Genesis 7:2-4

7:2 You must take with you seven ¹  of every kind of clean animal, ²  the male and its mate, ³  two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 7:3 and also seven ⁴  of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, ⁵  to preserve their offspring ⁶  on the face of the earth. 7:4 For in seven days ⁷  I will cause it to rain ⁸  on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”

¹ tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

² sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643.

³ tn Heb “a male and his female” (also a second time at the end of this verse). The terms used here for male and female animals (אִישׁ, ’ish) and אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) normally refer to humans.

⁴ tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

⁵ tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).

⁶ tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”

⁷ tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”

⁸ tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.