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THE ARK ENTERED.—Gen. 7:1–9

Some Hebrew Vocabulary First

טָהֹור clean, fit for food or sacrifice. Swanson, “clean, pure, i.e., pertaining to being ceremonially or ritually clean (Lev 11:36; 1Sa 20:26)”^[1]
יְקוּם James Swanson, living creature, i.e., a being of any kind, human or animal, in the state of biological life (Ge 7:4, 23+)^[2]

Genesis 7:1–4 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
7 Then Jehovah said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. ²You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, the male and its mate; ³also of the flying creatures of the heavens by sevens, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”

Genesis 7:1–4. The command to enter the ark. The general direction in the preceding chapter was given many years ago, before the ark was commenced. Now, when it is completed, a more specific command is issued. For I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Noah has accepted God’s mercy, is set right in point of law, and walks aright in point of practice. Jehovah recognizes this indication of an adopted and renewed son. In this generation he and his were the solitary family so characterized.

Genesis 7:2–3 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
²You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens,^[68] a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, the male and its mate; ³also of the flying creatures of the heavens by sevens,^[69] male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

^[68] Lit seven seven

^[69] Lit seven seven

Genesis 7:2-3. Of every clean animal. A category of animals is to be observed in God’s directions to Noah to take with him into the ark seven of each clean animal and two of each unclean animal. (Ge 7:2, 3, 8, 9) Since eating of animals had not yet been allowed, this difference between clean and unclean was almost certainly concluded based on what was suitable to Jehovah as a sacrifice. And so, on emerging from the ark, Noah knew which creatures were clean and appropriate for offering upon the altar. (Ge 8:20)

Genesis 7:4 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁴For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”

Genesis 7:4. Seven days after the issue of the command the rain is to commence and continue for forty days and nights without ceasing. Every living thing means every plant and animal on the land.

Genesis 7:5–9 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁵And Noah did all that Jehovah had commanded him. ⁶Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came^[70] upon the earth. ⁷And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹there went into the ark to Noah two and two,^[71] male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

^[70] Lit was

^[71] That is, by twos

Genesis 7:5–9. The execution of the command is recorded and fully particularized with the additional circumstance of the age of Noah. 6. The son of six hundred years, in his six hundredth year. 9. Went they unto Noah. They seem to have come under the influence of a special instinct so that Noah did not require to gather them. Seven days were employed in receiving them and storing provisions for them.

By James G. Murphy and Edward D. Andrews

BIBLE DIFFICULTIES

Genesis 7:2 BDC: What was used to distinguish between clean and unclean animals?

The distinction between clean and unclean animals came about through sacrifices in worship and not by what was permitted to be eaten and what was not permitted. The flesh of the animals was not permissible to be eaten by man before the flood. The clean and unclean designation was applied to the human diet at receiving the Mosaic Law, which also ended when the Law of Moses was abolished. (Acts 10:9-16; Ephesians 2:15) Apparently, Adam had informed future generations of what God had found acceptable as a sacrifice in the worship of Jehovah, just as he had informed Abel. (Gen 4:4) As Noah and his family came out of the ark on Mount Ararat, Noah “built an altar to Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.” (Gen 8:2) Thus, it is evident that Noah knew was pleasing and acceptable as a sacrifice in the worship of his God.

Genesis 7:1-2 BDC: How many of the clean animals did Noah take into the ark—seven of each clean animal or seven pairs of each?

Jehovah told Noah after he had completed the ark: “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, the male and its mate.” (Genesis 7:1-2) Some translations, such as English Standard Version, Lexham English Bible, Christian Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible, The New Jerusalem Bible, and Tanakh—The Holy Scriptures, render the original Hebrew “seven pairs.”

In the original Hebrew, the expression “sevens” literally reads “seven seven.” (Genesis 7:2, fn. UASV) However, the repeating of a number in Hebrew does not in and of itself mean that the numbers should be added. For example, 2 Samuel 21:20 describes “a man of great stature” as having “six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot.” The number “six” in Hebrew is repeated, “six six.” The above translations do not take this to mean that the giant had six pairs of fingers (or 12) on each hand and six pairs of toes on each foot. The repeating of the number relates only to the distribution of six fingers on a hand and of six toes on a foot.

Concerning Genesis 7:2, 9, William R. Harper’s Introductory Hebrew Method and Manual^[3] states: “Words are often repeated in order to express the distributive relation.” Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar (Second English Edition) says: “Distributives are expressed either by repetition of the cardinal number, e. g. Gn 7:9, 15 שְׁנַ֫יִם שְׁנַ֫יִם two and two; 2 S 21:20 שֵׁשׁ וָשֵׁשׁ six each; with the numbered object also repeated, e. g. Jos 3:12 אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד לַשָּֽׁבֶט for every tribe a man; Nu 13:2, 34:18 (אֶחָד מִן, as in Neh 11:1, one out of every ten); cf. § 123 d; or a periphrasis with אֶחָד לְ is used, Nu 17:18, Dt 1:23, cf. Is 6:2 לְאֶחָד after six wings twice repeated; the simple distributive לְ is, however, sufficient (as in לַבְּקָרִים, § 123 c), e.g., לְמֵאוֹת וְלַֽאֲלָפִים by hundreds and by thousands.”^[4] As we can see, it gives Genesis 7:9, 15 and 2 Samuel 21:20 as examples, where the repeated numbers are “two” and “six” respectively.

Therefore, “seven seven” in Genesis 7:2 should not be rendered “seven pairs,” or 14, just as the repeating of “two” should not be rendered “two pairs,” or four, in Genesis 7:9, 15. The repeating of a number in each verse simply means a distribution, not that adding of the numbers. Therefore, the clean animals were taken into the ark “by sevens,” and of the unclean ones, “just two.”

How can we understand the expression “a male and his female” right after the word “sevens” in Genesis 7:2? This is what has led some to think that Noah was ordered to take seven pairs of every kind of clean animal. However, we must remember that the clean animals were preserved not strictly for procreation. Genesis 8:20 tells us that after coming out of the ark, “Noah built an altar to Jehovah and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” The seventh animal from each clean kind on hand gave Noah an animal for sacrifice, which would have left three mated pairs for reproducing their kind on the earth.

^[1] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
^[2] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
[3] Retrieved Tuesday, August 9, 2022, https://bit.ly/3A2Q7J9
[4] Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch and Sir Arthur Ernest Cowley, 2d English ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910), 436.

Bibliography

Edward D Andrews, BIBLE DIFFICULTIES: How to Approach Difficulties In the Bible, Christian Publishing House. 2020.
Edward D. Andrews, INTERPRETING THE BIBLE: Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics, Christian Publishing House, 2016.
Gleason L. Archer, New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Zondervan’s Understand the Bible Reference Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982).
Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed., “Appearance,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988).
Hermann J. Austel, R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999).
Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003).
James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
John Joseph Owens, Analytical Key to the Old Testament, vol. 1-4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989).
John F. MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries: Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).
Thomas Howe; Norman L. Geisler. Big Book of Bible Difficulties, The: Clear and Concise Answers from Genesis to Revelation. Kindle Edition.
Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Chronology, Old Testament,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988).
W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996).