; and in Chalanne [Calneh], which was later called
Seleucia after King Seleucus when its name had been changed, and which is now in actual fact called
Ctesiphon." However, this traditional identification of the cities built by Nimrod in Genesis is no longer accepted by modern scholars, who consider them to be located in
Sumer, not
Syria. The
Ge'ez Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan (c. 5th century) also contains a version similar to that in the
Cave of Treasures, but the crown maker is called
Santal, and the name of Noah's fourth son who instructs Nimrod is
Barvin. However,
Ephrem the Syrian (306–373) relates a contradictory view, that Nimrod was righteous and opposed the builders of the Tower. Similarly,
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (date uncertain) mentions a Jewish tradition that Nimrod left Shinar in southern Mesopotamia and fled to Assyria in northern Mesopotamia, because he refused to take part in building the Tower—for which God rewarded him with the four cities in Assyria, to substitute for the ones in Babel.
Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer (c. 833) relates the Jewish traditions that Nimrod inherited the garments of Adam and Eve from his father Cush, and that these made him invincible. Nimrod's party then defeated the Japhethites to assume universal rulership. Later,
Esau (grandson of
Abraham), ambushed, beheaded, and robbed Nimrod. These stories later reappear in other sources including the 16th century
Sefer haYashar, which adds that Nimrod had a son named
Mardon who was even more wicked. In the
History of the Prophets and Kings by the 9th century
Muslim historian
al-Tabari, Nimrod has the tower built in Babil,
God destroys it, and the language of mankind, formerly
Syriac, is then confused into 72 languages. Another Muslim historian of the 13th century,
Abu al-Fida, relates the same story, adding that the patriarch
Eber (an ancestor of Abraham) was allowed to keep the original tongue, Hebrew in this case, because he would not partake in the building. The 10th-century Muslim historian
Masudi recounts a legend making the Nimrod who built the tower to be the son of Mash, the son of
Aram, son of Shem, adding that he reigned 500 years over the
Nabateans. Later, Masudi lists Nimrod as the first king of Babylon, and states that he dug great canals and reigned 60 years. Still elsewhere, he mentions another king Nimrod, son of
Canaan, as the one who introduced astrology and attempted to kill Abraham. In
Armenian legend, the ancestor of the Armenian people,
Hayk, defeated Nimrod (sometimes equated with
Bel) in a battle near
Lake Van. In the
Hungarian legend of the Enchanted Stag (more commonly known as the
White Stag [
Fehér Szarvas] or Silver Stag), King Nimród (
Ménrót), often described as "Nimród the Giant" or "the giant Nimród", descendant of Noah, is the first person referred to as forefather of the Hungarians. He, along with his entire nation, is also the giant responsible for the building of the Tower of Babel—construction of which was supposedly started by him 201 years after the biblical event of the
Great Flood. After the catastrophic failure of that most ambitious endeavour and in the midst of the
confusion of tongues, Nimród the giant moved to the land of
Evilát, where his wife,
Enéh gave birth to twin brothers
Hunor and
Magyar (aka
Magor). Father and sons were, all three of them, prodigious hunters, but Nimród especially is the archetypal, consummate, legendary hunter and archer. Hungarian legends held that twin sons of King Nimród,
Hunor and Magor were the ancestors of the
Huns and the
Magyars (Hungarians) respectively, siring their children through the two daughters of King Dul of the
Alans, whom they kidnapped after losing track of the silver stag whilst hunting. Both the Huns' and Magyars' historically attested skill with the recurve bow and arrow are attributed to Nimród. (
Simon Kézai, personal "court priest" of King
Ladislaus the Cuman, in his
Gesta Hungarorum, 1282–1285. This tradition can also be found in over twenty other medieval Hungarian chronicles, as well as a German one, according to Dr Antal Endrey in an article published in 1979). The 16th-century Hungarian prelate
Nicolaus Olahus claimed that
Attila took for himself the title of
Descendant of the Great Nimrod. The hunter god or spirit
Nyyrikki, figuring in the Finnish
Kalevala as a helper of
Lemminkäinen, is associated with Nimrod by some researchers and linguists. The
Nimrod Fortress (''Qal'at Namrud'' in Arabic) in the
Golan Heights, actually built during the
Crusades by
Al-Aziz Uthman, the younger son of
Saladin, was anachronistically attributed to Nimrod by later inhabitants of the area. There is a very brief mention of Nimrod in the
Book of Mormon: "(and the name of the valley was Nimrod, being called after the mighty hunter)".
