In the Genesis Flood narrative, how many people enter Noah’s ark?

In the Genesis Flood narrative, eight people enter Noah’s ark.

The eight are Noah, his wife, Noah’s three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and the three wives of those sons. Genesis 7:13 describes this household entering the ark before the Flood waters rise. The total counts the family members, not the animals and not Noah’s wider community.

This number is easy to confuse with other biblical figures. Twelve is associated with the tribes of Israel and with Jesus’ apostles, while six does not represent the ark’s human passengers in Genesis. The text’s family structure makes the total eight.

Later biblical writers also use Noah’s family as an example of preservation through judgment. The First Epistle of Peter refers to “eight souls” being saved through water, reinforcing the traditional count. The number concerns people aboard the ark; it does not claim that only eight humans existed everywhere before the Flood in every later interpretation.