0 - Bible Commentary | Karuna Sadan

In what way was the earth divided in Peleg’s time?

Four generations after Noah, Genesis 10:25 record the birth of Peleg (meaning division) “for in his days was the earth divided”. Bible scholars offer us two interpretations of this.

1. The flood destroyed all life on the earth. After the ark of Noah touched the earth, the animals migrated to different parts of the earth. The continents then were divided. This could perhaps explain how animals reached Australia and other Islands. Human beings could not selectively carry animals to these islands. There are islands still not inhabited by humans but there are animals there.

2. Peleg’s family history is noted once again following the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:16–19). The fact that Peleg is mentioned before and immediately after the account of the Tower of Babel refers that the people of the earth people were divided into various language groups.

Who was Nimrod?

1.Nimrod Built the Tower of Babel

Immediately following the genealogical lists of Genesis 10, the book of Genesis 11 chronicles the attempted construction of the Tower of Babel, a tower created in defiance of God. 'Come, let us build ourselves a city," the people say in Genesis 11:4, referring to a city with a tower that soars to the heavens (emphasis added). If Nimrod was the one who founded the city of Babel, it seems likely that he was involved in this scheme.

The ancient Jewish historian Josephus states of Nimrod, “He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 4).

2.Nimrod was a Giant

According to several legends and texts, Nimrod was a giant. It's worth noting that other biblical giants are sprung from Ham, Nimrod's grandfather, which is interesting. For example, in Numbers 13, the "sons of Anak" were depicted as giants, and as Canaanites, they descended from Ham. According to Genesis 10:13, Goliath was a Philistine, an ethnic group that descended from the offspring of Ham's son.

3.Nimrod Knew Abraham

A well-known midrashic story (Rabbinical literature) pertaining to Abraham’s early life concerns his miraculous deliverance from a fiery furnace, into which he was cast by Nimrod, due to a dream that he had in which he was shown that Abraham would be his downfall.

4.Nimrod Had Super-human Strength

The Book of Jasher (which is a Jewish historical book) mentions that Nimrod received superhuman strength when he put on the garments of skin that God made for Adam and his wife when they went out of the garden of Eden. These garments were in the possession of Cush his father. (See Jasher 7: 24-29)

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest work of epic literature to be discovered, written on clay tablets by historians. It centres around the great warrior king Gilgamesh who scholars say was Nimrod, was sometimes portrayed as part-god because of his mighty deeds (these deeds were however not righteous in God’s eyes).

Chapter 10