breath of life, from under heaven,
and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee shall I
establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy
sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives, with thee. And of every living
thing of all flesh, _two_ of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark,
to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls
after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping
thing of the earth after his kind, _two_ of every sort shall come in to
thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is
eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for
thee and for them. _Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded
him._"[20:1]

When the ark was finished, the Lord said unto Noah:

"Come thou and all thy house into the ark. . . . Of every clean
beast thou shalt take to thee by _sevens_, the male and his
female; and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and
his female. Of fowls also of the air by _sevens_, the male and
the female."[20:2]

Here, again, as in the Eden myth, there is a _contradiction_. We have
seen that the Lord told Noah to bring into the ark "of every living
thing, of all flesh, _two_ of _every sort_," and now that the ark is
finished, we are told that he said to him: "Of every clean beast thou
shalt take to thee by _sevens_," and, "of fowls also of the air by
_sevens_." This is owing to the story having been written by _two
different writers_--the Jehovistic, and the Elohistic--one of which took
from, and added to the narrative of the other.[20:3] The account goes on
to say, that:

"Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives
with him, into the ark. . . . Of _clean_ beasts, and of beasts
_that are not clean_, and of _fowls_, and of _every thing_
that creepeth upon the earth, there went in _two and two_,
unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, _as God had
commanded Noah_."[20:4]

We see, then, that Noah took into the ark _of all kinds_ of beasts, of
_fowls_, and of every thing that creepeth, _two of every sort_, and that
this was "_as God had commanded Noah_." This clearly shows that the
writer of these words knew nothing of the command to take in _clean
beasts_, and _fowls_ of the air, by _sevens_. We are further assured,
that, "_Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him_."

After