in genesis 6:14 GOD instructed noah to make an arch out of ''gopherwood''..what is gopherwood?
2006-12-12 06:53:33 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No one, archeologist, biologist, theologian... has the slightest clue.
It's a bit of lost information.
2006-12-12 06:56:30 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Several guesses as to the nature of gopher wood have been made, the most common of which is the cypress. Adam Clarke, a Methodist theologian famous for his commentary on the Bible, cited the Greek word for cypress, kuparisson, and the resemblance of this word's base, kupar, to the Hebrew word gophar.
Other suggestions as to the identity of the wood include pine, cedar, fir, ebony, wicker, juniper, acacia, boxwood, slimed bulrushes and resinous wood.
Some dictionaries mention gopherwood as a deciduous tree with white flowers, specifically Cladrastis kentuckea, or American yellowwood; this type of gopherwood has no known relation to the material of Noah's Ark.
Gopher might not be a type of wood at all and may be a type of reed, as reed boats are as ancient, if not more ancient than wooden boats.
2006-12-12 14:56:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No one knows for sure from the greek translation what type of wood gopherwood is altho it is thought to be cypress.
2006-12-12 14:57:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
No one knows for sure but it is thought that gopherwood is cypress
2006-12-12 15:05:58 · answer #4 · answered by TRUE GRIT 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Others suggest mere scribal error (common throughout biblical translations), noting the physical similarity between the Hebrew letters g and k, that the word may actually be kopher. In Hebrew, kopher means pitch; thus kopher wood would be pitched wood. In full, Genesis 6:14 would then read: "Make yourself an ark of pitched wood, put various compartments in it, and cover it inside and outside with pitch." This would seem redundant, but such redundant language is not unknown in Biblical texts.
2006-12-12 15:04:24 · answer #5 · answered by Bruce 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Cedar is believed to be gopherwood. Opps, Cypress...
2006-12-12 14:56:46 · answer #6 · answered by Jay Z 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
gopherwood - small handsome round-headed deciduous tree having showy white flowers in terminal clusters and heavy hardwood yielding yellow dye
2006-12-12 14:56:24 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The word used in Hebrew is "gophar" and its meaning has been lost. There is a Greek word, "kuparisson" which means "cypress". It's root, "kupar" is similar to "gophar" but the association is merely a guess.
2006-12-12 15:05:13 · answer #8 · answered by skepsis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gofer wood-From an unused root, probably meaning to house in; a kind of tree or wood (as used for building), apparently the cypress: - gopher.
No one knows for sure what kind of tree it came from.
2006-12-12 15:01:23 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most modern English versions of the Bible translate it as "cypress."
2006-12-12 14:56:38 · answer #10 · answered by LineDancer 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A rose by any other name....
May be existent, my be ceder.
One would have to find the Ark, and take a sample, however where the Ark may be one can not get to it!
2006-12-12 15:13:21 · answer #11 · answered by Grandreal 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