by Erik Jones

Noah was commanded to take seven pairs (a pair being a male and a female) of clean animals and one pair of unclean animals. This is more clear in other translations, such as:

• New International Version: “Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate.”
• English Standard Version: “Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate.”
• Contemporary English Version: “Take seven pairs of every kind of animal that can be used for sacrifice and one pair of all others.”

God gave Noah this command in order to preserve the life of the different kinds of animals that He had created (Genesis 7:3). God performed a miracle by leading the animals to orderly assemble and enter the ark in pairs (verse 9).

This verse is very important because it demonstrates that the knowledge of the laws of clean and unclean meats existed long before they were enumerated by Moses in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. These were universal laws that were designed to govern what was proper meat for human consumption.

Here’s a sample of what Noah would have taken on the ark:

• 7 male/female pairs of sheep (14 total).
• 7 male/female pairs of deer (14 total).
• 7 male/female pairs of pigeons (14 total).
• 1 male/female pair of swine (2 total).
• 1 male/female pair of dogs (2 total).
• 1 male/female pair of porcupines (2 total).

There are a number of reasons Noah was instructed to take clean animals at a rate of seven times that of unclean animals. First, Noah and his family would consume some of the meat of the clean animals during their time on the ark. Second, Noah would perform sacrifices after the Flood—which could only be offered with clean animals (Genesis 8:20).

To learn more about God’s laws of clean and unclean meats, read our article “Clean and Unclean Animals: Does God Care What Meats We Eat?”