God’s Second and Third Decree to Noah

The Bible did not state Noah’s age when God first spoke to him about building an ark, but by Noah’s 600th birthday, the ark was completed and ready to board. Given the technology of the time and dimensions of the ark, it undoubtedly took many decades to build. Thus, God’s second divine address (Gen 7:1-10) occurs many years after the first divine address.

In this chronological context, the supposed doublet of the number of animals that destructive critics use as evidence of 2 distinct sources does not exist. In the first divine decree (Gen 6:19-22), Noah is informed of the coming Flood and to admit pairs of animals so that they will be saved. In the later second divine address, Noah is informed of more specific details: clean animals by 7 pairs, birds by 7 pairs, and unclean animals by 1 pair (Gen 7:2-3).

This distinction and reference to clean animals in God’s second address parallels the section about God’s third address to Noah following the Flood in which Noah sacrifices the clean animals to the Lord. Examine the parallels:

Genesis 7	Genesis 8
1) Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.	15) Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16) "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you.
2) "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, a male and his female; 3) also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4) "For 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."	17) "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
5) Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him. 6) Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. 7) Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. 8) Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, 9) there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. 10) It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth.	18) So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19) Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark. 20) Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21) The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. 22) "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

Not enough attention has been given to Ancient Near Eastern literature and culture where repetition is one of their most fundamental writing style. The number of animals is the most commonly cited example of duplication and internal contradiction used by destructive critics as evidence of the Documentary Hypothesis. Ancient Near East repetition does not appear to have a precise logical order in which information is presented from a general to specific particulars. Instead the authors of that time repeatedly come back to a topic in order to emphasize a particular perspective or detail until the historical or theological picture is complete.

A closer look at the verses citing the number of animals does not show the internal contradictions that destructive critics believe in.

The following table shows the verses in Genesis containing any reference to the number of animals:

Before boarding the ark (Gen 6:19-20; 7:2-3):

When there was no distinction in the kind of animal, the term "two" referred to singular pair. When a distinction was made between clean and unclean, the number of pairs was specified (i.e. 7 pairs or 1 pair). The number of bird pairs was also specified as their importance was apparent after the Flood crested.

Boarding the ark (Gen 7:8-9; 7:14-15):

When there was no distinction in the kind of animal, the term "two" referred to plural pairs of multiple male and female pairs.

Genesis	6:19-20	7:2-3	7:8-9	7:14-15
Numerical Value	"two" (singular pair)	"by 7" (plural) clean "two" (singular) unclean "by 7" (plural) bird	"by two" (plural)	"by two" (plural)
Comments	No distinction is made between clean and unclean animals. "After their kind"	A distinction is made: clean: by sevens (plural) not clean: two (singular)	No distinction is made between clean and unclean animals	No distinction is made between clean and unclean animals "After its kind"

Gen 6:19-20 "And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. "Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

Gen 7:2-3 "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, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

Gen 7:8-9 Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, 9) there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

Gen 7:14-15 they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.

The Bible does not state the difference between clean and unclean animals until later in the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14). Likewise, while the first mention of sacrifices was by Cain and Abel, the Bible does not state how and when the sacrificial ritual first began.

Genesis 7:1-10

1) Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. 2) "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, a male and his female; 3) also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4) "For 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." 5) Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him. 6) Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. 7) Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. 8) Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, 9) there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. 10) It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth.

Genesis 8:15-22

15) Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16) "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17) "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." 18) So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19) Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark. 20) Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21) The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. 22) "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

References:

Cassuto U, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Jerusalem: Magnes (1961).

Kaiser WC, Davids PH, Bruce FF, Brauch MT, Hard Sayings of the Bible, Chicago, IL: Inter-Varsity Press (1996).

Shea W, "The Structure of the Genesis Flood Narrative and Its Implications", Origins 6 (1979): 8-29.

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