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Genesis

About this book

The Nations Descended from Noah

Chapter 10

1 This is the account of Noah’s sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.⁠ 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, and the Dodanim. 5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands,⁠ every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.⁠ 6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush was the father of Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.⁠ (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10 The primary regions of his kingdom were Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar.⁠ 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. 13 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorites. 15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, Heth, 16 the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon all the way to Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages,⁠ by their lands, and by their nations. 21 And sons were also born to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), the father of all the sons of Eber. 22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber. 25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab.⁠ All these were sons of Joktan. 30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to Sephar in the eastern hills. 31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations. 32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread over the earth after the flood.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 10:9 and LXX Genesis 10:9

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Genesis 10 describes Nimrod as a mighty hunter, using a word also applied to the children of the Nephilim in Genesis 6. The Greek Septuagint translation makes this more explicit by using language that implies not just strength but also great size.

Passages

Genesis 10:9

Hebrew Bible
7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush was the father of Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10 The primary regions of his kingdom were Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

LXX Genesis 10:9

Septuagint
7 And the sons of Cush, Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah, Sheba, and Dedan. 8 And Cush fathered Nimrod: he began to be a giant upon the earth. 9 He was a giant hunter before the Lord God; therefore they say, As Nimrod the giant hunter before the Lord. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Erech, and Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

References

"... If Nimrod was indeed behind the building of the tower, then there was a further point of interest in the biblical description of him in Genesis 10:6-10. Some interpreters thought that the Bible's calling Nimrod mighty in the phrases 'mighty man' and 'mighty hunter' was intended to suggest something more than mere physical strength: it seemed to be implying something about his size as well. As a matter of fact, the same word, 'mighty' (gibbor), had been used of the offspring of the Nephilim in Genesis 6:4. If the Nephilim were 'giants,' and if the word 'mighty' is used to describe both their offspring and Nimrod, then perhaps indeed this word meant something like 'mighty in size,' gigantic. This was just how the ancient Greek translators rendered these phrases ..."
James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 127–128.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 10:9 and LXX Genesis 10:9

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