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It is proposed to read this term as Nipru, or in the feminine Niprut, a word which cannot fail to recall the Scriptural Nimrod, who is in the Septuagint Nebroth. The term nipru seems to be formed from the root napar, which is in Syriac to "pursue," to "make to flee," and which has in Assyrian nearly the same meaning.
In his own nation he seems to have been deified, and to have continued down to the latest times one of the leading objects of worship, under the title of Bilu-Nipru or Bel-Nimrod, which may be translated "the god of the chase," or "the great hunter." In the modern Niffer we may recognize the Talmudical Nopher, and the Assyrian Nipur which is Nipru, with a mere metathesis of the two final letters.
But the Maya designates her as the companion of Ana; TA, with; Anata with Ana. seems to mean merely Lord. His epithets are the supreme, the father of the gods, the procreator. The Maya gives us BIL, or Bel; the way, the road; hence the origin, the father, the procreator. Also ENA, who is before; again the father, the procreator. As to the qualificative adjunct nipru.
But, as there is every reason to believe that the term belongs to the Hamitic Babylonian, it is in vain to have recourse to Arian or Semitic tongues for its derivation. Most likely the word is a descriptive epithet, originally attached to the name Bel, in the same way as Nipru, but ultimately usurping its place and coming to be regarded as the proper name of the deity.
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