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 Noah and his family, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, the fowls of the air, and every creeping thing, had entered the ark, the Lord shut them in. Then "were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, _and the windows of heaven were opened_. And the rain was upon the earth _forty days and forty nights_. . . . . And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upwards did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man. And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark."[21:1] The object of the flood was now accomplished, "_all flesh died that moved upon the earth_." The Lord, therefore, "made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. The fountains of the deep, and the windows of heaven, were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters decreased continually. . . . . And it came to pass at the end of _forty days_, that Noah opened the window of the ark, which he had made. And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. He also sent forth a dove, . . . but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark." . . .