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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume II

Book Fifteen — the multiplication of mankind after the flood

{Out of that land went forth Assur, and built Niniue, and the streets of the city, and Chale: Resen also between Niniue and Chale: this is the great city.}

LatineEnglish

{Out of that land went forth Assur, and built Niniue, and the streets of the city, and Chale: Resen also between Niniue and Chale: this is the great city.}1

De terra illa egressus est Assur, et aedificavit Niniven et plateas civitatis, et Chale: Resen quoque inter Niniven et Chale: haec est civitas magna.

QUOD hic dictum est, inquit Augustinus, „de terra illa,“ id est, de terra Sennaar quae pertinebat ad regnum Nemrod, „exisse Assur et aedificasse Niniven et alias civitates hic memoratas,“ longe postea factum est: sed ex occasione hic perstringitur, propter nobilitatem regni Assyriorum, quod mirabiliter dilatatum est. Ninus Beli filius conditor Niniue, civitatis magnae, cuius civitatis nomen ex illius nomine derivatum est, ut a Nino Niniue diceretur. Assur autem unde…
What is here said, says Augustine — „out of that land,“ that is, out of the land of Sennaar which belonged to the kingdom of Nemrod, „Assur went forth and built Niniue and the other cities here mentioned“ — was done long afterward: but it is touched on here in passing, on account of the renown of the kingdom of the Assyrians, which was marvelously enlarged. Ninus the son of Belus was the founder of Niniue, a great city, whose name was derived from his own, so that from Ninus it should be called Niniue. But Assur, whence…2
…unde Assyrii, non fuit ex filiis Cham medii filii Noë, sed ex filiis Sem, qui fuit maximus Noë filius. Unde apparet ex progenie Sem exortos fuisse qui postea regnum gigantis illius Nemrod obtinerent, et inde procederent, atque alias conderent civitates, quarum prima est a Nino appellata Niniue. Sic Augustinus.
…whence the Assyrians, was not of the sons of Cham, the middle son of Noah, but of the sons of Shem, who was the greatest son of Noah. Whence it appears that from the progeny of Shem there arose those who afterward obtained the kingdom of that giant Nemrod, and proceeded thence, and founded other cities, of which the first was called by Ninus Niniue. So far Augustine.3
CAIETANUS putat, cum proxime ante dictum esset Nemrod in terra Sennaar regnasse, nunc subiungi ex eadem terra prodiisse Assur secundum filium ipsius Sem, qui etiam in terra Assyriorum regnavit, et conditor fuit Niniue civitatis, sicut Nemrod Babylonis; ut hinc appareat quando fuerit, et a quibus profecta sit origo duarum totius orbis antiquissimarum et maximarum civitatum, Babylonis et Niniue: simulque primordia Babylonici et Assyriaci imperii innotescant.
Cajetan thinks that, since it had just before been said that Nemrod reigned in the land of Sennaar, now it is subjoined that out of the same land went forth Assur, the second son of Shem himself, who also reigned in the land of the Assyrians and was the founder of the city Niniue, just as Nemrod of Babylon; so that hence it may appear when, and from whom, proceeded the origin of the two most ancient and greatest cities of the whole world, Babylon and Niniue; and at the same time the beginnings of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires may become known.4
DE terra illa egressus est Assur. Terra intellige Sennaar, quam fuisse regum et imperiorum matrem ex hoc loco perspicitur: ex ea namque et Nemrod fuit, princeps regni Babylonici, et Assur, auctor gentis et principatus Assyriorum. Illud „Egressus est“ indicat secundum Augustinum Assur vel eius posteros obtinuisse primo regnum Nemrod quod erat in terra Sennaar, et inde processisse ad alias terras et gentes obtinendas, quarum prima fuit ea quae ab ipso Assur dicta est Assyria, uno gradu magis septentrionalis quam Babylonia, ut tradit Ptolomeus libro sexto Geographiae. At vero secundum alios propterea discessit Assur ex terra Sennaar, quod discors esset ipsi Nemrod propter eius pravum ingenium, mores et facta. Illud porro vocabulum (Assur) tres videtur habere significationes. Etenim nonnunquam est nomen proprium secundi filii Sem, qui Assur appellatus est in capite Geneseos decimo. Significat etiam regem Assyriorum, qui frequenter in scriptura nominatur rex Assur, vel praecise Assur. Significat praeterea vel gentem, vel imperium, vel regionem Assyriorum, sic enim id nominis quidam hoc loco interpretati sunt.
{Out of that land went forth Assur.} By ‘land’ understand Sennaar, which is seen from this place to have been the mother of kings and empires: for from it was both Nemrod, prince of the Babylonian kingdom, and Assur, author of the nation and principality of the Assyrians. That word ‘went forth’ indicates, according to Augustine, that Assur or his descendants first obtained Nemrod's kingdom, which was in the land of Sennaar, and proceeded thence to obtain other lands and nations, of which the first was that which from Assur himself was called Assyria, one degree more northerly than Babylonia, as Ptolemy hands down in the sixth book of the Geography. But according to others, Assur departed from the land of Sennaar because he was at variance with Nemrod, on account of his depraved disposition, manners, and deeds. That word (Assur), moreover, seems to have three significations. For sometimes it is the proper name of the second son of Shem, who was called Assur in the tenth chapter of Genesis. It also signifies the king of the Assyrians, who is frequently named in Scripture ‘king Assur,’ or simply ‘Assur.’ It signifies besides either the nation, or the empire, or the region of the Assyrians, for so some have interpreted the word in this place.5
