How Many Of Each Kind Of Animal Were On The Ark?

Ask almost any child in church and even most adults how many of each kind of animal were on the ark and the likely answer will be two.

It’s because we grow up in children’s church seeing this in images and singing songs about the animals entering the Ark “two by two,” but what do the Scriptures actually say?

But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep them alive. Genesis 6:18-20

So far so good, two by two…male and female seems to hold up with what Scripture says, let’s read a few more verses just to make sure…

YAHUAH said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation. You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. Genesis 7:1-3

Of all the clean beasts take seven pair. Seven males and seven females equaling fourteen total for all the clean animals. Of all the unclean beasts take just two. Just one male and just one female of the unclean beasts. Of the birds seven pair, so seven males and seven females equaling fourteen as well.

Now all of a sudden the children’s church version of this story doesn’t quite add up. We don’t recall hearing the story told with seven pairs of clean animals and two pairs of unclean animals entering the ark. Why were we not taught this growing up? Why are we not teaching it to our kids?

In order to understand why Noah was instructed to bring seven of each of the clean animals, we have to continue reading into Leviticus 11 as well as Deuteronomy 14 where YAHUAH reminds His people which animals are food and which are not food. We say “remind His people” because Noah apparently knew what was considered clean and unclean based on the verses in Genesis 7. These instructions were not something new given after the exodus from Egypt.

These are just a few examples of things we are programmed to believe as children learning the Scriptures that do not actually line up with Scripture.

Shalom! Gerald W Thomas

Animals Have Souls