Genesis says eight people were saved in Noah’s Ark during the Flood.
The eight were Noah, his wife, Noah’s three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and the wives of those three sons. Genesis 7:13 describes this household entering the Ark before the waters covered the earth. The New Testament also refers to “eight souls” being saved through the Flood in 1 Peter 3:20.
This number counts people, not animals. The Genesis story describes Noah’s family separately from the creatures brought aboard. It also does not present the Ark’s human passengers as a large community or group of refugees; the narrative identifies Noah’s immediate household.
The figure is sometimes confused with other numbers in the account, including the 40 days and nights of rain, the 150 days during which the waters prevailed, and Noah’s age when the Flood began. Those numbers refer to different details and do not change the stated human total.