SEQUITUR: Et aedificavit Niniven, haec est civitas magna. Divina scriptura appellat Niniue, sed Herodotus, Strabo, Plinius Ninum, Diodorus vero Ninam. Significatur igitur Assur primum fuisse eius urbis conditorem. Et quia fere omnes conditorem huius urbis celebrant Ninum regem, ex eo nonnulli argumentantur eundem fuisse Ninum atque eum qui hoc loco nominatur Assur. Verum de hoc paulo infra dicturi sumus. Merito autem Niniue et hic et apud Ionam prophetam appellatur Civitas magna. Si enim magnitudinem eius aestimare velis ex prima origine, cum fuit a Nino aedificata, reperies totius orbis eam fuisse maximam, ut nec ante nec post habuerit parem. Ambitus enim urbis erat quadringentorum octoginta stadiorum, id est, sexaginta mille passuum: altitudo murorum erat pedum centum: latitudo qua tres currus simul incederent: turres centum quinquaginta, singulae altitudinis ducentorum pedum. Sic Diodorus libro tertio: cui attestatur Strabo libro decimo sexto, affirmans eam Babylone fuisse maiorem.
There follows: {And he built Niniue, this is the great city.} The divine Scripture calls it Niniue, but Herodotus, Strabo, and Pliny call it Ninus, and Diodorus Nina. It is signified, then, that Assur was the first founder of that city. And because almost all celebrate king Ninus as the founder of this city, some argue from this that Ninus was the same as the one here named Assur. But of this we shall speak a little below. Rightly, moreover, is Niniue both here and in the prophet Jonah called ‘the great city.’ For if you wish to estimate its magnitude from its first origin, when it was built by Ninus, you will find it to have been the greatest in the whole world, so that it had no equal before or after. For the circuit of the city was 480 stadia, that is, 60 miles; the height of the walls was 100 feet; the breadth such that three chariots could go abreast; the towers 150, each 200 feet in height. So Diodorus in the third book; to whom Strabo testifies in the sixteenth book, affirming it was greater than Babylon.6
SED in eo lapsus videtur Diodorus, quod Ninum urbem supra Euphratem statuit, cum ea imposita fuerit Tigri fluvio, ut ex libro Tobiae et libro primo Herodoti licet intelligere. Quocirca Plinius: „fuit,“ inquit, „Ninus imposita Tigri, ad solis occasum spectans, urbs quondam clarissima.“
But in this Diodorus seems to have erred, that he placed the city Ninus upon the Euphrates, whereas it was set upon the river Tigris, as may be understood from the book of Tobias and the first book of Herodotus. Wherefore Pliny: „Ninus,“ he says, „was set upon the Tigris, looking toward the setting of the sun, a city once most renowned.“7
IAM vero si magnitudinem eius urbis prout erat tempore Ionae prophetae, id est, plus mille ducentis annis postquam a Nino fuerat condita, aestimare libet, invenies tantam fuisse eius intra moenia amplitudinem, ut tota vicatim obiri et lustrari non minus triduo posset, quamobrem dicitur civitas apud Ionam itineris trium dierum. Frequentia vero habitatorum tanta fuit, ut in ea essent centum et viginti millia infantium qui nondum per aetatem ratione uterentur: qui numerus comparatione universi populi vix quintam partem obtinet, ut ex eo intelligere liceat plus sexcenta millia habitatorum fuisse id temporis in illa urbe. Accessit ad eius urbis magnificentiam quod longissimo tempore, id est, per annos amplius mille trecentos, caput fuerit imperii Assyriorum. Merito igitur, ut dixi, et hic et alibi nominatur in sacris literis Civitas magna.
Now if it please to estimate the magnitude of that city as it was in the time of the prophet Jonah — that is, more than twelve hundred years after it had been founded by Ninus — you will find its extent within the walls to have been so great that the whole could not be gone through and surveyed, street by street, in less than three days; wherefore it is called in Jonah ‘a city of three days' journey.’ And the throng of inhabitants was so great that in it there were 120,000 infants who did not yet through age use reason: which number, in comparison with the whole population, scarcely amounts to a fifth part, so that from it one may understand there were more than 600,000 inhabitants at that time in that city. There was added to the magnificence of that city that for a very long time — that is, for more than 1,300 years — it was the head of the Assyrian empire. Rightly, then, as I said, both here and elsewhere it is named in the sacred letters ‘the great city.’8
PRO illo quod sequitur: „Et plateas Civitatis,“ Hebraice est rehoboth, quae vox potest esse vel nomen appellativum significans plateas a verbo rachab, quod significat dilatare, et sic accepit hoc loco Beatus Hieronymus. „Non putemus,“ inquit, „illud Niniue et Rehoboth duas esse urbes, sed quia Rehoboth plateae interpretantur, ita legendum est: Et aedificavit Niniven et plateas civitatis: quasi id adiectum fuerit ad significandam amplitudinem huius urbis, quae multas et magnas habuerit plateas.“ Potest etiam ea vox accipi ut nomen proprium urbis quae sic appellaretur, et hoc modo eam vocem exposuerunt Septuaginta Interpretes hoc loco, quemadmodum et ipsemet Hieronymus in libro de locis Hebraicis. Quae autem hic appellatur Chale, Hebraice est Chalach, sic habent Septuaginta Interpretes hic, et Hieronymus de locis Hebraicis. Strabo in exordio libri decimi sexti Chalachenam nominat ut vicinam civitati Niniue. Pro vocabulo „Resen,“ Septuaginta habent „Dase,“ et sic legit Augustinus.
For what follows, ‘And the streets of the city,’ in Hebrew it is rehoboth, which word can be either a common noun signifying ‘streets,’ from the verb rachab, which means ‘to widen,’ and so Blessed Jerome took it in this place. „Let us not think,“ he says, „that Niniue and Rehoboth are two cities; but because Rehoboth is interpreted ‘streets,’ it must be read thus: And he built Niniue and the streets of the city — as if this were added to signify the extent of this city, which had many and great streets.“ That word can also be taken as the proper name of a city which would be so called, and in this way the Septuagint translators expounded the word in this place, as also Jerome himself in his book On the Hebrew Places. What is here called Chale, in Hebrew is Chalach, so the Septuagint translators have it here, and Jerome On the Hebrew Places. Strabo, at the opening of the sixteenth book, names Chalachene as neighboring the city Niniue. For the word ‘Resen,’ the Septuagint have ‘Dase,’ and so Augustine reads.9

