7:3b to keep [their] seed alive on the surface of all the earth.

A Multidisciplinary Contextualized Analysis of Select Passages From Genesis V2.0

[This is an excerpt from an exhaustive personal study of most of the first 9 chapters of the book of Genesis. This is a vastly expanded effort from the original version that can currently be found here downloadable for free. The purpose of this exercise is to compare a non-symbolic literal reading of the text to our current understanding of language, paleontology, and the physical sciences. Constructive discussion on the merits of this study is encouraged!]

That on Noah’s Ark are the only animals on planet Earth to have survived the flood is not evidenced by any paleontological record. Also, the possibility that repopulation of the earth exclusively by those within the Ark over a period of a few thousand years to its current diversity is improbable by any standard.

One can argue that God formed an entirely new generation of creatures and humans, but then why retain any of the extant population at all? If a new generation of life was formed anew in this soft reboot to eschew wickedness, why would so few of those newly formed people in distant lands seem to have knowledge of Him? And if God intentionally made or allowed to be established a paleontological record that does not reflect the waterworld theory of the flood, He would then be complicit in deceit which impedes acknowledgement of truth. There is no scenario by which the tale of the Ark being a pole-to-pole entire wipeout of above sea level life holds water.

Therefore, it is necessarily the case that the flood, even if catastrophic, was regional. This hypothesis postulates the event described in this account impacted the area in and around Eden. Even if concurrent with other massive floods around the world, it is logically reasonable that other humans, animals, birds, and plants not on the ark also survived.

If we consider the case of Noah, he is described by God as being righteous but is also a descendant of Adam. Even after the expulsion from the garden, God sought out a relationship with Adam’s descendants as many of them did with Him. Whether motivated in part by this heritage, God’s interest in preserving Noah above all others was motivated by their relationship.

That being the case, this verse is not about the retention of these animal species. As it was with Noah, it is about continuing the lineage of individual animals with whom God had a relationship. For example, God is not asking Noah to save all of dog-kind. He is commanding Noah to save His personal dogs so that their line may continue.

The only place in the Bible where God is known to havw directly interacted with animals are with the ones He formed in the garden. After the serpent is punished and the humans are expelled from Eden, we can assume that the garden still contained “every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky” that God formed to show to Adam. And considering the level of intelligence demonstrated by the serpent as well as the decorum required to live in close proximity for several months in a floating zoo, we can assume that these beasts and birds were smarter than the average bear.