Bible Question: When God instructs Noah to collect the animals to be placed on the ark, He tells him to gather two of each unclean animal and extras of the clean animals for sacrifice. How does Noah know what animals are clean? The law had not yet been given to Moses. |
Bible Answer: "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. Gen 6:20 "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 6:21 "As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them." Gen 6:22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. NASB neither in the Jerusalem nor the above are the words clean and unclean animals mentioned. What is to be inferred by the notion of animals going two by two into the Ark is that unless Noah took them into the they would cease to exist. That is why God says And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark. This particular part of Genesis is of the Priestly Tradition which was written during the Babylonian exile so the Law had well and truly been given to Moses when this was written. The book of Genesis was given its final editing in the sixth century B.C. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary,study edition,Chapman,Prentice Hall, 2000,page 15 |