# How many people did God create? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2001, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495 "2001-11-27T13:59:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![royjwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@royjwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/royjwood)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/21 "2001-11-27T15:48:21Z")
The name Nephilim was not actually used in the original languages of the Bible. Somebody added it later. They were originally referred to essentially as “the fallen ones”, the Authorized Bible (KJV) referes to them as giants. The Nephilim, angels, and Satan and his demons were all created by God as well, but are not people. Therefore, not part of the question. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/22 "2001-11-27T16:02:51Z")
nephilim (Gen. 6:4; Num. 13:33, R.V.), giants, the Hebrew word left untranslated by the Revisers, the name of one of the Canaanitish tribes. The Revisers have, however, translated the Hebrew gibborim, in Gen. 6:4, “mighty men.” Source: Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/23 "2001-11-27T16:11:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*In Hebrew and Gnostic literature Lilith is the first wife of Adam. \ She is referred to in Isaiah 34:14-15 in some translations of the Bible. \*\* Isaiah 34:14-15 in the NIV Bible (emphasis mine): > [@](#): > > Desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and wild goats will bleat to each other; there the **night creatures** will also repose and find for themselves places of rest. The owl will nest there and lay eggs, she will hatch them, and care for her young under the shadow of her wings; there also the falcons will gather, each with its mate. In the Darby Translation: > [@](#): > > And there shall the beasts of the desert meet with the jackals, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; the **lilith** also shall settle there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the arrow-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there also shall the vultures be gathered one with another. The passage seems to be refering to “night creatures” as _lilith_ as opposed to a person… Do you have any cites for the first part of your statement? Gp ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/24 "2001-11-27T16:21:00Z")
[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/Lilith](http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/Lilith) contains a discussion of the ways this passage has been translated viz. Lilith vs. “nightcreatures.” As an aside, this amplifies one of my biggest concerns with citing the Bible as anything but a work of literature - it has been revised, translated, and appropriated by every person, sect, group, cult and wacko that has ever dealt with it. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/25 "2001-11-28T08:54:33Z")
Thank you - very interesting indeed… As an aside, just because the Bible has been mis-translated and mis-used by many, does not **exclude** it from containing the Truth. Gp ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/26 "2001-11-28T10:49:08Z")
To the OP: First was Adam & Eve. They had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel in Gen 4:8. Cain realizes he has screwed up royally, and leaves Eden, travelling to the land of Nod to the east. Gen 4:16 We are then given this interesting tidbit of info: Gen 4:17 **"And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."** Keep in mind that Adam & Eve are STILL man & wife, and did NOT follow Cain to Nod. So armed with this knowledge, we can safely assume that there were other people on earth at the time. The reason for the story involving Adam & Eve, is because they were the original sinners, not the rest of the population. Where better to begin a great story? Think of the bible as a history book: When you read about the Revolutionary war, you are told the story of the main characters, George Washington & Co., not the details of every individual soldier. ---
**Author:** ![SlickUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@SlickUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickUSA)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/27 "2001-11-28T12:59:13Z")
So it is safe to assume then the GOd created many people out of dust? Not just A&E? ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/28 "2001-11-28T13:54:53Z")
From the biblical sense, yes. God created many people out of dust, they were just not pertinent to history until Cain needed a wife. From the evolution stance, Adam & Eve are the first (widely written) recorded history figures. I expect whoever wrote Genesis was a direct decendent of A&E. Either way, they were the stories that had been handed down, generation by generation, until it was written by a family member. (I am having a brain spasm, and I can’t remember for the life of me who wrote Genesis at the moment) ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/29 "2001-11-28T13:57:20Z")
“the Truth” With a CAPITAL T, no less. ---
**Author:** ![abuse\_angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@abuse\_angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abuse_angel)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/30 "2001-11-28T14:14:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by grimpixie \* > \*\* > As an aside, just because the Bible has been mis-translated and mis-used by many, does not **exclude** it from containing the Truth. > > Gp \*\* no, but it makes it a heck of a lot less certain, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/31 "2001-11-28T14:22:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by abuse angel \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by grimpixie \* > > \*\* > > As an aside, just because the Bible has been mis-translated and mis-used by many, does not **exclude** it from containing the Truth. > > > > Gp \*\* > > no, but it makes it a heck of a lot less certain, doesn’t it? \*\* Not to pick a fight, but that is a ridiculous statement on several levels. 1. The stories were written quite a while back, AFTER they had been passed down generation by generation, so naturally there are going to be some fuzzy details. That is where the word “faith” comes in. You either have it or you don’t. 2. The media constantly mis-translate and mis-use facts, but that does not mean they don’t contain some truth. 3. Hi Opal! ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/32 "2001-11-28T14:22:56Z")
My point exactly. The fact that it was based on an oral tradition, translated, re-translated, edited, re-re-translated, re-re-edited, etc. etc. etc. leads me to the conclusion that contains just as many falsehoods as it does true statements. That, I suppose, is where blind faith comes in to play. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/33 "2001-11-28T14:27:39Z")
