How many pairs of each kind of clean animal did Noah take into the Ark?

Genesis says Noah took seven pairs of each kind of clean animal into the Ark.

Genesis 7:2 distinguishes clean animals from animals that were not clean. It instructs Noah to take seven pairs of clean animals, male and female, but one pair of animals that were not clean. Genesis 7:3 gives a parallel instruction for birds, also using seven pairs so that their kind would continue on the earth.

This passage is frequently simplified as “two of every animal,” because Genesis 6:19–20 describes Noah bringing male and female animals in pairs. The later instructions in Genesis 7 add a special larger number for clean animals and birds.

The distinction is connected to the categories of clean and unclean animals in the biblical tradition. The text does not provide a modern zoological species list, and interpretations differ over how “kind” should be understood. The numerical contrast remains clear within the narrative: seven pairs for clean animals, one pair for unclean animals.