As it happened with others threads in this topic, I propose to look for some "curiosities" that are in the Bible, and often we just don't notice.

I think it could be another way to know better the Scriptures while having a nice game.

I'm proposing it like a trivia in order to whoever that participate can try his/her own response.

When you find a "curiosity" don't say it! Just post the question so we can find the answer.

So, here is the first:

How many pairs (male and female) of every sort of animals, Noah should bring into the ark, according with God's command?

I'm not aware that a specific number was ever given. The dimensions of the ark are pretty well spelled out. One pair "of every sort" of animal & every "unclean" type were to be brought onboard. Seven of each "clean" type were to be brought. I always wondered, though, what "of every sort" really means. And was the entire planet flooded or "the world" as Noah & the writers of this part of the Bible knew it? Were the animals loaded up every species of animal on the planet or possibly every species in that geographic area where Noah resided? Nobody knew the Americas existed back then, right? Or not? Just interesting questions to think about...Bottom line: Man screwed up, God got frustrated, I'm surprised He hasn't taken steps to wipe out more of us more often, given how mankind has fallen away from His will over the years. (Can you tell I'm PMSing?)

Aaaaah, Deb, you have once again made me think. I've never considered that the whole world may not have been flooded. I think I'll need to do some searching on that.

And...I'm wondering what Brakhus is going to come up with for your term, PMSing.

quote:

Originally posted by DewDoc:
(Can you tell I'm PMSing?)

Thank you my dear New Song, I see I'm not alone.

But, focus in the number of couples of animals (we don't want, in this very moment, to start a discussion about The Universal Flood, don't we?)

Of course as Christians we believe the flood actually happened and there really was an ark. But did you know there the ark make have been possibly found in modern time?! It's buried in the Russian mountains (if i remember correctly) Vague mesasurements have been taken of the ark from helicopter distance.

The man that found the ark has since died and now there are other sceintist tryint to relocate the ark since the the description of where it is located is very well hidden.

Just a little info.

Now, I think the animals were brought to Noah's vicinity from God's calling so that he could gather the animals. I don't think it was possible for Noah to do this alone without help from God.

Just my theory...
~Byrd

How many years ago was the Ark build.
I'm sure we can easily say more then 2000 years ago plus.
So I wonder would the wood it was build of still be here or it had vanished with the erosion of wind, rain, snow, sun and the help of animals like mite and ants? Just wondering.

Doth

My hubby & I were talking about that just a few days ago, Doth. You would think the wood would be long gone, wouldn't you?

For anyone who missed the link below as they were searching.....

http://www.carm.org/questions/noahsark.htm

Could Noah's Ark Hold all the Animals?

"One issue that is often raised against Christianity is Noah's Ark and the Flood. Did it really happen? Did the flood really cover the whole world? Is there enough water on earth to cover all the land? Could the ark really hold two of every kind of animal in the world? Though these might be intimidating questions, the answer to each is a resounding, "Yes."

"God said to Noah in Genesis 6:14-16, "So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks" (NIV). According to God's Word, Noah built the ark. Eight people entered it and all humanity died in the ensuing flood."

"Did the flood really happen? Yes. Jesus said in Matt. 24:37-39 that the flood happened. If you can't trust Jesus, you can't trust anyone. As far as physical evidence goes there are numerous sedimentary deposits world wide which suggest a universal flood. There are countless fossil deposits world wide (For fossilization to occur organisms must be buried rapidly with sediment.). Every major culture has a flood legend. Of over 200 flood legends, 95% say the flood was universal; 70% say survival depended upon a boat; 66% say the wickedness of man was the cause; 88% say there was a favored family; 66% say the remnant was warned; 67% say animals were also saved; 57% say the survivors ended up on a mountain; 35% say birds were sent out; 9% say eight people were saved; and 7% mention a rainbow."

"Is there enough water to flood the entire earth? Absolutely! If the earth were perfectly spherical the oceans would cover all the land by more than a mile in depth. The biblical account is that it rained for 40 days and nights in which the floodgates of the heavens were opened up as well as the fountains from the earth (Gen. 7:11;8:2). There is a theory known as the canopy theory that states it had never rained on the earth up to the time of Noah and that a mist watered the plants (Gen. 2:6-6). The theory goes on to state that there may have been a heavy cloud or water vapor layer over the entire earth and that it was this canopy of water that became torrential rains during the flood period."