Nimrod vs. Abraham of Jibril protecting Ibrahim from Nimrod's fire. In Jewish and Islamic traditions, a confrontation between Nimrod and
Abraham is said to have taken place. Some stories bring them both together in a cataclysmic collision, seen as a symbol of the confrontation between Good and Evil, or as a symbol of
monotheism against
polytheism. Some Jewish traditions say only that the two men met and had a discussion. According to K. van der Toorn and P. W. van der Horst, this tradition is first attested in the writings of
Pseudo-Philo. The story is also found in the
Talmud, and in rabbinical writings in the
Middle Ages. In some versions, such as
Flavius Josephus, Nimrod is a man who sets his will against that of God. In others, he proclaims himself a god and is worshipped as such by his subjects, sometimes with his consort
Semiramis worshipped as a goddess at his side. A
portent in the stars tells Nimrod and his astrologers of the impending birth of Abraham, who would put an end to
idolatry. Nimrod therefore orders the killing of all newborn babies. However, Abraham's mother escapes into the fields and gives birth secretly. At a young age, Abraham recognizes God and starts worshipping him. He confronts Nimrod and tells him face-to-face to
cease his idolatry, whereupon Nimrod orders him
burned at the stake. In some versions, Nimrod has his subjects gather wood for four whole years, so as to burn Abraham in the biggest bonfire the world had ever seen. Yet when the fire is lit, Abraham walks out unscathed. In some versions, Nimrod then challenges Abraham to battle. When Nimrod appears at the head of enormous armies, Abraham produces an army of
gnats which destroys Nimrod's army. Some accounts have a gnat or mosquito enter Nimrod's brain and drive him out of his mind (a divine retribution which Jewish tradition also assigned to the Roman Emperor
Titus, destroyer of the
Temple in Jerusalem). In some versions, Nimrod repents and accepts God, offering numerous sacrifices that God rejects (as with
Cain). Other versions have Nimrod give to Abraham, as a conciliatory gift, the giant slave
Eliezer, whom some accounts describe as Nimrod's own son (the Bible also mentions Eliezer as Abraham's
majordomo, though not making any connection between him and Nimrod; Genesis 15:2). Still other versions have Nimrod persisting in his rebellion against God, or resuming it. Indeed, Abraham's crucial act of leaving
Mesopotamia and settling in
Canaan is sometimes interpreted as an escape from Nimrod's revenge. Accounts considered canonical place the building of the Tower many generations before Abraham's birth (as in the Bible, also
Jubilees); however in others, it is a later rebellion after Nimrod failed in his confrontation with Abraham. In still other versions, Nimrod does not give up after the Tower fails, but goes on to try storming Heaven in person, in a chariot driven by birds. The story attributes to Abraham elements from the story of
Moses' birth (the cruel king killing innocent babies, with the midwives ordered to kill them) and from the careers of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who emerged unscathed from the fire. Nimrod is thus given attributes of two archetypal cruel and persecuting kings –
Nebuchadnezzar and
Pharaoh. Some Jewish traditions also identified him with
Cyrus, whose birth according to
Herodotus was accompanied by portents, which made his grandfather try to kill him. A confrontation is also found in the
Quran, between a king, not mentioned by name, and
Ibrahim (Arabic for "Abraham"). Some Muslim commentators assign Nimrod as the king. In the quranic narrative Ibrahim has a discussion with the king, the former argues that God is the one who gives life and causes death, whereas the unnamed king replies that he gives life and causes death. Ibrahim refutes him by stating that God brings the Sun up from the East, and so he asks the king to bring it from the West. The king is then perplexed and angered. The commentaries on this
surah offer a wide variety of embellishments of this narrative, one of which by
Ibn Kathir, a 14th-century scholar, adding that Nimrod showed his rule over life and death by killing a prisoner and freeing another. Whether or not conceived as having ultimately repented, Nimrod remained in Jewish and Islamic tradition an emblematic evil person, an archetype of an idolater and a tyrannical king. In rabbinical writings up to the present, he is almost invariably referred to as "Nimrod the Evil" (). Nimrod is mentioned by name in several places in the
Baháʼí scriptures, including the
Kitáb-i-Íqán, the primary theological work of the
Baháʼí Faith. There it is said that Nimrod "dreamed a dream" which his soothsayers interpreted as signifying the birth of a new star in heaven. A herald is then said to have appeared in the land announcing "the coming of Abraham". Nimrod is also mentioned in one of the earliest writings of the
Báb (the herald of the Baháʼí Faith). Citing examples of God's power, he asks: "Has He not, in past days, caused Abraham, in spite of His seeming helplessness, to triumph over the forces of Nimrod?" The story of Abraham's confrontation with Nimrod did not remain within the confines of learned writings and religious treatises, but also conspicuously influenced popular culture. A notable example is "
Quando el Rey Nimrod" ("When King Nimrod"), one of the most well-known folksongs in
Ladino (the Judeo-Spanish language), apparently written during the reign of King
Alfonso X of
Castile. Beginning with the words: "When King Nimrod went out to the fields/ Looked at the heavens and at the stars/He saw a holy light in the Jewish quarter/A sign that Abraham, our father, was about to be born", the song gives a poetic account of the persecutions perpetrated by the cruel Nimrod and the miraculous birth and deeds of the savior Abraham.
Islamic narrative The
Quran states, "Have you not considered him who had an argument with Abraham about his Lord, because God had given him the kingdom (i.e. he was prideful)?" Abraham says, "My Lord is He Who gives life and causes death." The king answers, "I give life and cause death". Then Abraham says, "Indeed, God brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up from the west." Although Nimrod's name is not specifically stated in the Quran, Islamic scholars hold that the "king" mentioned was him. Other traditional stories also exist around Nimrod, which have resulted in him being referenced as a tyrant in Muslim cultures. According to
Mujahid ibn Jabr, "Four people gained control over the Earth, east and west, two believers and two disbelievers. The two believers were
Solomon (
Sulayman in Islamic texts) and
Dhul Qarnayn, and the two disbelievers were
Nebuchadnezzar II and Nimrod. No one but they gained power over it."
Midrash Rabba version The following version of the confrontation between Abraham and Nimrod appears in the
Midrash Rabba, a major compilation of Jewish Scriptural
exegesis. The part in which this appears, the
Genesis Rabbah (Chapter 38, 13), is considered to date from the sixth century. ==Historical interpretations==