What exactly is gopher wood?

Question

According to the bible, Noah made the Ark out of gopher wood. What is that exactly?

Answer 1

No one really knows, but it is clear that Noah understood what God was instructing. "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." (Genesis 6:22 ) "And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him." (Genesis 7:5)

Since Noah followed the instructions given to him, he obviously understood what was required of him.

Today "gopher wood" is thought to be a type of wood (like pine and oak are types of woods). One of the most prevalent ideas is that gopher wood is a type of cypress.

Others think that instead of the type of wood (species of tree) that gopher wood is a particular cut of wood. (Wood cut in a certain way.)

Again we don't know for sure, but Noah knew and his example of following God's word is worthy of our notice,

Answer 2

We don't really know. It was probably not wood from a gopher tree, if that's what you're thinking, but rather a method of treating wood to make it stronger and longer lasting in boats.

An analogy I like is that today, we have plywood -- but there's no such thing as a "ply tree."

Answer 3

# 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 4

gopher
go'-fer
from an unused root, probably meaning to house in; a kind of tree or wood (as used for building), apparently the cypress:-- gopher.

Answer 5

This resinous wood is thought by some to be cypress or a similar tree. In that part of the world what today is called cypress was in abundant supply; it was particularly favored for shipbuilding by the Phoenicians and by Alexander the Great, as it is even down to the present time; and it is especially resistant to water and decay. Doors and posts made of cypress are reported to have lasted 1,100 years. In addition, Noah was told not merely to caulk the seams but to “cover [the ark] inside and outside with tar.”