What Was Noah's Definition of Animals?

Before reading this post, check out part 1 of this series! http://honestsearchfortruth.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-big-was-noahs-ark.html

Here is exactly what God told Noah to take on the ark with him:

Genesis 6:19-21
"You must bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature from all flesh, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. And you must take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten, and gather it together. It will be food for you and for them."

and:

Genesis 7:1-3
'The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. You must take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 7:3 and also seven of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the earth."'

Here is what I take from the first passage:

• Two of every living creature from all flesh, male and female (would this exclude organisms that are asexual?)
• Of the birds after their kinds
• Of the cattle after their kinds
• Of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind

Here is what I take from the second passage:

• Seven of every clean animal
• Two of every unclean animal
• Seven of every kind of bird in the sky

There may be a discrepancy between these two lists, but that is the topic of another discussion

For the purpose of examining the topic at hand further, I propose the following list of things which God commanded Noah to take on the ark with him:

• Two of every living creature from all flesh
• Birds
• Cattle
• Creeping things of the ground
• Seven of every kind of clean animal

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Now, how did Noah interpret God's command? One thing we can know for certain is that Noah was not a taxonomist, biologist, or zoologist like our modern scientists are. The definition of what we consider to be separate species now is different than what Noah would have considered to be separate species over 4000 years ago. Because of this unknown factor, it is extremely difficult to pin down a reasonable list for what Noah would have felt necessary to take on the ark with him.

Fortunately, my line of argumentation is going to bypass the topic in the previous paragraph.

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Conclusion:
We do not know how Noah interpreted God's command. In the next post, we will see why the question 'what did God command Noah to take on the ark' can easily be bypassed.

I addressed this topic because most would consider it to be a relevant question, and because I will need to point out that 'we don't know what Noah's interpretation' was in future posts.