"Did the flood cover all the earth? Yes it did. The depth of the flood waters is described in Gen. 7:19 as covering "all the high mountains under the entire heavens." Also, there are many references in the Bible to it being global: Gen. 6:1,4-5,12,13,17,19;7:4,6,10,19;8:3;9:15. There were 40 days of rain (Gen. 7:12), 110 days of flooding (Gen. 7:24) and 221 more days of draining (Gen. 8:1-5,13-14). That is a total of 371 days of flooding that covered the mountains. That could not be a local flood."

"Could the ark really contain all the animals of the world? Again the answer is "Yes." But let's look at the last question in more detail. The ark took about 120 years to build. Noah was 480 years old when he began the work and he had the help of his wife, three sons, and his son's wives. He probably hired local people to help in the construction."

"The dimensions of the ark have a ratio of six to one. The Ark was six times longer than it was wide. This is the best ratio for modern ship building. Model stability tests have shown that the design is stable for waves up to 200 feet high and that the ark could have rotated 90 degrees and still righted itself."

"The volume of the ark would be 450 feet long by 75 feet wide by 45 feet high. This equals 1,518,750 cubic feet and is comparable to 569 modern railroad boxcars. Therefore each boxcar, by comparison, would be 1,518,750 ÷ 569, or 2,669 cubic feet of space. The average size of an animal on the earth is smaller than a cat. But, just to keep it safe let's consider the average size of an animal to be a sheep. The average double deck stock car holds 240 sheep. The Ark capacity would be about 569 x 240 equaling 136,560 animals of that size. However, that still is not accurate for our needs. Since most birds, reptiles, and amphibians are much smaller, let's double the boxcar capacity for them. Therefore, the boxcars could each hold 480 different kinds of birds, reptiles, amphibians."

"Noah had to take two or seven of every kind of animal on the earth. Though it is not really known exactly what is meant by a biblical kind, it is generally considered to be animals that are fertile within their own groups. Any dog can breed with any dog, therefore, dogs are one kind. It would only be necessary to bring representatives of each kind since the parents could produce offspring that would carry the genetic information for all variations within their kind."


Classification . . . . Number of Species . . . . Number of Kinds on the Ark
Mammals . . . . . . . . .3,700 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,700 (a few live in water).
Birds . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,600 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,200 (seven pairs according to
Gen. 7:3)
Reptiles. . . . . . . . . . .6,300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,300
Amphibians. . . . . . . .2,500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,500
Fishes. . . . . . . . . . . .20,600. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .zero
Other marine life . . . 192,605. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .zero
Insects . . . . . . . . . . . 850,000 . . . (Since insects are very small, and a great many could be stored in a small area, calculation would be difficult.)
Total . . . . . . . . . . . .1,072,305 . . . . . . . . . . . . .72,700
The total number of mammals would be 3,700 times two pair which equals 7,400 animals. 7,400 divided by 240 = 31 boxcars used.
"Since Gen. 7:3 says to take seven pairs of every bird then the total for birds would be 8,600 times two pair times 7 or 120,400 animals. 120,400 ÷ 480 = 250 boxcars. The reptiles and amphibians would be 6,300 plus 2,500 or 8,800. 8,800 times two pair equals 17,600 animals. 17,600 divided by 480 = 37 boxcars."

"The total number of boxcars used would be 318 with a total number of animals at 145,400. There would be 251 boxcars left over. That means that only 56% of the ark would be used for storing the animals. Obviously, then, the rest of the space would be used for food for the people and animals and sleeping quarters. In addition, considering that insects are extremely small, it is easily conceivable that they could be housed in part of the remaining space."

"It should also be considered that many animals can hibernate. Additionally, predators and prey have been known to habitat peacefully together during situations of stress like fire, flood, or earthquake. In the Ark, normal animal behavior would probably have been different from normal. Specialists in animal behavior have noted that animals can sense danger and have often migrated to escape it. Perhaps God used their migratory instincts to get them to the Ark."

"Though this is only a brief analysis, it should present enough evidence that the Ark account is certainly within the realm of possibility."


Hope article answers the curious and explains the curiosity.
Katie42

What a wonderful responses!

But it seems I couldn't ask as well as it was supposed to be done. My no-english is kidding me again!

