פירוש על בראשית 10:8

להיות גבור TO BE A MIGHTY ONE — Mighty in causing the whole world to rebel against the Holy One, blessed be He, by the plan he devised for the generation that witnessed the separation of the races (דור הפלגה) to build the Tower of Babel (Genesis Rabbah 23:7).

HE BEGAN TO BE A MIGHTY ONE IN THE EARTH. Rashi wrote, “Mighty in causing the entire world to rebel against the Holy One, blessed by He, by the plan he devised for the generation that witnessed the dispersion of the races.” But if so, he began means that he began after the flood [for it could not mean that he was the first ever to begin to rebel against G-d] since in the days of the generation of Enosh, such rebellion had already begun.²⁸⁰See above, 4:26, Rashi. See also Rambam in the beginning of “Laws of Idolatry,” wherein he describes the process of how mankind was misled into the worship of the idols during the generation of Enosh. It is possible that we should say that rebellion against G-d began in the generation of the dispersion while in the days of Enosh, people were not yet among those that rebel against the light;²⁸¹Job 24:13. rather, they also worshipped other gods.

וכוש ילד את נמרד, among all the others who were called by their father’s name “Kushites,” there was one special individual who rose to become a world renowned hero, warrior, king.

וכוש ילד את נמרד, he was accorded prominence, i.e. separate mention, seeing that Nimrod developed into such a historic personality. הוא החל להיות גבור בארץ, this does not mean that there had not been warriors, brave heroes, before his time. Clearly, amongst the antediluvian giants, נפילים, there had been such men. Besides, the expression החל is never used to describe that some phenomenon occurred for the fist time. The word החל describes an act that was performed for the first time, not the existence of something or someone for the first time. Nimrod displayed his power and bravery either vis a vis one nation, or even vis a vis numerous nations by conquering them and being appointed or appointing himself as their ruler, their king. Until the time of Nimrod no one had possessed the effrontery to lord it wholesale over his fellow man. Nimrod invented the concept of “dictator.” These developments were a by-product of mankind having dispersed over different areas of the globe after the collapse of their attempt to “conquer” heaven.

הוא החל להיות גבור חיל בארץ, “he became the first hero on earth.” According to Rashi the meaning of the verse is that he became the first man who dared oppose G’d after the deluge and to incite man against G’d, although he had been preceded by Enosh doing the same in the antediluvian period. (Seeing that Rashi did not mention Enosh, Nachmanides adds that what is meant by Rashi is that he was the first human being to do so after the deluge.)

In causing the entire world to rebel. [Rashi explains החל as “rebel”] because otherwise, [if it meant “began,”] why should it say החל? Nimrod was not the first to rebel against Hashem. Back in the days of Enosh it already says (4:26), אז הוחל לקרא. Perforce, החל is related to the word חילול. I.e., Nimrod publicly desecrated Hashem’s Name [by rebelling against Him]. (Kitzur Mizrachi) But it seems to me that החל must mean “began”. For if meant “rebel”, why does it say [גבור] twice? It should [combine the verses and] say, הוא החל להיות גבור ציד לפני ה'. But if it means “began,” the verse is understandable as is. Scripture is saying: “He was the first one who began to be powerful in causing rebellion, and he was a mighty hunter before Hashem, intentionally provoking Him.” (Nachalas Yaakov)

Bis jetzt waren die Söhne Stammväter von Völkern; hier folgt ein Sohn, der kein Volk gegründet, mit dem jedoch eine ganz neue Potenz in die Entwicklung der Völker eintrat. Er fing an, ein גבור auf Erden zu sein. Es gab schon vor ihm גבורים, wir erinnern nur an die Nefilim (Kap.6, Raw Hirsch on Genesis 10: 4); allein er fing an להיות גבור בארץ, er fing an im ־i^tum seinen Charakter, seinen Beruf, seine Existenz und seine ganze Lebensstellung zu finden, etwas, was mit ihm ins Völkerleben eintrat und seitdem fortgesetzt wurde. Wir haben schon bei dem עבד עבדים, welches dem chamitischen Geschlecht als künftiges Geschick verkündet worden, bemerkt, wie durch die sittliche Gebundenheit auch die soziale Freiheit zu Grunde geht, und höchst bedeutsam ist es nun, dass schon in Chams Enkel der Schöpfer des גבור Berufes auftritt. גבר setzt stets voraus, dass durch bedeutende, zunächst körperliche Kraft, etwas anderes bewältigt wird. .קבר ,כפר ,גבר ,גור גור ein junger Löwe, der dann כפיר der Anführer wird. כפר: zudecken, קבר: völlig begraben. גבר steht in der Mitte, ist nicht decken und nicht begraben, sondern eine solche Überwältigung mit seiner Kraft, dass die andere Persönlichkeit nicht aufkommen kann. Nun ist auch גבורה eine מתנה von Gott wie die anderen in dem Verse (Jirm. 9, 22) genannten Gaben, הכמה und עושר. Alle diese dem Menschen von Gott verliehenen Gaben schaffen das höchste Heil, wenn sie den ebendaselbst genannten Zwecken zugewendet werden, wenn הכמה der גבורה ,הסד dem משפט und עושר der צדקה dient, wenn חכמה nicht den eigenen Vorteil berechnende Klugheit, sondern aufopfernde Liebe predigende Weisheit, Stärke Vertreter des Rechts, und Reichtum Schöpfer der Wohltat wird. גבור בארץ, Mut und Kraft, ist an sich nichts Böses auf Erden; allein es wird dieses גבור im.

וכוש ילד את נמרוד, “and Cush sired Nimrod.” The reason why Nimrod has not been enumerated together with his other brothers is to draw attention to his accomplishments.

,הוא החל להיות גבור “he began to be outstanding amongst the people who had survived the deluge."