In the Book of Genesis, seven pairs of each clean animal species were taken onto Noah’s Ark.
Genesis 7:2 instructs Noah to take seven pairs of clean animals, while one pair of animals that were not clean was to be taken. The passage is often summarized as “seven of each clean animal,” but the wording describes seven pairs, or fourteen individual animals, for each clean species. Genesis 7:3 similarly gives seven pairs of birds.
The clean and unclean distinction is a ritual classification familiar from later biblical dietary laws. Genesis does not provide a complete species list in this episode, and its categories should not be assumed to match modern biological taxonomy exactly.
A common retelling says that exactly two of every animal entered the Ark. That simpler formula reflects the one-pair instruction for unclean animals and the general story image, but it omits the special number given for clean animals and birds.