What Does 1 Chronicles 1:10 Mean?
And Cush brought forth Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be mighty upon the earth.THE KEY
Might is something a person grows into, while the name beside it carries an echo of rebellion.
THE MEANING
A person’s origin and growing power are different things: lineage gives a beginning, while might emerges as a force on the earth. Nimrod’s name is commonly heard alongside the Hebrew root for rebellion, bringing defiance close to power while the verse itself names might, not an act of rebellion.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that visible power proves goodness: the verse calls Nimrod mighty without equating might with goodness.
THE ROOT
גִּבּוֹר
gibbōr
GROWS FROM
גבר
To be strong, prevail, or become mighty.
“a mighty one” in this verse is gibbōr. The verse presents might as a capacity that begins to take shape, rather than simply a fixed identity. The same root names prevailing and strength, showing the force beneath the English word “mighty.”
ALSO GROWS
gābar: To prevail or become strong.
גָּבַר
This verb reveals that might is something that rises into force.
gevurah: Might or an act of strength.
גְּבוּרָה
This branch names the strength held within the capacity described in the verse.
נִמְרֹד
Nimrōd
GROWS FROM
מרד
To rebel or revolt; a possible Hebrew wordplay heard in the name Nimrod.
Nimrod’s name is commonly associated by Hebrew wordplay with rebellion. That echo brings defiance close to his rise to might, though the verse itself does not describe an act of rebellion.
ALSO GROWS
mārad: To rebel or revolt.
מָרַד
This verb supplies the possible wordplay heard in Nimrod’s name.
mered: Revolt or rebellion.
מֶרֶד
This noun makes the name’s associated idea explicit while leaving the verse’s stated focus on might.
יָלַד
yālad
GROWS FROM
ילד
To give birth or beget.
This root places Nimrod within a line of what is brought forth. The verse joins that inherited lineage to might that begins to take shape.
ALSO GROWS
yeled: A child or boy.
יֶלֶד
The branch names the person brought forth through the act of begetting.
tōledōt: Generations, genealogies, or what is brought forth.
תּוֹלְדוֹת
This branch connects the verse’s single act of begetting to the larger line of generations.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats might as a real force whose presence does not prove rightness or guarantee control of outcomes.
Thus says the LORD, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor let the mighty man boast in his strength, let not the rich man boast in his riches.I turn back and see under the sun that the running is not to the light of foot, nor the battle to the mighty, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the discerning, nor favor to those who perceive; for time and the striking meet them all.But God picked out the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; and God picked out the weak things of the world to shame the strong.THE THREAD
To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Why do you boast in harm, O mighty man? The faithful love of God endures all the day.Psalm 52:1 uses the same root גבר (g-b-r; gābar, to prevail or be mighty) in גִּבּוֹר (gibbōr, mighty man). It places the mighty man beside mischief and boasting, showing that strength names a capacity while the surrounding words reveal its direction.
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