According to Genesis, how many animals from clean kinds entered the Ark?

According to Genesis, seven pairs of clean animals entered Noah’s Ark.

Genesis 7:2 instructs Noah to take seven pairs of every clean animal, described as male and female. The same verse contrasts them with one pair of each kind of unclean animal. Genesis 7:8–9 then summarizes animals entering by pairs.

This creates a detail that readers often find difficult: Genesis uses both the seven-pair instruction for clean animals and a general description of animals entering two by two. The clean-animal distinction is the key to reconciling the passages within the story.

The text does not provide a complete species list. “Clean” and “unclean” are categories in the biblical ritual system, and the passage assumes that Noah understands the distinction before the later Israelite law codes are presented.