Noah's Ark was made of gopher wood....what is gopher wood???

Answer 1

This is simply a transliteration of the Hebrew word. Unfortunately, it is a very rare word in Hebrew -- only found here in the Bible! So every suggestion of what exactly it was is a guess.

But that may not be very important -- it may well be that Genesis 6 is not that nterested n telling us about this sort of wood used, but in underlining some other aspects of the significance of the ark in the story.


In any case, the suggestion that the word has been corrupted is dubious, esp. since the description of these verses in Genesis 6 contains at least two other rare words... which suggests this was specialized terminology. Also, the word used for "pitch" and the related verb for "cover with pitch" --which appear only here in the Bible-- are clearly related to an Akkadian word with that meaning. (Akkadian is the Semitic language of Mesopotamia -- Babylonia, etc.-- in the 2nd millenium BC)


Why is THIS word chosen?

But here's what may be important. The word "gopher" is extremely close to "kopher" ("pitch"), suggesting it may have been chosen to draw a connection... a wordplay. Now the COMMON Hebrew word "kopher" relates to "atonement". Other elements of the Noah story suggest connections with the later building of the tabernacle (and thereafter the Temple) where rituals of cleansing and sacrifice for atonement took place. Esp note the command to bring 'seven of each clean animal' (for sacrifice) -- another suggestion of the sacrificial system and of the idea that this godly man Noah is practially presented as a "priest".

Thus the use of "gopher" wood and "pitch" to make this almost tabernacle-structure (note that God's instructions call for three sections, just as for the tabernacle ) which becomes the instrument of redemption/atonement/salvation for humanity. This is not to say that the words were made up (we know better than that from the Akkadian word for "pitch"), but that they were CHOSEN to draw a tabernacle-connection.

It goest even further than this. There is a common OT connection between the image of the tabernacle/temple and God's 'building' of CREATION as the place where he will dwell with mankind. Tthe Psalms [see Ps 104:2-3 ] and likely Genesis 1-2 use tabernacle imagery to describe what God is making. Thus the ark is a sort of "miniature" of creation, used to rescue a remnant of humanity and of all the living creatures. (For that matter, the description of the flood itself -- in Genesis, the Psalms , etc -- echoes the story of CREATION in Genesis 1... which begins with God "taming the WATERS".)

Answer 2

# Gopher wood: Gen 6:14 states that Noah built the Ark of גפר (gofer, more commonly gopher) wood, a word not otherwise known in the Bible or in Hebrew. The Jewish Encyclopedia believes it was most likely a translation of the Babylonian "gushure iş erini" (cedar-beams), or the Assyrian "giparu" (reed).[8] The Greek Septuagint (3rd–1st centuries BC) translated it as ξύλων τετραγώνων ("xylon tetragonon"), "squared timber".[9] Similarly, the Latin Vulgate (5th century AD) rendered it as "lignis levigatis", or "smoothed (possibly planed) wood". Older English translations, including the King James Version (17th century), simply leave it untranslated. Many modern translations tend to favour cypress (although the word for "cypress" in Biblical Hebrew is erez), on the basis of a misapplied etymology based on phonetic similarities, while others favor pine or cedar. Recent suggestions have included a lamination process, or a now-lost type of tree, or a mistaken transcription of the word kopher (pitch), but there is no consensus.[10]

Answer 3

It's sort of like regular wood, only it's really gopher wood.

Answer 4

Who told you it was made of gopher wood?

Answer 5

Thats a term he used to all his wives, hey women GOFOR WOOD............

Answer 6

nobody knows!

Answer 7

Please refer following web page.
http://av1611.com/kjbp/ridiculous-kjv-bible-corrections/The-Pitch-of-Noahs-Ark.html