Are DINOSAURS
in the Bible?

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Question: Are dinosaurs in the Bible? Were they killed by Noah's flood? How long did humans live before and after it?

Answer: The fossil record indicates that organisms existing thousands of years ago (pre-flood) grew large. Examples of these are, of course, dinosaurs, giant cave bears, giant sloths, giant dire wolves, etc. From a biological point of view many reptiles also have the unusual proclivity of getting larger as they age.

Dinosaurs are simply large reptiles that have lived a long time. These reptiles existed before the flood and to a lesser extent after the flood. The Biblical record and fossil record indicate that the present planetary ecosystem is incapable of producing and supporting large bodied reptiles and mammals. The Bible states that not only would mankind be destroyed but also the earth was to be wrecked (Genesis 6:13). Apparently, before the flood destroyed the antediluvian ecosystem, the earth could produce large bodied long living reptiles which we have called dinosaurs (the word means "fearful lizards").

Relative size of the biggest known dinosaurs compared to man

Regarding your second question, the scriptures indicate that humans lived a long time in the world before and immediately after the flood. Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5), Noah live 950 years (Genesis 9:29) and many other long life spans are indicated in Genesis. Note especially the genealogies in Genesis 4 and 5. Life spans declined after the flood. as the below chart of some examples shows:

The average life span before the flood (ten generations) was 857 years. After the flood, however, the average life span (for the ten generations from Shem to Abraham) was less than half of what it was before the deluge! For details on the length of life for several Biblical patriarchs please see our chart showing the difference life spans before and after Noah's flood.