Predatory dinosaurs before the flood

[mindlight]

The standard Creationist explanation about dinosaurs is that they were mainly wiped out by the flood. If there were dinosaurs after the flood then they were not of the same size ( a reptile grows its entire life - so if it lived hundreds of years in a perfect eco system it would grow large)and it seems clear they did not survive in the post flood world as there are none today. Even the accounts of dragons fade out about 1000 years ago.

My question is this. The account of the flood is followed by an account of Nimrod ( a great hunter). After the time of Nimrod the world could be characterised in terms of hunters and of prey. Human beings started eating meat - something they did not need to do in the pre-flood world to meet their nutritional needs. But it seems clear that some of the dinosaurs destroyed by the flood were carnivores before the flood. So my question is why were their carnivore dinosaurs like T-Rex in a perfect eco system.

Explanations I have been toying with are:

1) The fall broke creation more significantly than previously thought and that while humans were not carnivores before the flood many other animals were. But given the vibrancy and longevity of life before the flood these predators sometimes took on epic proportions.

2) That carnivores were the result of some kind of wicked human or angelic genetic experimentation that was one of the reasons for the flood. Had God not wiped us out would we have been annihilated by the monsters of our own creation anyway?

 

[Halbhh]

Here's my Creationist explanation about dinosaurs:

I believe God created all that is (not only listed things, but every last thing).

And that means God created physics and chemistry too. And they work great. Because they are His design, His creation. Therefore any evolution that happened (however much or little guided, with many or with few interventions) before modern humans would be God's design, if He is the Creator, as I believe.

But dangerous dinosaurs would not have been compatible with villages, woman and children, fields of crops that could be trampled or eaten, farm animals as attractive prey.

Imagine for a minute that powerful predatory dinosaurs were still around 3000 years ago, before we had modern weapons. Would spears and arrows be able to fight off a pack of Velociraptors? Or their larger cousins? Guard against a Pterodactyl snatching sheep and children? No.

God removed them. It appears very much like He removed them -- made most dinosaurs into compost very suddenly -- with a large asteroid.

One that was very literally just the right size.

Not too small -- if that asteroid had been 30% smaller, most dinosaurs would still be around during the days of the first men.

Not too large -- too many good species, necessary and helpful plants and such, would have been destroyed if the asteroid had been 50% bigger...

No, that asteroid that hit Earth was just precisely the right size.

For our sakes.

And it looks convincingly in layers of rock that it hit about 66 million years ago. In that case, we can then see it means time passed between days of creation. So it makes sense to me that the special days Moses saw in the vision from God were each one spaced apart in time from the next.

I don't need convoluted theories to reconcile creation and science. Instead, read the scripture as it is --

and if you do, then

Scripture fits perfectly with the Earth being very old, much older than Adam by far.

We can see an old Earth even in chapter 1 with a literal reading, by realizing that of course time would have passed during verse 1, an unspecified amount of time, before verse 2.

That some unknown amount of time passed during verse 1, as God created the Universe and then Earth -- time passage during this phase -- is just what anyone might expect or think likely that did not have a previous viewpoint to defend. It's even the most straightforward reading of the text.

The scripture could have been revealed to Moses differently (but it was not)... it could have instead been different if God chose and we could imagine a whole different verse 1, not like God did tell Moses, which might read (imagined) "God created the Heavens (Universe) in an instant, like the blink of an eye" if that were the case. But it's not there, not in the text, and we have no reason to add it in or assume it.

 

[edrogati]

The standard Creationist explanation about dinosaurs is that they were mainly wiped out by the flood. If there were dinosaurs after the flood then they were not of the same size ( a reptile grows its entire life - so if it lived hundreds of years in a perfect eco system it would grow large)and it seems clear they did not survive in the post flood world as there are none today. Even the accounts of dragons fade out about 1000 years ago.

My question is this. The account of the flood is followed by an account of Nimrod ( a great hunter). After the time of Nimrod the world could be characterised in terms of hunters and of prey. Human beings started eating meat - something they did not need to do in the pre-flood world to meet their nutritional needs. But it seems clear that some of the dinosaurs destroyed by the flood were carnivores before the flood. So my question is why were their carnivore dinosaurs like T-Rex in a perfect eco system.

Explanations I have been toying with are:

1) The fall broke creation more significantly than previously thought and that while humans were not carnivores before the flood many other animals were. But given the vibrancy and longevity of life before the flood these predators sometimes took on epic proportions.

