Population Growth After the Deluge

The Bible says that only eight humans survived the Deluge of Noah’s day. Some demographers speculate that by about 1,400 years later, the earth’s population may have reached 50 million. Is an increase from 8 persons to about 50 million in 1,400 years out of the question?

First of all, the estimate of 50 million is just that​—an estimate. However, it is interesting to note what is stated in the Bible at Genesis 9:1: “God went on to bless Noah and his sons and to say to them: ‘Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.’” Then, in chapters 10 and 11, we read of 70 families that descended from Noah’s sons​—Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Reading on, we come to the genealogy of men from Shem to Abraham, who ‘became fathers to sons and daughters.’ This may have been a time of high fertility, consistent with God’s command to “fill the earth.”

What about the mortality rate? The same chapters of Genesis describe man’s extremely long life span during the first several hundred years after the Deluge.a When a high birthrate is coupled with a low mortality rate, the result is rapid population growth.