Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Noah's Ark - Polygyny

For the "clean" animals on the Ark, Noah was to allow seven to board, not just two. According to Deuteronomy, the clean animals include cud-chewers with split hooves, in other words, all the cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and gazelles. In the wild, these all tend to be polygynous, that is, to have one dominant male breeding with a harem of females. So my guess is that the "seven" would consist of one male and six females. Presumably this also applies to the "clean" birds, such as chickens, turkeys, and pheasants, letting on one cock and six hens in each case. I would think this would inspire Noah. He'd say, "Hey, I don't have to mess with Ham, Shem, and Japheth. I could be like these other preferred animals, with just me and a harem. My wife and three daughters-in-law, and that would make room for, say, three more, virgins naturally. And that would allow a faster repopulation of the world after the flood, with more breeding females. After all, if we humans come on two-by-two, each man with one female, that makes us equivalent to the "unclean" animals, and that can't be what God intended."

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