2) That carnivores were the result of some kind of wicked human or angelic genetic experimentation that was one of the reasons for the flood. Had God not wiped us out would we have been annihilated by the monsters of our own creation anyway?

I believe God created carnivores to be carnivores, not part of some broken creation or genetic experimentation. The number of physiological differences between herbivores and carnivores is significant. The Bible is specific in what changes God made after the Fall and totally remaking the biology of large amounts of creatures isn't mentioned.

 

[mindlight]

Here's my Creationist explanation about dinosaurs:

I believe God created all that is (not only listed things, but every last thing).

And that means God created physics and chemistry too. And they work great. Because they are His design, His creation. Therefore any evolution that happened (however much or little guided, with many or with few interventions) before modern humans would be God's design, if He is the Creator, as I believe.

But dangerous dinosaurs would not have been compatible with villages, woman and children, fields of crops that could be trampled or eaten, farm animals as attractive prey.

Imagine for a minute that powerful predatory dinosaurs were still around 3000 years ago, before we had modern weapons. Would spears and arrows be able to fight off a pack of Velociraptors? Or their larger cousins? Guard against a Pterodactyl snatching sheep and children? No.

God removed them. It appears very much like He removed them -- made most dinosaurs into compost very suddenly -- with a large asteroid.

One that was very literally just the right size.

Not too small -- if that asteroid had been 30% smaller, most dinosaurs would still be around during the days of the first men.

Not too large -- too many good species, necessary and helpful plants and such, would have been destroyed if the asteroid had been 50% bigger...

No, that asteroid that hit Earth was just precisely the right size.

For our sakes.

And it looks convincingly in layers of rock that it hit about 66 million years ago. In that case, we can then see it means time passed between days of creation. So it makes sense to me that the special days Moses saw in the vision from God were each one spaced apart in time from the next.

I don't need convoluted theories to reconcile creation and science. Instead, read the scripture as it is --

and if you do, then

Scripture fits perfectly with the Earth being very old, much older than Adam by far.

We can see an old Earth even in chapter 1 with a literal reading, by realizing that of course time would have passed during verse 1, an unspecified amount of time, before verse 2.

That some unknown amount of time passed during verse 1, as God created the Universe and then Earth -- time passage during this phase -- is just what anyone might expect or think likely that did not have a previous viewpoint to defend. It's even the most straightforward reading of the text.

The scripture could have been revealed to Moses differently (but it was not)... it could have instead been different if God chose and we could imagine a whole different verse 1, not like God did tell Moses, which might read (imagined) "God created the Heavens (Universe) in an instant, like the blink of an eye" if that were the case. But it's not there, not in the text, and we have no reason to add it in or assume it.

A person can be a Creationist and believe in an Old Earth. Adam and Eve are however comparatively recent. But the old earth notion of Creationism fundamentally contradicts the whole view that the geological layers we see today, and by which you date your asteroid strike, were laid by a catastrophic flood.

We do not really know what weaponry and capabilities pre flood humans had as these were destroyed by the flood. Maybe it was a simple as a really smelly plant that no dinosaur could come with 100 meters of being planted around towns. But just as today, if it existed, a T-Rex would pose no real threat to human civilisation I doubt if it did then.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... 6 days of forming and filling. You separate the 2 as if of 2 different accounts but Exodus 20:11 does not:

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day

 

[mindlight]

I believe God created carnivores to be carnivores, not part of some broken creation or genetic experimentation. The number of physiological differences between herbivores and carnivores is significant. The Bible is specific in what changes God made after the Fall and totally remaking the biology of large amounts of creatures isn't mentioned.

Even amongst known carnivores like lions and spiders there are examples of survival on a vegetarian diet (see Little Tyke). I believe that God created a considerable degree of flexibility into his original creatures. IN a perfect eco system this would not have resulted in hunter - prey tendencies but the fall broke creation and then the flood decimated the world that God had created to support creatures on a mainly vegetarian diet. The demonic realm has further reinforced this tendency of the strong to prey on the weak and has broken the harmony that existed in Gods original creation. So this growing tendency to carnivorous diets may in fact be to do with the breakdown of nature and adaptations forced by that. Microevolution if you like.

The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:6

 

[Halbhh]

Of course we have different views of the geology layers, but I think the Exodus 20 verse is very important to look at in a complete way.

