EOB: Official Site of the Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible (Old and New Testament)

Genesis 7:3

EOB (Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible):

Also, take with you seven pairs of every kind of bird—male and female—to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.

EOB Footnote:

The MT specifies “seven pairs” (literally “seven seven”) for both the clean birds and their mates, whereas the LXX reads simply “seven” for the birds. The MT also includes the phrase “of the birds of the heavens” where the LXX has “of the clean flying creatures” and “of all the unclean flying creatures.” The MT adds “male and female” explicitly for the birds, which is implied but not stated in some LXX witnesses. The phrase “to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth” in the MT corresponds to “to preserve seed upon all the earth” in the LXX, with minor variation in wording.

Other Translations:

KJV (King James Version):

“Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.”

WEB (World English Bible):

Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth.

Benton LXX (Vaticanus):

Of fowls also of the air that are clean pairs, and of all that are unclean pairs, to maintain seed on all the earth.

Douai-Rheims (Vulgate):

Of fowls also of the air seven and seven, male and female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.

Apostoliki Diakonia (LXX):

Also seven pairs of the birds of the sky, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

YLT (Young Literal Translation )(MT):

And also of the birds of the sky, seven pairs, male and female, to keep seed alive on the face of all the earth.

BBE (Bible in Basic English):

And of the birds of the air, seven and seven, male and female; so that their seed may be kept living on the face of all the earth.

EOB COMMENTARY:

EOB Commentary:

Commentary on Genesis 7:3

The Divine Preservation of Creation

This verse reveals God’s providential care extending beyond humanity to encompass all living creatures. The command to preserve both clean and unclean animals, male and female, demonstrates that salvation history involves the redemption of the entire created order, not merely the human race. The specification of “seven pairs” of birds emphasizes their particular importance, as birds would later serve crucial roles in determining when the waters had receded and in the sacrificial worship that Noah would offer upon leaving the ark.

Typological Significance

The Fathers consistently read the ark as a type of the Church, and within this framework, the preservation of animal life points to the universal scope of salvation. Saint John Chrysostom notes that God’s concern for preserving “seed upon the face of all the earth” reveals His intention to restore creation rather than abandon it. The phrase “to keep seed alive” (lezera) carries profound theological weight, anticipating the promise of the Seed who would crush the serpent’s head and through whom all nations would be blessed.

The distinction between clean and unclean animals, preserved even before the Mosaic Law was given, indicates that such categories belong to a primordial divine ordering. Yet the presence of both clean and unclean within the saving ark prefigures the vision given to the Apostle Peter, in which the sheet descending from heaven contained all manner of creatures, and the voice declared, “What God has cleansed, do not call common.” The Church, like the ark, receives all peoples without distinction.

Liturgical and Spiritual Connections

The Orthodox funeral service draws upon flood imagery, speaking of the departed passing through the waters of death into new life. Just as the animals entered the ark to be preserved through judgment unto a renewed world, so the faithful pass through the waters of baptism and death into resurrection life. The Paschal canon of Saint John of Damascus celebrates Christ’s harrowing of Hades using imagery of deliverance through overwhelming waters.

The command to preserve life “upon the face of all the earth” resonates with the Great Commission, wherein Christ sends His apostles to all nations. The ark becomes a vessel of cosmic renewal, carrying within it the seeds of a transfigured creation. This anticipates the Apostle Paul’s teaching that creation itself groans in expectation of liberation from corruption.

The seven pairs also carry symbolic weight in Orthodox understanding, as seven represents completion and fullness. The preservation of complete sets ensures not mere survival but flourishing abundance in the world to come, pointing toward the eschatological renewal when God shall make all things new.

Introduction to the book of Leviticus

The Book of Leviticus receives its English title from the Latin Vulgate, which is derived from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) title Leuitikon (Λευιτικόν), meaning “Levitical” or “pertaining to the Levites.”

Read More »

Introduction to the book of Exodus

The Book of Exodus receives its English title from the Greek Septuagint (LXX), where it is called Exodos (Ἔξοδος), meaning “departure” or “exit.” This name was chosen because the central

Read More »