I can't deny that all this interesting information about the ark is very helpful to understand the biblical narrative. But the "curiosity" was asked thus:

quote:

How many pairs (male and female) of every sort of animals, Noah should bring into the ark, according with God's command?

So, what I had in mind was:

Should Noah bring into the ark two pairs of every sort of animals (including the "clean" ones - Gen. 6:9) or seven pairs (of the "clean" ones - Gen. 7:2)?

As you see, I wanted to start the learning-game with some more simple; but it seems I couldn't.

But this first trivia is showing something I find quite remarkable about how people react. Don't you find it is... so defensive?

I'm begining to be worried.

Blessings.

That's all you wanted to know? You should've made this one multiple choice & saved us all a lot of grief! LOL! As to being defensive, I would say sometimes people get a little defensive in discussion but that's to be expected online. You can't see facial expressions or hear tones of voice so it's more difficult to communicate because of that. Overall, I think we all do pretty well, given the conditions!

Hmmmmmmmm as going through this thread I don't notice nothing of defensiveness in the replies of my co-members.

Doth

quote:

How many pairs (male and female) of every sort of animals, Noah should bring into the ark, according with God's command?

If I read this right... isn't the answer one?
One pair of every animal into the ark?

As for the flood.. why not? And why not the whole world? Just cos we hadn't discovered it, doesn't mean it couldn't flood I guess.

OK, let's finish this one.

Possible answers:
1. Gen. 6:19 (ASV)
"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." Then, one couple of each of them.

2. Gen. 7:2,3 (ASV)
"Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, the male and his female; and of the beasts that are not clean two, the male and his female: (3) of the birds also of the heavens, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth." Then, seven couples of each of every clean beast and birds.

It is a curiosity that the first command is just one couple, and after, is seven couples (of course, of the clean beast and birds).

Some scholars explain this curiosity by stating there are two different stories about the flood.

Interesting, isn't it?

Here is another curiosity (the second one), you'll find quite interesting too:

Leviticus 11:20-23 (ASV)
"All winged creeping things that go upon all fours are an abomination unto you. (21) Yet these may ye eat of all winged creeping things that go upon all fours, which have legs above their feet, wherewith to leap upon the earth. (22) Even these of them ye may eat: the locust after its kind, and the bald locust after its kind, and the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. (23) But all winged creeping things, which have four feet, are an abomination unto you."

Is the Bible talking about some kind of insects with 4 feet?

Blessings.

Doesnt seem quite right somehow to me anyway to eat a GRASSHOPPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of my best friends are Grasshoppers

Can anybody think of anything that flies & has 4 feet?????

Dragons do!!!!!!!!!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by DewDoc:
My hubby & I were talking about that just a few days ago, Doth. You would think the wood would be long gone, wouldn't you?

It depends upon the type of wood used. Some woods can last thousands of years. We have the oldest species of tree living on the other side of the Sierras from where I live. The living trees are 3-4k thousand years old and the dead ones are still present on the mountain. Their age dates back thousands of years more. Another important factor is how the wood is preserved/stored. Extreme cold temperatures can preserve it as can petrification.

Hadn't thought about some of those redwoods & such; guess they do last a long time. These are interesting discussions, guys, but you know what I've been thinking lately? If God could create such UNIQUE & AMAZING CREATURES as some of US, there's obviously no limit to what He CAN do, is there? The only limit is to whether I can get my feeble little mind around it!

Well, finishing this second trivia and curiosity I must say that, of course, God is almighty and He can create what He wants. But it seems that He had created all earthly living beings by using His code: DNA. So, there is no gene in the sequence of DNA that produce such an insect with four feet, so, it is out of the natural way of creation.

Therefore, what the writer of Leviticus was talking about is a mystery or more probably, his expression is a consequence of his ignorance of natural sciences and the lack of observation of the nature around him, because there are not any vestiges of the existence of such kind of creatures, besides the genetic problem.

For who have some problems with errors in Bible I remember that I'm going to discuss them soon in my blog.

As for this curiosities and trivia we can dig deeper in Bible to know It better and face some interesting issues that require to be solved, let's try another one:

Abraham was a very rich man, as we know. Does sombody know which the origin of his fortune was? I mean, what did he to became rich?

Finding the answer to this question will help to get a better idea about how the holy men handled the hard life they faced, and how God responsed to their behavior.

(A clue: Search in Genesis around Abram's calling.)

Blessings!