Let's do so. (And we need the full meaning, as given by full context, of course)


1 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

---------

I think once you notice the point about the Sabbath (a very important thing for us to consider today even under the New Covenant, that we need time to rest and focus on God), and that the whole point of verse 11 is only about the Sabbath... Then after that you can notice this is regarding the days of creation just like Genesis chapter 1. Not different. We are not told this was 144 hours or 156 hours. See? It's still just as I was pointing to above in post #2, the same days of creation from Genesis 1, and all I laid out in post #2 fits Exodus 20 equally well then, I think you can see. Also, while we are on the subject, I bet we agree that salvation is solely through Christ alone, not by esoteric knowledge about Creation, but by faith in Christ, and only through Him, are we saved. I think you agree on that, but I just want to point out how ultimately unimportant it is in the end what parts you and I get correct as we speculate about small details of creation not told to us in scripture. It's just a discussion, and nothing of true salvation is at stake. The only true way to God, and salvation is through Christ, and there is no way through a version of Creationism vs some other version. This is how we know this discussion is merely academic, and not of great importance. I'd joyfully drop any piece of my speculations on small non-scripture questions about creation in an instant if a better one is revealed to me. These viewpoints are not important in and of themselves, for us.

 

[Dave-W]

We do not really know what weaponry and capabilities pre flood humans had as these were destroyed by the flood.

There is a cave in Africa that looks like an ancient nuke power plant. It was discovered in 1972 by french uranium miners.

Who knows?

 

[edrogati]

Even amongst known carnivores like lions and spiders there are examples of survival on a vegetarian diet (see Little Tyke). I believe that God created a considerable degree of flexibility into his original creatures. IN a perfect eco system this would not have resulted in hunter - prey tendencies but the fall broke creation and then the flood decimated the world that God had created to support creatures on a mainly vegetarian diet. The demonic realm has further reinforced this tendency of the strong to prey on the weak and has broken the harmony that existed in Gods original creation. So this growing tendency to carnivorous diets may in fact be to do with the breakdown of nature and adaptations forced by that. Microevolution if you like.

The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:6

The quote from Isaiah is future tense.

Carnivores may be able to survive on a vegetarian diet, but it is not what their bodies appear to have been designed for. Humans are omnivorous and surviving on a vegetarian diet is very different.

What indication in the past tense do we have that God's instructions around eating plants and animals extended to the animal kingdom?

 

[Sanoy]

After the flood God says to Noah that the animals will fear him, and that they will be included as food. There is a similar parallel in the ANE where the gods cause the animals to be an adversary to mankind. Rather the reverse of what we have in the bible.

"On that day when there is no snake, when there is no scorpion, when there is no hyena, when there is no lion, when there is neither dog nor wolf, when there is thus neither fear nor trembling, man has no rival! " - Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta.

In another text the gods cause the animals to be man's rival.

Nimrod was most likely Ninurta, and the idea of him being a hunter is that he tamed the land for civilization. He did so by defeating many monsters in an epic called the exploits of Ninurta. It is very likely that the epic of hercules comes from this epic. He eventually succeded Enlil as the arbiter of worldly authority.

As far as the angels having a part in dinosaurs, the book of giants claims that the preflood world created monsters and sinned against all nature.

I have no idea what to make of any of it, but that is what the ancient world has to say about the subject.

 

[mindlight]

Of course we have different views of the geology layers, but I think the Exodus 20 verse is very important to look at in a complete way.

Let's do so. (And we need the full meaning, as given by full context, of course)


1 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

---------

I think once you notice the point about the Sabbath (a very important thing for us to consider today even under the New Covenant, that we need time to rest and focus on God), and that the whole point of verse 11 is only about the Sabbath... Then after that you can notice this is regarding the days of creation just like Genesis chapter 1. Not different. We are not told this was 144 hours or 156 hours. See? It's still just as I was pointing to above in post #2, the same days of creation from Genesis 1, and all I laid out in post #2 fits Exodus 20 equally well then, I think you can see. Also, while we are on the subject, I bet we agree that salvation is solely through Christ alone, not by esoteric knowledge about Creation, but by faith in Christ, and only through Him, are we saved. I think you agree on that, but I just want to point out how ultimately unimportant it is in the end what parts you and I get correct as we speculate about small details of creation not told to us in scripture. It's just a discussion, and nothing of true salvation is at stake. The only true way to God, and salvation is through Christ, and there is no way through a version of Creationism vs some other version. This is how we know this discussion is merely academic, and not of great importance. I'd joyfully drop any piece of my speculations on small non-scripture questions about creation in an instant if a better one is revealed to me. These viewpoints are not important in and of themselves, for us.