Translator’s notes

  1. Gen 10:11 (verse lemma). ↩
  2. §75. Augustine on Gen 10:11: ‘Assur went out of that land’ (Sennaar, Nemrod's realm) and built Nineveh — done long after, mentioned here for the renown of the Assyrian kingdom. Nineveh founded by Ninus son of Belus, named after him. But ‘Assur,’ whence the Assyrians… (continues p. 431). Margin: Augustine, City of God bk. 16 ch. 3. ↩
  3. §75 (concl.). Augustine: Assur (whence the Assyrians) was not of Cham but of Shem, the eldest son of Noah; from Shem's line arose those who later took over Nemrod's kingdom and founded other cities, the first being Nineveh, named by Ninus. ↩
  4. §75 (cont.). Cajetan: the text means Assur, second son of Shem, went out of Sennaar and founded Nineveh just as Nemrod founded Babylon — showing the origin of the world's two greatest, most ancient cities and the beginnings of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. Margin: Cajetan. ↩
  5. §76. ‘Out of that land went forth Assur’: the land = Sennaar, mother of kings/empires (both Nemrod and Assur came from it). ‘Went forth’ (Augustine): Assur/his line first held Nemrod's realm, then took other lands, first Assyria (one degree north of Babylonia, Ptolemy, Geography bk. 6); others: Assur left because at odds with the depraved Nemrod. Three senses of ‘Assur’: (1) the proper name of Shem's second son (Gen 10); (2) the king of the Assyrians (‘king Assur’); (3) the nation/empire/region of the Assyrians. Margin: Ptolemy; three significations of the word ‘Assur.’ ↩
  6. §77. ‘And he built Niniue, this is the great city.’ Scripture: Niniue; Herodotus/Strabo/Pliny: Ninus; Diodorus: Nina. Assur its first founder; since most credit king Ninus, some equate Ninus with Assur (treated below). Rightly ‘the great city’ (also in Jonah): when built by Ninus the world's largest — circuit 480 stadia (60 mi), walls 100 ft high (three chariots abreast), 150 towers each 200 ft (Diodorus bk. 3; Strabo bk. 16: greater than Babylon). Margins: Herodotus; Pliny; Strabo; Diodorus; how Nineveh's size is to be estimated. ↩
  7. §77 (concl.). Diodorus erred in placing Nineveh on the Euphrates; it stood on the Tigris (Tobit; Herodotus bk. 1). Pliny: Nineveh stood on the Tigris, facing west, once a most famous city. Margins: Diodorus's slip; Tobit 6; Pliny bk. 6 ch. 13. ↩
  8. §78. Nineveh in Jonah's time (1200+ yrs after Ninus): so large it took three days to traverse (‘a city of three days' journey’); 120,000 infants without reason ≈ a fifth, implying 600,000+ inhabitants; capital of Assyria for 1,300+ yrs — rightly ‘the great city.’ ↩
  9. §78 (cont.). The other names: ‘streets of the city’ = Heb. rehoboth (from rachab, ‘to widen’) — Jerome: not a second city but ‘streets,’ marking Nineveh's extent; or a proper place-name (LXX, Jerome On Hebrew Places). ‘Chale’ = Heb. Chalach (LXX, Jerome); Strabo (bk. 16) names Chalachene near Nineveh. ‘Resen’: LXX ‘Dase,’ followed by Augustine. Margin: Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis. ↩