How many animals did Noah take with him on the ark?

Answer 1

This_question_has_a_variety_of_opinions._Some_of_them_follow.">This question has a variety of opinions. Some of them follow.One View

From Genesis--no specific count given

Total numbers can't be known, but one pair of each kind of unclean animals and seven pairs of each kind of clean animals and birds were taken on board.

Genesis 6:20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

Genesis 7:2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

Another View

Spiritual Vessel--no count possible

There is no way of counting them. Noah's Ark is a spiritual, not a scientific vessel. Its meaning is not to be found in numbers, and indeed, attempting to quantify such things is missing the point.

Another View

Real Vessel--Science may yet determine count

Noah's Ark was a real vessel; it was reported found by the Russians and seen by others and is in a glacier somewhere. If a non-biased expedition is sent to locate it, perhaps we will learn how many animals it may have carried.

Another View

It cant be decided - but certainly not 2 of every kind of animal in the world - it would never have been possible.

Another View

It is impossible for there to have been two of every animal on earth in the Ark. That is like 1.5 million species! This story is ether allegory or is just plain false, probably based on ancient folklore of a real flood that has been altered and changed over the millennia.

Another View

The story of Noah's Ark is not to be taken literally. Noah's Ark represents the human mind (Spirit). "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens," represents the 7 chakras or 7 major endocrine glands which are affected by our way of thinking. "…beasts that are not clean by two," represent the 2 affects(tree of good and evil) that those glands have on us, fear, self preservation, selfishness, (sin, evil) etc… or faith, love, giving (holiness, good) etc...We must take into consideration that when the Jews came out of Babylon and Ezra put The Bible together, they where influence from the stories from both east (India and surrounding areas) and from the west (Africa and surrounding areas). Babylon means "The Gate of the God" and was considered the gateway between both worlds (East and West). What the Jews did was take the stories of both worlds, put them together, and changed it a little to make it there own.

Answer

Genesis 6:19-22 says that Noah took two of each sort of animal into the Ark - cattle, fowl and every living thing. Genesis 7:1-5 says that Noah took seven of each clean animal, but only two of each unclean animal into the Ark. The reason for this difference is that there are actually two different Flood accounts woven together, so that unless read carefully they seem to be just one account. The verses attributed to the Priestly author are: Genesis 6:9-22, 7:6, 7:8-9, 7:11, 7:13-16a, 7:18-21, 7:24, 8:1-2a, 8:3b-5, 8:7, 8:13a, 8:14-19, 9:1-17. The verses attributed to the Yahwist are: Genesis 6:5-8, 7:1-5, 7:7, 7:10, 7:12, 7:16b-17, 7:22-23, 8:2b-3a, 8:6, 8:8-12, 8:13b, 8:20-22.

Either way, the total number of animals should have run into the millions, as animals that were not taken on board would have died, and we would have no descendants of those animals today.

Answer

Based on the information contained in the Bible, it has been calculated that approximately 16,000 animals were on the ark. The numbers mentioned in the Bible refer only to 'kinds' which are broader classifications than our present day species (on which sceptical estimates are based, hence the inflated figures usually arrived at).

Biblical account probably based on a real local flood, possibly the flooding of what is now the Black Sea. Noah had time to knock together a raft and grab enough of his breeding stock to keep him going when things settled down. What happened to the plants, I'd like to know?
in the bible it says that there were 2 of every kind of animal, but we don't know how many breeds there were though.