We disagree on Exodus 20. We agree that salvation is most important. But creation is not unimportant and disregarding a global biblical flood that destroyed the world as it was seems to be a misreading of the bible account. Your view on the dinosaurs was that they like many other creatures existed millions of years ago. That allows for a more gradual development of carnivorous capabilities and coheres with most scientists views on the subject today. However I believe that the original T-Rex was not a carnivore and lived in a world where he could use his big teeth to acquire plants that were able to satisfy his nutritional needs. But he adapted following the fall to become the monster that he is in the fossil record.

 

[mindlight]

After the flood God says to Noah that the animals will fear him, and that they will be included as food. There is a similar parallel in the ANE where the gods cause the animals to be an adversary to mankind. Rather the reverse of what we have in the bible.

"On that day when there is no snake, when there is no scorpion, when there is no hyena, when there is no lion, when there is neither dog nor wolf, when there is thus neither fear nor trembling, man has no rival! " - Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta.

In another text the gods cause the animals to be man's rival.

As far as the angels having a part in dinosaurs, the book of giants claims that the preflood world created monsters and sinned against all nature.

I have no idea what to make of any of it, but that is what the ancient world has to say about the subject.

So a combination of angelic jealousy and human wickedness lie in the background of ANE accounts while the bible more realistically notes that animals are more scared of humans than we are of them. Given that animals have been dominated by mankind since the flood the bible seems more accurate.

What devils and evil men conspired to do was turned on its head and God secured his vision for mankind against their schemes.

Whether the T-Rex was the result of angelic or human genetic engineering or the gradually developing consequence of a world broken by sin is a moot point after the flood. As the dinosaurs were mainly wiped out by it.

However when I read the account of Nimrod the great hunter it is with a tinge of sadness. What epic creatures of Gods creation did he wipe out in the post flood world where one hunt might destroy a species.

 

[mindlight]

The quote from Isaiah is future tense.

Carnivores may be able to survive on a vegetarian diet, but it is not what their bodies appear to have been designed for. Humans are omnivorous and surviving on a vegetarian diet is very different.

What indication in the past tense do we have that God's instructions around eating plants and animals extended to the animal kingdom?

The future tense is Gods vision of future restoration and what his intentions are for the animal world as with the human.

This was also Gods original creation plan:

And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Genesis 1:30

 

[Halbhh]

We disagree on Exodus 20. We agree that salvation is most important. But creation is not unimportant and disregarding a global biblical flood that destroyed the world as it was seems to be a misreading of the bible account. Your view on the dinosaurs was that they like many other creatures existed millions of years ago. That allows for a more gradual development of carnivorous capabilities and coheres with most scientists views on the subject today. However I believe that the original T-Rex was not a carnivore and lived in a world where he could use his big teeth to acquire plants that were able to satisfy his nutritional needs. But he adapted following the fall to become the monster that he is in the fossil record.

How do we disagree on Exodus 20? I'm concerned. Also, why do you say you think I think creation is 'unimportant'? That's a truly surprising misreading. I think just the opposite -- that creation matters vastly, wonderfully, sublimely, and that Genesis chapters 1 through 3 are invaluable right here right now today for you and I to personally apply in our lives immediately, for our own sakes -- the key parts: trusting God, abiding with God, on the nature of marriage and true love, and more! For your own sake you need to be applying the lessons of Genesis 1 through 3 today in your own life. Does that help clear up whether I think creation is important, and whether Genesis chapters 1 through 3 matter right now, personally, for us as believers?

(How could you possibly think I disregard the Flood account from anything I said? The Flood story in chapter 6 is important right now, today, in helping us see our nature more clearly, and a powerful story of faith also.)

 

[mindlight]

There is a cave in Africa that looks like an ancient nuke power plant. It was discovered in 1972 by french uranium miners.

Who knows?

It seems this was mainly natural nuclear reactions with useful implications for the disposal of nuclear waste. But it seems spontaneous and natural rather than humanly directed. Not sure you would need a nuclear powered plasma rifle to kill a T-Rex. A large rock catapulted at it, a large hole with wooden spikes or poison would have been just as effective.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-nuclear-reactor/

 

[mindlight]

How do we disagree on Exodus 20? I'm concerned. Also, why do you say you think I think creation is 'unimportant'? That's a truly surprising misreading. I think just the opposite -- that creation matters vastly, wonderfully, sublimely, and that Genesis chapters 1 through 3 are invaluable right here right now today for you and I to personally apply in our lives immediately, for our own sakes -- the key parts: trusting God, abiding with God, on the nature of marriage and true love, and more! For your own sake you need to be applying the lessons of Genesis 1 through 3 today in your own life. Does that help clear up whether I think creation is important, and whether Genesis chapters 1 through 3 matter right now, personally, for us as believers?

