Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Genesis 6:19 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 19. 19And 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.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Noah must bring a male and female pair from every living kind of flesh into the ark to preserve them alive with him. The instruction broadens preservation beyond the human household.
Read It With
- Genesis 6:9–22
Read verses 19–20 together and compare 7:2–3. Verse 19 gives the general pair instruction; verse 20 names major creature groups and says they will come to Noah; chapter 7 later adds more clean animals and birds.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The command extends preservation from Noah's family to paired living creatures and makes continuation of animal life an explicit purpose.
Read Genesis 6:17–22 together
Why these verses belong together: Flood, covenant, household entry, creature pairs, food provision, and Noah's obedience form the complete preservation response to the judgment announcement.
Verse 17. 17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Verse 18. 18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
Verse 19. 19 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.
Verse 20. 20 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 unto thee, to keep them alive.
Verse 21. 21 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.
Verse 22. 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
What Remains True
God's preserving concern in this passage includes the continuation of nonhuman life.
How It Can Shape Life
- Include animals and the wider living community in responsible emergency planning where they are genuinely under your care.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 6:9–22 — God Warns Noah and Commands the ArkSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Reader-facing Scripture wording, verse numbering, paragraph data, and supplied-word markup.
Exact location: Pinned eBible/CrossWire standardized 1769 KJV corpus, Genesis 6:9–22
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Toledot, righteous and blameless, walked with God, corruption-destruction wordplay, violence, ark terms, dimensions, flood, covenant, creature categories, preservation, food, and obedience.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 6:9–22
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Noah's character terms, corruption and violence, all flesh, end of all flesh, repeated shahat, gopher wood, pitch, dimensions, tsohar construction, flood, covenant, preservation, food, and concluding obedience.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 6:9–22 translator notes 31–66
Open NET Genesis 6 ↗