According to Genesis, one pair of every kind of unclean animal enters Noah’s Ark.
Genesis 7 describes Noah bringing male and female animals into the ark. It distinguishes between animals considered clean and those considered unclean: clean animals are brought in greater numbers, while unclean animals enter as one male-and-female pair. The purpose is both preservation of life and provision for the world after the Flood.
The exact wording varies across translations. Some translations say “two of every kind,” while the passage separately gives the larger number for clean animals. This creates a common confusion in which readers remember a universal two-by-two rule and overlook the clean-animal exception.
The account does not use modern zoological species categories. “Kinds” is a translation of the biblical classification and should not automatically be equated with a biological species. The story’s central contrast is between clean and unclean animals within its ancient ritual framework.