Page 275 - Foundations

Bible teacher and author Donald Gray Barnhouse offered the following translation of the verses found
in Genesis that relate to Nimrod.

Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty despot in the land. He was an arrogant tyrant, defiant
before the face of the Lord; wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod, the mighty despot, haughty before
the face of the Lord. And the homeland of his empire was Babel, then Erech, then Accad, and Calneh,
in the land of Shinar. From this base he invaded the kingdom of Asshur, and built Nineveh, and
Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah, and Resin between Nineveh and Calah. These make up one great city.
[Source: The Invisible War, Donald Gray Barnhouse.]

There is much room for interpretation in this passage describing Nimrod. The word that is translated
as “mighty” in our English Bibles is the Hebrew “gibbor.” This word is used in a wide range of
applications. The giants who were born as the spawn of fallen angels cohabiting with the daughters
of men are described as “gibborim,” a plural form of the same word. Some have suggested that
Nimrod himself was a giant, and he appears as such in some ancient mythologies. The following
image is found in the book The Chaldean Account of Genesis. It is an ancient depiction of Gilgamesh,
whom archaeologist and historian George Smith referred to as Izdubar, for he stated that he had not
yet phonetically deciphered the Chaldean name he found on the pottery fragments from ancient
Nineveh. George Smith was convinced that Izdubar/Gilgamesh was the same as Nimrod of the Bible.

According to this ancient depiction, the figure of Izdubar/Gilgamesh/Nimrod holding a full grown
lion would be approximately 20 feet in height. Some have suggested that the Biblical statement that
Nimrod began to be a “gibbor” allows for an interpretation of Nimrod as a giant. This, however,
strikes me as dubious, for the giants were ALWAYS descendants of angels and women cohabiting.
In contrast, we are told that Nimrod is a direct descendant of Noah through his son Ham, and Ham’s
son Cush. His lineage is completely human. It is certainly possible that Nimrod was a large and
powerful man, but we have no indication that he was a descendant of the Nephilim (fallen ones).