The Targum of pseudo-Jonathan (to Gen. x. 11), however, presents Nimrod the cause of Ashur leaving Babel before the building of the tower, to establish Assyria, where he built four other cities, namely, Nineveh, Rehobot, Calah, and Resen (comp. Naḥmanides ad loc.). This exegesis may relate to the two Nimrods of Arabic tradition.
According to another account, when Nimrod was eighteen years old, war broke out between his Hamite kinsmen, the [[פתרסים|Pathrusites]], and the Japhethite [[דדנים|Dodanim]]. The latter were at first victorious placing Ashur in charge of Cana'an, but Nimrod, at the head of a small army of invaders from Casluh, attacked and defeated them and forced Ashur east of the Euphrates out of Canaan. After this he was made king over all the people on earth, appointing Terah his minister. It was then, elated by so much glory, that Nimrod changed his behavior toward Yhwh and became the most flagrant idolater.
