God tells Noah that He is going to destroy the world with a flood. Immediately after this announcement, He commands Noah to build an ark.
In Genesis 6:14-21 God gives Noah detailed instructions about the ark and the other tasks that Noah must perform.
In this article I will examine the first part of God’s command to build an ark.
14. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; rooms shall you make in the ark, and shall cover it inside and outside with pitch.
Though the English of this verse seems straight forward, there are some interesting details in the Hebrew.
What is an Ark?
Noah’s ark and the flood is one of the best known events in the Bible.
Let’s put aside the popular (mis)conceptions of the ark and try to understand what God told Noah.
The Hebrew word teivah (tav-bet-hey) is translated in Genesis chapters 6-9 as ark.
This word appears in only 2 places in the Bible: here and in Exodus 2:3.
3. And when she could not longer hide him [Moses], she took for him a box [Hebrew: teivah] of reeds, and daubed it with clay and with pitch, and put the child in it; and she laid it in the rushes by the river’s brink.
In both of these events, a teivah is used to preserve life in a floating box or chest that had no means of steering or propulsion.
As Daat Mikra points out, a teivah is used to save the one person who God designated to become the savior of other people.
Ibn Ezra writes that the Noah’s ark is not called the more usual word for ship, sefina. This is because because the ark was not in the shape of a ship and it didn’t have any oars or paddles.
Make for Yourself
Why does God tell Noah to make the ark “for yourself”? It is sufficient for God to just command “make an ark…”
Radak writes that “for yourself” means for your benefit. God is assuring Noah that his effort will not be in vain. At the very least, he and his family will be saved from the flood by the ark.
The Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin) agrees that sometimes “for yourself” means for your benefit. Other times “for yourself” means by yourself.
Netziv writes that in this verse God is telling Noah to build the ark by himself. He is not to employ craftsmen and other builders. Noah is to build the ark by himself with God’s help.
What is Gopher Wood?
If you’ve never heard of the gopher tree, you’re not alone. When it comes down to it, no one knows what tree it is.
It turns out the English “gopher” is not a translation. It’s actually a transliteration of the Hebrew word spelled gimmel-pey-reish. This word appears only in this verse.
R. Steinsaltz suggests the gopher is a cypress tree, Cupressus. This wood is lightweight, water-resistant, and good for building ships.
There are several different trees in the Cupressus family. Many of them grow more than 40 feet tall with straight trunks that would be good for making planks.
On the other hand, Onkelos (who translates the Torah into Aramaic) says gopher is a cedar tree.
If Onkelos is correct, then we must wonder why our verse would use an unusual word. The usual Hebrew word for cedar is “erez.” For example, Solomon used a lot of erez / cedar wood in the Temple as is recorded in 1 Kings 5:20.
Cedar wood is lightweight and rot resistant. The tree known as the Lebanon Cedar can grow up to 130 feet tall.
Though we don’t know for sure the identity of gopher wood, both cypress and cedar are good candidates.
What are Rooms?
Here the relevant Hebrew word is “kinim” which is the plural of “kein” spelled kuf-nun. The basic meaning of kein is nest.
Noah was to build a “nest” or compartment for each species of animal on the ark.
It seems he was to provide a space for each species so it wouldn’t be threatened by other animals and could have its own secure area.
What is Pitch?
Pitch is the translation of the Hebrew “cofer.” It can also be translated as tar or asphalt.
Chizkuni writes that there is an opinion of the Sages in the Gemara that the waters of the flood were very hot. Wouldn’t hot, boiling water melt the pitch?
He concludes that this is a miracle within a miracle. It’s clear the ark was “too small” to hold Noah, his family, and all of the animals. The fact that it did save them all is a miracle.
But we have an additional miracle that the pitch coating was able to withstand the hot waters of the flood.
Three Important Ideas
I want to write a few words about 3 important ideas that are hinted at in our verse.
Why 120 Years?
The beginning of Genesis 6 records the degraded state of mankind. God proclaims that He will grant them an additional 120 years (Genesis 6:3).
In Genesis 6:13 God informs Noah of the coming destruction. Immediately, He tells him that there will be a salvation for those who want to take advantage of it.
God told only Noah about the coming flood.
According to Rashi, God wanted the people of Noah’s generation to see him busy building the ark. The hope was they would ask Noah about his building project. Noah would tell them about the pending destruction and they would repent.
Why an Ark?
Why did God command Noah to build an ark? There are many ways God could have saved Noah and his family that would have been quicker and easier.
It is the way of the Torah to command people to do everything that they are able to do via natural means. Noah can build an ark.
What is not possible for people to do, then God will step in and complete it via a miracle.
What we learn here are two important and related concepts:
1. We don’t rely on a miracle. If there are practical steps we can take, then it’s our responsibility to act.
2. This is also the concept of bitachon (trust) and hishtadlut (effort). I’ve discussed this in other articles.
Inside and Outside with Pitch
Why the requirement to use pitch both inside and outside? Wouldn’t just outside be enough?
Radak writes that God is introducing the idea of redundancy. If the outer pitch suffers a split, the people and animals in the ark will still be protected by the inner layer of pitch.