Comentário sobre Gênesis 6:20

מהעוף למינהו OF THE FOWLS AFTER THEIR KIND— those that had kept to their own species and had not corrupted their way (taking the words to mean, “of the fowls that had kept to their own kind”). All these came of their own accord, but only those which the Ark was allowing to pass in did Noah permit to enter (Sanhedrin 108b).

TWO OF EVERY SORT SHALL COME UNTO THEE, TO KEEP THEM ALIVE. G-d thus informed Noah that two of every sort would come of their own accord, and he would not find it necessary to hunt for them in the mountains and distant lands, and he would bring them into the ark after that. At the actual narration [of their coming, Scripture] explains⁵⁹Genesis 7:16. that they came male and female; this is implied here. After that, He commanded him to take seven and seven of every clean beast.⁶⁰Ibid., 7:2. Concerning these, G-d did not say that they would come of their own accord but that Noah should take them.⁶¹The verse states: Of every clean beast thou shalt ‘take’ to thee seven and seven. Noah brought sacrifices after the flood from the clean beasts and fowl. (See Chapter 8, Verse 20.) The reason for this is that those who came to be saved and to keep their seed alive⁶²Chapter 7, Verse 3. did come of their own accord, but for those who were to be sacrificed as whole offerings, G-d did not decree that they come of their own accord to be slaughtered. Rather, Noah took them since the purpose of the command to take seven and seven was that Noah bring a sacrifice from them after the flood.
The meaning of the word “clean” is that the Holy One, blessed be He, explained to Noah the signs of ritual cleanliness for beast and fowl. Scripture, however, refers to it briefly by saying, “clean,” in accordance with the Torah.⁶³See Leviticus, Chapter 11. But Rashi wrote: “Clean, meaning that which in the future will be permitted to Israel as clean; we thus learn that Noah studied the Torah.”
From here we derive that the sacrifices of the sons of Noah⁶⁴See Seder Bereshith, Note 222. must also be only of the clean beast and the clean fowl. So also it is said of the sacrifice of Abel: of the first-born of his flock and of the fat thereof.⁶⁵Above, 4:4. However, all clean species are permissible for them to bring as sacrifices as it is written: And he took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.⁶⁶Genesis 8:20. [Later, when the Torah was given, G-d] added a commandment to Israel that all their sacrifices be only of the beasts and of the herd,⁶⁷Leviticus 1:2. of the turtledoves and of the young pigeons.⁶⁸Ibid., Verse 14.
Of the fowl also of the heaven, seven and seven⁶⁹Genesis 7:3. — this means the clean fowl for the verse is a continuation of the verse above: [Of every ‘clean’ beast shalt thou take to thee seven and seven].⁷⁰Ibid., Verse 2.

מהעוף למינהו. From the birds according to their kind. It is peculiar that the birds are mentioned before the mammals in this list. If the list is in order of their respective importance, the mammals should have been mentioned first; if the list is in an ascending order the crawling creatures should have been mentioned first. Why does the Torah use this peculiar order? Perhaps the birds enjoy a certain distinction over the mammals because they multiply so profusely. It is interesting that only the "pure" birds multiply so profusely; the 24 categories of "impure" birds which are not fit for consumption by Jews do not multiply as profusely. We have a tradition (Chulin 63?) according to which 120 varieties of birds were found on the Temple Mount, all of which are sub-categories of the איה, the falcon. At any rate these birds are greatly outnumbered by the "pure" birds. The Torah lists only ten categories of mammals which may be consumed by Jews. Presumably this is the reason the Torah commanded Noach to have the birds enter the ark ahead of the mammals. The difference in the description of the birds as למינהו, and the mammals as למינה, indicates that there were more categories and sub-categories of birds (compare Rashi). The Torah lists the respective categories of creatures, i.e. birds, mammals, and crawling creatures according to their relative mobility.

מהעוף למחנהו, some from each species;

שנים מכל יבואו אליך,”two of each species will come to you, etc.” According to Nachmanides G’d tells Noach that these creatures will present themselves before Noach of their own volition, so that he did not have to go chasing after them in order to save their lives. When the Torah later on reports about the arrival of these beasts, it adds that they all came as a pair, male and female. (7,9) We need to resolve why, in the previous verse, G’d instructed Noach “to bring the beasts to him,” seeing they were going to come of their own volition. The instruction in verse 19 became operative only after the animals had presented themselves before Noach. Now he was to bring them into the ark and to assign to them their respective quarters. Moreover, the animals that were to have their lives saved came of their own volition. But the seven pairs of the pure animals that were to serve as sacrifices after the deluge did not come by themselves, but Noach was instructed to take them and bring them into the ark. (compare 7,2)

Came of their own accord. Rashi is saying that they all came, even the ones that corrupted their way. But Noach permitted only “those that the ark took in.” What forced Rashi to explain that they came of their own accord? The answer is: Noach would otherwise have to trap them during the 120 years he had. Perforce, Hashem would give him a sign to know which ones consorted with their own species, as one opinion in the Midrash indeed says. [But Scripture mentions no such sign, so this cannot be the simple meaning.] For if Noach had no sign other than the ark taking them in, [a problem would arise:] there are numerous rare species, found only in the deserts, mountains and forests, which are very difficult to trap. And each comes out in its own special season. After extended effort to trap a specimen, Noach would have to bring it to the ark to see if it is taken in — perhaps it did not consort with its own species, as “all flesh corrupted its way”! Thus all of Noach’s trouble would be for naught, and his whole life would not be long enough to trap each species many times. Therefore, Rashi explains that they “came of their own accord and all those that the ark took in.” (R. Yaakov Taryosh)

מהעוף למינהו ומן הבהמה למינה “including the feathered birds according to their various species and according to the fourlegged beasts according to each specific species.” Seeing that the birds had been created on the fifth day of creation and the mammals on the sixth day, they are listed here in that order.

ומן הבהמה למינה, this includes the free-roaming beasts.

יבאו, they will come on their own to the proximity of the ark, from where you will bring in the ones which qualify.

להחיות, we already explained the meaning of this word.