Number of Nimrods

Were there multiple Nimrods?

Returning to the genesis of this entire conversation, we will now look at Nimrod in the context of all these near eastern events. The amount of information regarding various groups in the war with Amraphel that we unraveled over the previous sections will serve as the basis for understanding who Nimrod was - at least in this period. We have to solve a kasha (difficulty) regarding Nimrod’s lifespan, and the length of his kingship. There are three possible views: Nimrod and Amraphel are identical figures, and Nimrod lived hundreds of years! Alternatively: “Amraphel had the identical soul of Nimrod, with a series of successive ‘Nimrods’ who also shared this same soul.”

We concluded this view earlier in the section on Amraphel “Genesis Rabbah also supports the theory of Messianic cycles saying “Perhaps, then, it is through this lens that a theory of Nimrod can start to take shape. Nimrod is Amraphel, but he is Amraphel in a cyclical manner relative to a perpetual ‘reincarnation’ of Nimrods through the ages. Perhaps there were multiple Nimrods, entirely different historical figures, but with the identical ‘soul’ of Nimrod coming back in cyclical fashion to be an enemy of the Jewish people?”

If one takes the stance they were identical then a serious problem arises: “If Nimrod was literally Amraphel, which empires fit into that timeframe with potential kings, or a dynasty lasting greater than a human lifespan?” This cause for this problem is twofold; first Nimrod lived over 175 years at minimum, longer than Avraham - seemingly having to have been born before, or at least fairly near the birth of Ashur, or alternatively Arpachshad (the ancestor of Abraham)

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Helpful for dating all of this is Genesis 11:10 “These are the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and he begot Arpachshad, two years after the Flood.” Arpachshad and the other members of the “first” generation, the grandchildren of Noah, were born within 2-5 years after the flood. Line twelve helpfully tells us when Shelah was born “And Arpachshad lived thirty five years, and he begot Shelah.” Shelah also has a child at thirty, and Eber a child at thirty four, meaning thirty seems the range for when Cush would have also begun having children.

If Noah’s children were born roughly around ~2200, and Arpachshad and the first generation of grandchildren began their birth in ~2100 this broadly dates the birth of the great-grandchildren to thirty or so years later around ~2070. The thing here is that Nimrod is the younger son of Cush, but that really wouldn’t push our dates back all that far. However, it is possible Nimrod was born over 50, or more years after his other brothers given the context of the Midrashic literature. This could make Nimrod born around ~2020 BCE.

The next question is how long could Nimrod have lived? Shelah - from the same generation as Nimrod although maybe born contiguous to the period of Nimrod’s older brothers - lives 403 years; but interestingly his son Eber lives a longer 430 years. Eber’s son Peleg and his son Reu live 209 and 207 years respectively, and Reu’s son Serug lives 200. It is between Eber and Peleg’s generation that the average age of the world halves, meaning anyone born before Eber - potentially such as Nimrod - could have easily lived 400 or more years.

This is critical to actually analyze where Nimrod was born, because if he was born when Eber was, he lived over 400 years, but he was born when Peleg was, his life was only ~200 odd years! Let’s note a few things, first Abraham was actually born while Peleg was still alive, meaning even if Nimrod was born shortly prior to Peleg and lived longer than 209 years it is still possible his dating lines up with Abraham’s lifetime. Nimrod really only needs to live 250~ years to still be alive in the time of Abraham and Amraphel if he was born around the year ~2000 BCE. If Shelah was born 35 years after Arpachshad around ~2068, Eber another 30 years later in ~2038, Peleh another 34 years later in ~2004 then between 2038-2004 BCE is the period in which the lifespans collapsed. Considering Nimrod was of Shelah’s generation, but born no later than 50 years being the youngest son of Cush, he really lines up precisely between Eber and Peleg - closer to Eber - pushing his lifespan beyond ~250-300 years.

If we are to take the stance these represent literal lifespans, a scientific materialist would claim these are impossible. Avoiding a massive tangent regarding potential theories of immortality, and how lifespans may have been different, the alternative idealist perspective would claim these ‘lifespans’ are actually dynasties, or generations of kingship. That opens up another issue though with the terminology regarding “Nimrod as Amraphel”; how can we solve this, without relying on the theory of soul reincarnation?

Even more problematic is a story from Pirkei DeRabbi Elizer where we learn of a magical cloak that Nimrod inherited from his grandfather Ham, that was once owned by Adam and Eve. This cloak is reportedly the reason for Nimrod’s skill as a hunter, and his ability to conquer other nations, but it’s unclear under what context a single coat, or cloak, would provide any king the ability to win a war.

The cloak introduces a major problem for the literalist series of events when in Rabbinic literature it is described that Esau took this cloak from Nimrod after killing him, then immediately running to Jacob and offering him the birthright knowing they were coming for retribution. We will expand on this story in the final section, but importantly this extends Nimrod’s life over 500 years to the era of the birthright causing an extreme problem for a literalist given he is probably living as long as Noah’s children. One could argue this event never occurred, and the entire Esau story is non-literal, but then this challenges a fully literalist reading of any Rabbinic Midrash, or Aggadah that purports additional details of Nimrod’s life.

I would strongly side against a literalist reading of the events, and take the approach that the entire process of Nimrod, Kingship, and the Messianic system are a cycle of events dealing with souls and their spiritual battles. How those wars play out, or are described on earth are beyond our comprehension. Regardless of one's literalist view on Nimrod and Amraphel’s ‘identical’ nature, the reality is that we can view Amraphel almost as a reincarnation with the exact same soul as Nimrod helping synchronize these divergent viewpoints. This also opens up a problem: “If Amraphel was a reincarnation of Nimrod, then were there other Nimrods, both before and after?”

The Sefer HaYashar does actually include a theory of ‘multiple’ Nimrods that helps us frame this discussion. Opening with a discussion of Nimrod’s cities that he founded after the dispersion at Babel, the text essentially implies Nimrod actually had two kingdoms, an earlier one during the dispersion and one where he reigned at Babel. What is implicitly stated here is that the “Tower of Babel” was not at “Babylon”, but an earlier Babylon which would completely align with our previous theories of Eridu as the ‘first babel’.

From the text: “And Nimrod reigned securely once more, and his servants and ‎princes gave unto Nimrod the additional name of Amraphel, saying: All his people and all his ‎princes were dispersed through the building of the tower and the incidents connected ‎therewith. And for all those hardships Nimrod would not return unto the Lord, but he would ‎only add new sins and transgressions to those already committed. And he instructed the ‎people in everything sinful and wicked before the Lord.”¹ The “once more” implies he had already ruled previously, giving Rabbinic justification for the earlier Kingdom at Eridu.‎ Even if these are the same individual, Nimrod did have two kingdoms.

The very name Amraphel is connected with the dispersion, implying for certain the Tower must have been built at the earlier Babel of Eridu. We also know from the Torah that the first four cities built by Nimrod listed on the Table of Nations come before the Tower of Babel due to the scattering occurring before the era and events of Amraphel. Therefore, it would be important for us to turn to this story of Babel to frame the “First Kingdom of Nimrod” prior to the dispersion, before we analyze the “Second Kingdom of Amraphel”.

1. Sefer HaYashar 17-18