Ch 10 and Ch 11 Order
They were divided by languages: everyone after his tongue. This phrase shows that chapter 10 was written after the dispersion of Genesis 11, since that is when the confusion of tongues occurred. (210)
Nimrod Kingdom Against God
According to rabbinic tradition, Nimrod began to display man’s power over the wild animals by hunting them and capturing them, and Nimrod began to stir up the revolt against God, which resulted in the Tower of Babel judgment. Verse 9 deals with Nimrod’s relationship to God: He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah. The terminology implies antagonism; antagonism against and in opposition to God. (213)
Other Biblical Book on Nimrod Kingdom He began to be a mighty one in the earth, restated in I Chronicles 1:10. (213)
The Jerusalem Targums translates Genesis 10:8b-9
He was powerful in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord, for he was a hunter of the sons of men, as he said to them, “Depart from the judgment of the Lord and hear the judgment of Nimrod.” Therefore, it is said, as Nimrod the strong one, strong in hunting, and wickedness before the Lord. (213)
Nimrod Kindgom and Babylon and Assyria
Genesis 10:10-12 presents the picture of Nimrod as the empire builder, and this happened in two stages. The first stage is in verse 10 regarding his kingdom in the land of Shinar: And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar, which is Babylonia. The author mentions the building of four cities. Babel is Babylon on the Euphrates, thus planting the seeds of the future Babylonian Captivity. Erech, the Babylonian and Akkadian Uruk, was situated about one hundred miles southeast of Babylon. This was the home of Gilgamesh of Babylonian mythology, who today is known as Warka. Accad, or Akkad, was well known from many ancient inscriptions to be located north of Babylon on the Euphrates. The exact location of Calneh is unknown. Then in 10:11-12 came the second stage, in the land of Assyria: Out of that land he went forth into Assyria. The phrase out of that land means from Babylonia; and Nimrod went into Assyria. The land of Assyria is called the land of Nimrod in Micah 5:6. (213-214)
Nimrod and the Tower The context indicates that Nimrod was the actual leader of the revolt of the Tower of Babel, and it was the confusion of tongues that would have forced Nimrod to go from Babylonia to Assyria. (214)
Kingdom Began and Purpose of Tower
In this case, the city was Babylon, which gives the explanation of the circumstances of 10:10 (and the beginning of his [Nimrod’s] kingdom was Babel…). Second: They wanted to build a tower, with the goal being: whose top may reach unto heaven, or literally, “with its peak in the heavens.” The very name “Babylon” in Hebrew, Babel, means “the gate of God.” The point is that they want to reach out to the heavens.