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.

The principle of rest which you believe is the primary meaning here is founded on the historical fact of Gods creation of the universe in 6 days and his own resting on the 7th.

Sorry if I implied you do not think creation important. Clearly you do. But taking the bibles own account of creation seriously is what matters here and I do not think you are doing that.

 

[JackRT]

But just as today, if it existed, a T-Rex would pose no real threat to human civilisation I doubt if it did then.

It didn't ever. Dinosaurs became extinct well over 60 million years before humans evolved.

 

[Halbhh]

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.

The principle of rest which you believe is the primary meaning here is founded on the historical fact of Gods creation of the universe in 6 days and his own resting on the 7th.

Sorry if I implied you do not think creation important. Clearly you do. But taking the bibles own account of creation seriously is what matters here and I do not think you are doing that.

Precisely like Genesis chapter 1.

Did I write my other posts above too lengthy? It's clear you didn't read them carefully.

I don't blame you.

So many people write a lot, and it's not worth reading, compared to what we could be reading instead.

I can try to shorten if it's just too long. I was trying to address several things in each post.

One way you are misguessing about me -- I take the Bible version of creation more seriously (not less) than you've estimated. That's perhaps why you're misunderstanding my posts.

As I see it currently, it seems YEC people often don't have enough faith to believe in God creating the amazing way things actually are as we find them through telescopes and science.

 

[Sanoy]

So a combination of angelic jealousy and human wickedness lie in the background of ANE accounts while the bible more realistically notes that animals are more scared of humans than we are of them. Given that animals have been dominated by mankind since the flood the bible seems more accurate.

What devils and evil men conspired to do was turned on its head and God secured his vision for mankind against their schemes.

Whether the T-Rex was the result of angelic or human genetic engineering or the gradually developing consequence of a world broken by sin is a moot point after the flood. As the dinosaurs were mainly wiped out by it.

However when I read the account of Nimrod the great hunter it is with a tinge of sadness. What epic creatures of Gods creation did he wipe out in the post flood world where one hunt might destroy a species.

I added a link in that post to the epic of Ninurta (Nimrod) that kind of talks about those monsters. They are definitely legendary in the epic but if we could get a good description of them we might discover that they are based on creatures we know about. It's also possible that the hunter title comes from from the names of the kings he ruled over. There is a section of the Sumerian king list under Etana where all the kings have creature names.

 

[mindlight]

It didn't ever. Dinosaurs became extinct well over 60 million years before humans evolved.

There are cave paintings of dinosaur like creatures , there are accounts of dragons(dinosaurs ) throughout history, dinosaur DNA could not have survived for 65 million years but we have some

https://creation.com/dino-dna-bone-cells

“Behold, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
19 “He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
Job 40:15-19

EDIT:
added supporting link below
https://www.genesispark.com/exhibits/evidence/historical/ancient/dinosaur/

 

[mindlight]

I added a link in that post to the epic of Ninurta (Nimrod) that kind of talks about those monsters. They are definitely legendary in the epic but if we could get a good description of them we might discover that they are based on creatures we know about. It's also possible that the hunter title comes from from the names of the kings he ruled over. There is a section of the Sumerian king list under Etana where all the kings have creature names.

The link was interesting and informative - thanks. Clearly the exaggerated and even blasphemous way they spoke in those days conceals the truth with its over the top style. But maybe there is enough in there to form an impression of creatures that Nimrod slew that no longer exist. The bible account is far more succinct.

Genesis 10:8-12
Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

He was the great grandson of Noah and it is doubtful there were many kings or people for that matter to conquer at that time. However he established (planted ) many of the most ancient cities of the old world. He is described as both a warrior and a hunter. It is interesting that in the post flood world and at a 3 generation distance from the flood there were enough wild animals for a great hunter to make his name by hunting even to the point of becoming a great king. It is possible that in order to establish human settlements in these prime locations he needed to first wipe out the animal opposition to that. Whether the later kings then identified with the animals killed by Nimrod in order to secure their city sites is an interesting speculation.