Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the LORD — so well known that the saying arose: 'Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.' The phrase 'before the LORD' is ambiguous: it could mean 'in the sight of the LORD' (simply an intensive expression) or 'in defiance of the LORD.' The dual possibility may be intentional. Whatever the precise moral evaluation, Nimrod becomes a cultural byword — his name is proverbial for a certain kind of dominance and prowess. Genesis 6:4 described the men of renown before the flood as 'heroes of old, men of renown' — Nimrod is the first such figure after the flood. But 'mighty hunter' in the ancient Near East also carried the connotation of hunting men, not only animals — a hint at the empire-building that follows. Proverbs 16:18 notes that pride goes before destruction; Nimrod's trajectory in the next verses moves from hunter to empire-builder, foreshadowing what such ambition produces.

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