The world population in Abraham’s day

Originally posted on December 03, 2025 – by Andre Piet

When we enter the period of the patriarchs — the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — we encounter in Genesis a world of cities, nations, and kings. But how large was humanity at that time, really? Especially when we consider that the flood had taken place not even five centuries earlier, and mankind had restarted from just eight souls.

Elsewhere on this website it is explained that Abraham’s birth occurred approximately 2000 years before Christ, which is roughly 350 years after the flood. With that timeline in mind, we can closely approximate the population size in Abraham’s day.

a new humanity from eight souls

After the flood, humanity begins with three fertile couples: Shem, Ham, and Japheth with their wives. Genesis 10 lists their sons and concludes with the statement that from them the nations of the earth came forth after the flood (Genesis 10:32). The chapter sketches a humanity that spreads rapidly and widely across the earth.

And that makes perfect sense. Genesis 11 mentions that people in that time had long lifespans, meaning multiple generations lived alongside each other for centuries, and population growth was not hindered by early death. Moreover, families typically had many children: Genesis mostly names the sons, but this suggests that behind the list of names many more children were born. The earth needed to be repopulated; the world lay open to Noah’s descendants. Along with this came the divine command to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 9:1). In such a situation—long lifespans, large families, an empty world, and a clear mandate—a rapid growth of humanity is entirely logical.

It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the population expanded rapidly in the first centuries after the flood.

a sober calculation

How many people could one expect after about 350 years of growth from a starting point of eight individuals?

There is no need to use complicated models. When the population doubles on average every 35 to 40 years — a cautious estimate for an early humanity in which large families were the norm — one quickly arrives at tens of thousands of people. A slow doubling time of forty years leads to a global population of about thirty thousand people; a slightly faster growth, with a doubling time of 35 years, results in around eighty thousand people.

If the growth proceeds a bit faster still, for example a doubling every 25 to 30 years, the population easily rises to several hundreds of thousands. Such growth rates are by no means exceptional. Even in recent decades we have seen population growth of 2 to 3 percent per year in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, which likewise corresponds to a doubling within 25 to 35 years. And that without the long lifespans and strong family structures assumed in Genesis 11. What already occurs demographically in our time is therefore not at all remarkable under the conditions of early humanity.

does this align with the biblical picture?

When Abram is born — about 350 years after the flood — Genesis presents a world that is in full development. There are cities such as Ur and Haran, and a little farther on, Sodom and Gomorrah. The nations have spread since Babel, and there are regional kings and urban centers of power, as described in Genesis 14. This does not presuppose an immense world population, but it does indicate a solid foundation. A growth from several tens of thousands to possibly hundreds of thousands of people fits perfectly with the biblical picture of that period.

In the centuries following Abraham’s calling, that picture only becomes clearer. The world is taking shape. New cities arise, nations develop, and governmental structures begin to take form, though still relatively small. Genesis describes precisely such an emerging world: a humanity that has only just begun, but already has enough size and diversity to support the developments being described.

conclusion

When Abraham enters the scene — around 2000 B.C., about 350 years after the flood — humanity had in all likelihood grown to many tens of thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands of people. That is more than sufficient to account for the table of nations in Genesis 10, the cities of Genesis 11–14, and the political structures of Abraham’s day. The biblical chronology and the demographic reality align seamlessly and form a coherent whole.

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