What animals were really on Noahs Ark?

“But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭6‬:‭18‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬
Genesis 6:18-22 (NIV) - But I will establish my covenant wi | YouVersion
 
I do not regard the story of Noah's ark to be factual. I see it as an allegory, a tale told long ago and handed down from one generation to another for centuries until one day it was written down. Science can rip it apart in 10 seconds flat but it is not meant to be a scientific account.

Likewise, it is not an historical account of the destruction of the world. It is a warning to mankind about the consequences of sinfulness. That is something we should think about - greed, corruption, cruelty, selfishness...

The warning is that the earth could be destroyed by fire - global warming and global wars should make us ponder the message of the story of Noah's ark. Right now, both environments and civilisations are in peril because of the sins of mankind. Have we forgotten what "mutually assured self-destruction" refers to?

Science fiction stories often tell of scenarios where the Earth has become so uninhabitable that just a few human beings are selected to escape into space to begin again. Just like Noah, his family and everything else that would be needed to survive the journey, including live animals and plants.

Should we just dismiss these stories, or should we take a good hard look at ourselves, and contemplate our lifestyles before it is too late?
 
“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…”

To make sure there is enough clean animals to sacrifice to god, both on the Ark and immediately after the the Ark settles on land? That seems like potentially for a lot of animal killing. Seems a bit unnecessary to me. I wonder how long it took.

"Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar."

Alternatively, the whole account could be an imaginative or theological story. logistically it seems to raise a lot of unanswered questions.
 
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LadyEmeraude said:
What is said in the Bible?

open topic for discussion. Other things may be discussed also.
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Some estimates put the number of land vertebrate species on earth at around 36,000 to 38,000 (excluding insects and marine life). If the “seven pairs” is applied to clean animals in Genesis 7, that would suggest just over half a million animals, before considering any distinction between clean and unclean species.

Then there is birds to add to the mix, roughly 11,000 species, which on the same logic could add another ~150,000 individuals.

Thats a significant number of animals. I can't help wondering how much food would be involved sheer volume of food. And then there’s the obvious but often overlooked point of, whatever goes in must come out.
 
Llynn said:
If this is where this Forum is headed, I'm done. Next it will be how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Since we seem to be getting into asking questions I have one: how many religious zealots does it take to destroy a wonderful forum?
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I don’t think there’s any intention here to “destroy” the forum or turn it into anything negative.

The original question was about what the text in Genesis actually describes, which actually isn't much, and how that relates to common interpretations. It naturally leads to questions of scale and meaning, depending on whether people read it literally, symbolically, or somewhere in between. It seems to me that the title, and OP, was deliberately kept open so all could give their thoughts.

We don’t all have to approach it the same way, or else whats the point of a discussion forum, but it doesn’t need to become personal either.

I wonder, are you inferring that the direction of some other threads will eventually be where this one ends up.
 
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Llynn said:
If this is where this Forum is headed, I'm done. Next it will be how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Since we seem to be getting into asking questions I have one: how many religious zealots does it take to destroy a wonderful forum?
Click to expand...
It would be nice if not all Christians were lumped into being bad people just because they are having a discussion. We aren't threatening to leave because there's so many unbelievers here. This is just exhausting dealing with all the BS some days. Don't know why I bother with anyone online or IRL anymore.
 
Genesis 6:19-20 NKJV
[19] And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. [20] Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

Genesis 6:19-20 (NKJV) - And of every living thing of all fl | YouVersion

Genesis 7:2-3, 8-9, 13-15 NKJV
[2] You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; [3] also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.
[8] Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, [9] two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.


[13] On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— [14] they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. [15] And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.

Genesis 7:2-15 (NKJV) - You shall take with you seven each | YouVersion

All flesh in which is the breath of life.


AI Google In biblical text, the "breath of life" refers to all terrestrial, air-breathing creatures (land animals, birds, and creeping things) that possess a physical backbone and lungs.The phrase is primarily used in the Book of Genesis to identify creatures with a spirit of life, notably excluding marine life (fish and whales).

This encompasses:Mammals: Both domestic and wild (e.g., livestock, beasts of the field)Birds: Everything that flies in the airReptiles and Amphibians: Land crawlers and creeping things

So no fishes in aquaria. There was water enough. And a Dutch painter who made a book about it said: There were more than 2 flees.

Some of the kinds of animals are in Leviticus.

Leviticus 11:13, 15-19, 29-30 NKJV
[13] ‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,
[15] every raven after its kind, [16] the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; [17] the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl; [18] the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture; [19] the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
[29] ‘These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind; [30] the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.

Leviticus 11:13-30 (NKJV) - ‘And these you shall regard as an a | YouVersion

What's a hoopoe?
images (3).jpeg
 
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Warrigal said:
I do not regard the story of Noah's ark to be factual. I see it as an allegory, a tale told long ago and handed down from one generation to another for centuries until one day it was written down. Science can rip it apart in 10 seconds flat but it is not meant to be a scientific account.
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I agree.

It is a legend probably based on a real event -there really was a flood and somebody had a boat and saved many animals

and like all legends in cultures where stories are passed down by oral tradition, it grows in the telling and moralistic meanings are added until it is finally recorded in writing.

Same could be said of, for example, Aboriginal dreamtime stories

whilst I personally believe as fact neither the bible story nor dreamtime legends - I think the important thing is what message is being conveyed by the legend - not semantics of detail (how many animals exactly were there?) or whether the legend could be scientifically correct (it obviously couldn't)
 
Llynn said:
If this is where this Forum is headed, I'm done. Next it will be how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Since we seem to be getting into asking questions I have one: how many religious zealots does it take to destroy a wonderful forum?
Click to expand...
Perhaps you should just abstain from topics like this. That is what I do when I find myself losing patience with a particular thread.

I know some people find threads veering off topic particularly annoying but that is the nature of things on a large forum. I used to put annoying people on ignore until I was ready to see their posts. I recommend this method as a means of coping with religious zealots.
 
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Llynn said:
If this is where this Forum is headed, I'm done. Next it will be how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Since we seem to be getting into asking questions I have one: how many religious zealots does it take to destroy a wonderful forum?
Click to expand...
There is no agenda here with this topic. For fact, I have posted it three other times
during my time on SF, but with various titles.

It's like with all topics imo, if not interested just pass them by.
 
LadyEmeraude said:
There is no agenda here with this topic. For fact, I have posted it three other times
during my time on SF, but with various titles.

It's like with all topics imo, if not interested just pass them by.
Click to expand...
Yes, what she ^ said.

OP has posted 'questions' on a variety of topics.. why does THIS topic bring in so much negativity??!! 😠
 
There was a brilliant play (and movie) in the mid-20th century called Inherit the Wind, about the famous Monkey Trial, in which a teacher in a southern state was on trial for teaching about evolution.

William Jennings Bryant, representing the religious right, insisted that the Biblical account of Noah and the Flood was correct. God's retribution against the sins of man was to drown all the animals, except for two of each species.

The opposing atheist, Clarence Darrow, asked, "Even the fishes?"

Which pretty much sums up Biblical accuracy.
 
LadyEmeraude said:
What is said in the Bible?

open topic for discussion. Other things may be discussed also.
Click to expand...

You ask "what is said in the Bible", and I think that has been answered.

If you're interested in MY answer, then there was no Ark, and therefore no animals on it. The very idea is preposterous.

I think we should also give a thought to all the creatures, humans, and plant life that would have been killed and destroyed if such a flood had ever taken place. I don't know where all those bodies and carcasses washed up, but it would have been some time before beach areas were pleasant to be near.
 
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