I should start a new church over this...

My theology is in question...

2 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate... (NIV)

2 You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female... (NKJV)

2 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. (KJV)

2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate... (ESV)

Each of these passages is taken from Genesis chapter 7, and from a variety of versions. It appears to the uneducated (me) that we've had it all wrong for centuries. If taken in context, it would seem that Noah took seven of every sort of the clean animals, each with its mate; and two of every sort of unclean animal each with its mate.

Is it just my math or does that look like four of each animal NOT two?

I don't read or write in Hebrew so I am not qualified to do research or translation. But, I think that the people who made these translations are (hopefully) qualified. Now I have seen other versions that very clearly read "seven pairs, each with its mate...and one pair... (with no mate mentioned)" but the four that I have quoted from are the ones I trust most. The ESV seems to be a bit more ambiguous that the others.

I am not really gonna start up a church, but I think it's just kind of interesting. And if I'm right, the upside would be that it becomes much easier to defend how St. Bernards and Poodles all came from the same FOUR dogs rather than two. Hooray for the good guys.

So...in conclusion, if there are any out there that do read and/or write in Hebrew, please help me out here. The salvation of all the saints could be in jeapardy (just kidding).