From that land went out Asshur, and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah,
Genesis 10 lists the nations that came from Noah's sons. In the middle of that list, one line moves north out of Shinar and founds Nineveh — the city that later ruled an empire — and it opens with a puzzle over who did it.
One reference work sets out the problem, and why many read the verse another way:
Older English versions make it look as if a son of Ham named Asshur built Nineveh. Yet Genesis 10:22 and 1 Chronicles 1:17 name Asshur as a son of Shem. But in the margin of verse 11 it reads that "he went out into Assyria," that is, Nimrod went out into Asshur or Assyria (the Hebrew is the same). Micah 5:6 confirms this, for it links Assyria and Nimrod together. Assyria goes back to Asshur or Assur, a son of Shem. Nimrod came afterwards and may have subdued the country, but with what result is not shown.
Commentators differ here. William Kelly keeps the older reading and finds a moral point in it — a second man copying the first:
Nothing here says that Ham's descendants drove Asshur out. The wording suggests instead that the success of Nimrod set the example, and stirred a similar ambition. Everything the record reveals shows how completely all of them forgot Noah's authority, though he was still alive. The authority of the family head gave way to men's own thoughts and will.
Either way, the move goes north, away from the plain where the kingdom began. One writer names the man behind it, and places the move after the scattering at Babel:
Nimrod's name means "we will rebel," not only "I will rebel." He was a leader in hunting the souls of men, to make them rebels. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, where man was exalted in defiance of God. Other places are also mentioned in the land of Shinar. The move from that land into Assyria came no doubt after the Lord scattered the people from Babel (Gen. 11:8). Nimrod's ambitious course of self-will was not stopped even by God's judgment at the tower of Babel.
Nothing in the verse suggests these were great cities at the start. Kelly warns against reading Nineveh's later splendour back into its founding. He then traces what that small start became:
When Asshur did his work, we need not imagine anything more than a small beginning of what would in time reach such power and splendour. It held that power long enough to conquer the ten tribes of Israel and to threaten Judah and David's house. Then it received a blow so plainly from God that it never troubled the holy land again. Soon it fell, never to rise again, when God chose to bring Babylon forward from a provincial position... to become ruler of the world.
Babel and Nineveh both begin in this chapter. The two cities stand for two different kinds of worldly power:
Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire. Her founder was Nimrod, who lived shortly after the flood (Gen. 10:8-12). There was rivalry between Assyria and Babylon from the very beginning. Babylon is the picture of worldly might in a religious garment. Assyria pictures the proud, cruel and overbearing world, which knows nothing but her own importance.
The city founded here came to a definite end. Another writer, who takes Asshur as the founder, follows the story down to the ruins left today:
Asshur founded Nineveh not long after the flood, apparently as a rival to Nimrod's Babylon (Gen. 10:11)... But where is Nineveh today? Opposite the town of Mosul there are miles of ruins from which many objects of interest have been dug up... The Medes captured and destroyed the city in 625 B.C. There has been no effort to rebuild it since that time, and it is not the will of God that it should ever be rebuilt.
Scripture returns to this ground at the close of history, and names it after the man in this verse:
The Lord, with His chosen instruments, will carry out His final judgments before He brings peace to this troubled world. He strikes the lands where man's lawlessness among the nations first raised its head, through Nimrod and Assyria (Gen. 10:9–11).
- The step. The verse records a move out of Shinar into Assyria. The Hebrew allows two readings: Nimrod went out into Assyria, or Asshur went out. Commentators differ, and Micah 5:6 supports the first.
- The spread. One man's success set the pattern, and others copied it. Noah was still alive, but his authority counted for nothing.
- The scale. These cities were a small beginning. What began here grew into the power that overthrew the ten tribes of Israel and threatened David's house.
- The spirit. Both Babylon and Nineveh grew from this root. One is worldly power dressed in religion, the other worldly power that is proud and cruel.
