He is depicted in the Bible as a man of power and a mighty hunter.
And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof:
thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian,
when he cometh into our land,
and when he treadeth within our borders.
Book of Micah 5:6
Extra-biblical traditions associating him with the Tower of Babel led to his reputation as a king who was rebellious against God.
...A number of attempts to connect him with historical figures have been made.
"a mighty one on the earth" and "a mighty hunter before God".
...Judaic interpreters as early as Philo and Yochanan ben Zakai (1st century AD) interpreted "a mighty hunter before the Lord" (Heb. : לפני יהוה, lit. "in the face of the Lord") as signifying "in opposition to the Lord"; a similar interpretation is found in Pseudo-Philo, as well as later in Symmachus. Some rabbinic commentators have also connected the name Nimrod with a Hebrew word meaning 'rebel'.
Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront
and contempt of God.
...a bold man, and of great strength of hand.
He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God,
...but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness.
Josephus
The Book of Jubilees mentions the name of "Nebrod" (the Greek form of Nimrod) only as being the father of Azurad, the wife of Eber and mother of Peleg (8:7). This account would thus make him an ancestor of Abraham, and hence of all Hebrews."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod
