Sometimes, reading the text of the Torah is like faking your way into a club you’re not supposed to be in. Someone thought we belonged, so we made it inside... but now we don’t know any of the lingo to be a “real” insider. And yet, it’s still amazingly cool to be here! I love when the Torah feels like this. I’m so intrigued... and so confused. Let me give you an example: Every once in a while, the Torah says something like, “Hence the expression... “blah, blah, blah.” With that brief introduction, the Torah has already revealed so much! Someone, at some point in the distant past, presented this information to an audience, and felt comfortable assuming the audience ubiquitously knew this “common” expression, and thought that the new information they were providing was merely its origin. As interlopers at this party, we just nod along and say, “oh yeah, sure! Ha! Of course! THAT expression? Yup, I totally know what you mean...” When really, we have no idea what they’re talking about.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing instances of this is presented in our Torah portion. Having concluded the story of Noah and the Flood, the Torah provides a lineage of ten generations from Noah down to Abraham. In the middle of this list, we read: “Cush also begot Nimrod, who was the first man of might on earth. He was a mighty hunter before Adonai; hence the saying, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Adonai.” (Gen. 10:8-9) (Ok, ok! Don’t blow our cover!! Just nod along, smile, and pretend you’ve DEFINITELY heard that expression before...) According to the rabbinic commentator
Ibn Ezra, this was a common expression in the time of Moses... which would be around a millennium after Nimrod died! But there’s also SO MUCH more going on here, right? How amazing that we’re learning about the first superhero in the Ancient World?!? “The first man of might on earth”?? How amazing. Fun aside: Some scholars actually attribute the reversal in meaning from “mighty hunter” to “idiot, dummy, fool” to (don’t laugh) the cartoon Bugs Bunny, who first leveled “Nimrod” as an insult against Elmer Fudd... possibly meaning that Fudd, the hunter, was no Nimrod!!
We have to stop for a bit, though, and also talk about this expression, “a mighty hunter BEFORE ADONAI.” In Hebrew, the term is “Lifnei Adonai,” and if you look it up on a site like biblehub.com, you’ll find that some translations render it as “by the grace of God,” or “in the sight of the Lord,” or even “AGAINST God”! Well, those versions offer some VERY different meanings! Rabbinic commentators compare it to the Book of Jonah, where the mighty Assyrian (enemy) capital, Nineve, is described as “a great city for the Lord.” Then, the rabbis offer an interesting interpretation. God does indeed increase the strength of these people and places, but only for a period of time, SO THAT eventually God’s Greatness can be experienced through their destruction. Or, to put it another way, God was fully aware of Nimrod’s might, and even endorsed and supported it, so that when Nimrod eventually was brought low, God - and by extension, God’s people - would be glorified. It is, perhaps, a bit of a long walk, but I also understand where they’re coming from.
I genuinely adore hanging out in this fascinating nightclub that is the Torah! Half the time, I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s clearly amazing, mysterious, and intriguing. But I will also tell you, I don’t believe it was an accident that we were admitted. When we are puzzled by the Biblical stories, it may prod us to ask questions, to research sources, and try and make sense of what we’re seeing. That, my friends, is the beginning of relationship! That’s how the Torah draws us in. And while Nimrod originally meant an amazing warrior, it is also no coincidence that the expression has reversed. We strive to be a peace-loving people who venerate Adonai; not idolators who worship military expertise, violence, and war. This brief, little reference is also a reminder to us to rethink and reexamine our priorities. What REALLY makes someone great? What is at the heart of good leadership? And I think we could all agree, it is NOT being a Nimrod... no matter how you define it.
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