Tag: Nimrod

Genesis 11 mentions Shinar, and it’s the second time we see it in the Scriptures. The first was in the previous chapter. Nimrod built great empires in the land of Shinar.

The writers want you to see something that isn’t plainly obvious in this story. It’s subtle.

The [a] footnote tells us that this is Babylonia.

Babylonia is Nimrod’s Empire:

Babylonia is the region that housed the great city of Babylon. This isn’t obvious in the text yet, but the translators want to preserve this understanding for you later. This would be the place that the Jews lived during the Babylonian exile.

Babylon is linked to wickedness, captivity, and darkness. It’s the place where Israel was held captive for about 70 years, and it was perhaps during this time that the Jewish sages began refining/organizing their scriptures.

One thing that stands out is how much anti-Babylonian messaging show up in the newly articulated scriptures, starting with “Shinar.”

The meaning of “Shinar” is unclear. It might mean “two Rivers,” or “the land between two rivers,” perhaps referring to the Tigris and Euphrates.

However, the root of Shinar is שער (s’r), which is associated with violence in various forms:

Noun שער (sa’r), means horror.
Verb שער (sa’ar) means to sweep or whirl away, like a storm.
Verb שער (sha’ar) means to break
Adjective שער (sho’ar) means horrid or disgusting

The sages of the Midrash include even more thoughts on this, saying that “Shinar” sounds like “she’ein ne’or,” which means “no one is awake” at night because they have no candles (Midrash HaMevo’ar)

It is a place of darkness.

Later, when Shinar is introduced to us again in Genesis 14, we’ll meet Amraphel, the King of Shinar.

Amraphel means “Speaker of Darkness.”

Shinar is the bad place.