Yes, but so what? True, there are the Jack Chick’s of the world who take it to the extreme, but they are in the minority, and will most likely be on the first train to hell during the rapture. But for the people who have faith, it gives them comfort, maybe even to live a better life. What is wrong with that? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/34 "2001-11-28T14:39:27Z")
I re-reading my posts I don’t see where I said there was anything wrong with having faith. If that’s what gets you through life, great. The fact that humans (notoriously sloppy, opinionated, biased, and flawed creatures) had anything to do with actually writing the thing makes it suspect. Besides, I have it on good authority that God mumbles and has loose fitting dentures. That makes it hard to understand him sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![BurglarGenie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BurglarGenie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurglarGenie)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/35 "2001-11-28T16:26:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by royjwood \* > \*\*You asked Biblically, the Bible actually only records the names of two people created by God. > Personal opinions however, usually lend to the simple concept THAT > > 1. if God can create Adam and Eve as recorded in the Bible, > 2. The Bible records in Ch 4 that Cain appeals to God that other people wil kill him, > 3. The Bible records only the birth of Cain, Able, and Seth, > 4. In Gen 4, the Bible records that Cain dwelt in the land of Nod, on the East of Eden. It was there that Cain met his wife. > 5. The Bible does not record Adam and Eve having any daughters > THAN it only makes sense that God also created these other peoples. > Therefore, incest is specifically ruled out. > However, again, the Bible only specifically records the creation of Adam and Eve. > I hope that this helps, at least a little bit. \*\* Actually, your fifth pont is incorrect. The Bible does record Adam and Eve (or at least Adam) having other “sons and daughters” in Genesis 5:4. It has always been explained to me that Adam and Eve had Cain, Abel, Seth and other sons and daughters. Cain didn’t kill Abel until the “process of time” (Gen. 4:3) allowed Cain and Abel to grow up enough to be tiller of the soil and keeper of the flock (probably at least teenagers). Cain then flees. Seth is born. Other sons and daughters are born. One of these other daughters later becomes Cain’s wife. (25 year age difference can’t be that big of a deal if you’re life expectancy is in the hundreds of years.) The in-breeding question become more interesting to me a few generations later with Noah’s family being the only humans left to “replenish the earth.” ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/36 "2001-11-28T17:04:30Z")
According to Genesis, The other siblings were not born until several years after Cain met his wife in Nod. We also find out later on that it is a sin (Lev 18:9) to uncover a siblings nakedness,and that incest is a mortal sin, thus it is doubtful God would have interbreeding amongst family. So we can still safely say that there were other people. ---
**Author:** ![SlickUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@SlickUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickUSA)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/37 "2001-11-28T17:09:22Z")
Is there one definitive answer as to how many people were created from the dust? Or is this something that is being researched by the scholars in the Vatican? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/38 "2001-11-28T17:44:42Z")
A definitive answer to a question concerning Biblical mythology is impossible. You may as well ask how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. ---
**Author:** ![abuse\_angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@abuse\_angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abuse_angel)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/39 "2001-11-28T17:57:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jcmckaig \* > \*\*Not to pick a fight, but that is a ridiculous statement on several levels. > > 1. The stories were written quite a while back, AFTER they had been passed down generation by generation, so naturally there are going to be some fuzzy details. That is where the word “faith” comes in. You either have it or you don’t. so have faith. i’m not questioning whether god exists or anything else based on faith. just saying that in with that TRUTH is some falsehood created by the mis-translations, etc. do you claim that there is not? > [@](#): > > \*\* > 2) The media constantly mis-translate and mis-use facts, but that does not mean they don’t contain some truth. > \*\* but it _does_ mean that they contain some untruth. that’s what i said, and that’s all i said. sorry for the hijack, y’all. ---
**Author:** ![whatever1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@whatever1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatever1)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495/40 "2001-11-28T20:01:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jcmckaig \* > \*\*According to Genesis, The other siblings were not born until several years after Cain met his wife in Nod. We also find out later on that it is a sin (Lev 18:9) to uncover a siblings nakedness,and that incest is a mortal sin, thus it is doubtful God would have interbreeding amongst family. So we can still safely say that there were other people. \*\* There is incest now and god isn’t stopping that.That doesn’t disprove the idea [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-did-god-create/95495.md?page=3)