EXTRA side-ring · not on main TT sequence
Parashas Noach · Nimrod · Passuk 10:9
He was a mighty hunter before Hashem; therefore it is said: “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Hashem.”
Rashi (from midrash) — “before Hashem” as defiance; trapping people with words.
English: “A mighty hunter before Hashem” — he trapped the minds of people with his speech and led them to rebel against the Omnipresent.
Custom (re-reading “hunter before Hashem” as ideological hunter).
Nimrod’s hunting was the capture of public opinion for rebellion; the phrase became a proverb for arrogant defiance.