- The sentence. Nineveh fell and was never rebuilt. Scripture says God's final judgments will fall on the land of Nimrod, where this lawlessness began, before peace comes.
and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah this is the great city.
Genesis 10:12 ends a short list of cities built in Assyria: Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and now Resen. Two questions have followed that list ever since — who went out and built them, and which one is "the great city"?
The sentence begins back in verse 11, and its wording can be read two ways. One reference work lays out both, and why it prefers the second:
In Genesis 10:11 the Authorised Version seems to say that a son of Ham named Asshur built Nineveh. Yet Genesis 10:22 and 1 Chronicles 1:17 name Asshur as the son of Shem. But the margin of verse 11 reads that "he went out into Assyria." That is, Nimrod went out into Asshur or Assyria. Asshur and Assyria are the same word in Hebrew. Micah 5:6 confirms this: it links Assyria and Nimrod together. The name Assyria goes back to Asshur, or Assur, a son of Shem. Nimrod came later and may have subdued the country, but what came of that is not shown.
Commentators differ here. Others keep the older wording, where Asshur himself went out and built these cities, and read it as one man copying another:
"From that land went out Asshur, and built Nineveh … and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: this is the great city." The text does not hint that Ham's descendants drove Asshur out. Rather, its language implies that Nimrod's success set the example and stirred a like ambition. Everything the record shows makes it clear: they all forgot Noah's authority, though he was still living. His place as head of the family gave way to men's own thoughts and will.
Either way, one writer treats these cities not as scattered settlements but as one system, planted by one man:
In defiance of God he sought conquest and power. He added house to house and field to field, in the desire to be lord alone. Erech, Accad and Calneh are mother-cities. Mighty Nineveh, with Rehoboth and Calah, and that great city Resen, are only colonies in the system of this boastful apostate. He had no heart for any portion God could give him. He undertook to provide for himself. He would be the maker of his own fortune, so that his dignity and honour came from himself. And such a man is the man of the world to this day.
The verse fixes Resen only by its neighbours, and even its site today is disputed:
The great city "between Nineveh and Calah," one of the four cities built by Asshur, or by Nimrod in Assyria. Genesis 10:12. Some judge it to be not identified; but others trace it to ruins at 36° 12' N, 43° 10' E.
The closing phrase may not describe Resen at all. One writer points to Calah instead, and carries the title into the book of Jonah:
The capital of Assyria was old Nineveh. Nimrod had already built it, along with Rehoboth, Resen and Calah. (Calah is the only town Scripture calls the great city.) It is possible that the expression "that great city" in Jonah 1:2 is to be understood in the same way. In that case the three days' journey of Jonah 3:3 would present no difficulty.
Whatever its size at the founding, this cluster of cities grew into the power that later fell on Israel:
When Asshur did his work, we need not imagine anything more than a small beginning of what would in time reach such power and splendour. It kept that power. It went on to triumph over the ten tribes of Israel and to threaten Judah and David's house. Then it received a blow so plainly from God that it never troubled the holy land again.
Centuries later God pressed His own pity for this city on His unwilling messenger, Jonah:
The plant that had sprung up to shade the self-occupied prophet withered when God sent a worm. Jonah fainted in the heat and again wished to die. Then the LORD said, "You had pity on the plant … and should not I pity Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?" Yes, He is the God of all grace. He is the God not of Jews only but of Gentiles also. As the faithful Creator, His mercies are over all His works.
- Ambition — Nimrod's success set the example, and the same drive built the cities further north.
- Self-will — the building went ahead while Noah was still alive; his place as head of the family gave way to men's own will.
- Expansion — Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah and Resen are colonies of one system; commentators differ over which of them is "the great city".
- Power — a small beginning grew into the empire that crushed the ten tribes of Israel, until a blow from God ended its threat to the holy land.
- Mercy — God asked whether He should not pity that great city; His mercy reaches Gentiles as well as Jews.