John Calvin Commentary Genesis 10:8

"And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth." — Genesis 10:8 (ASV)

And Cush begat Nimrod. It is certain that Cush was the prince of the Ethiopians. Moses relates the remarkable history of his son Nimrod, because he began to be eminent to an unusual degree. Furthermore, I interpret the passage this way: the condition of people was moderate at that time, so that if some excelled others, they still did not domineer on that account, nor assume royal power for themselves. Instead, being content with a degree of dignity, they governed others by civil laws and had more authority than power.

For Justin, from Trogus Pompeius, declares this to have been the most ancient condition of the world. Now Moses says that Nimrod, as if forgetting he was a man, took possession of a higher position of honor. Noah was still living at that time and was certainly great and venerable in the eyes of all.

There were also other excellent men; but their moderation was such that they cultivated equality with their inferiors, who showed them spontaneous rather than forced reverence. The ambition of Nimrod disturbed and broke through the boundaries of this reverence.

Moreover, since it clearly appears that in this sentence of Moses the tyrant is branded with an eternal mark of infamy, we may therefore conclude how highly pleasing to God is a mild administration of affairs among men. And truly, whoever remembers that he is a man will gladly cultivate the society of others.

With respect to the meaning of the terms, ציד (tsaid) properly signifies hunting, as the Hebrew grammarians state, yet it is often taken for food. But whether Moses says that he was robust in hunting or in violently seizing prey, he metaphorically intimates that he was a furious man and was more like beasts than men. The expression Before the Lord seems to me to declare that Nimrod attempted to raise himself above the order of men, just as proud men are carried away by vain self-confidence, so that they look down on others as if from the clouds.

Wherefore it is said. Since the verb is in the future tense, it may be explained in this way: Nimrod was so mighty and imperious that it would be proper to say of any powerful tyrant that he is another Nimrod. Yet Jerome's version is satisfactory, that from this it became a proverb concerning the powerful and the violent, that they were like Nimrod. Nor do I doubt that God intended the first author of tyranny to be held in odium by every tongue.