Genesis 6:14

Make thee an ark . תֵּבַת , constr. of תֵּבָה , etymology unknown (Gesenius); of Shemitic origin, from תָּבָה , to be hollow (Furst); of Egyptian derivation, a boat being called tept (Keil, Kalisch, Knobel); from the Sanskrit pota , a pot or boat (Bohlen); "a peculiar archaic term for a very unusual thing, like מַבּוּל , the term for the Flood itself" ( T . Lewis); translated κιβωτο ì ς θι ì βη ( LXX .), area (Vulgate), λα ì ρναξ (Nicolas Damaseenus), πλοι ͂ ον (Berosus); not a ship in the ordinary acceptation of the word, but a box or chest (cf. Exodus 2:3 ) capable of floating on the waters. "Similar vessels, generally, however, drawn by horses or men, were and are still used in some parts of Europe and Asia" (Kalisch). Of gopher wood. Literally, woods of gopher ( גֹפֶר : α ̔ ì παξ λεγ .; the root of which, like כפר , seams to signify to cover (Kalisch); ligna bituminata (Vulgate); pitch trees, resinous trees, such as are used in ship-building (Gesenius); most likely cypress, κυπα ì ρισσος (Bochart, Celsius, Keil), which was used "in some parts of Asia exclusively as the material for ships, in Athens for coffins, and in Egypt for mummy cases" (Kaliseh). "It is said too that the gates of St. Peter's Church at Rome (made of this wood), which lasted from the time of Constantine to that of Eugene IV ; 1. a 1100 years, had in that period suffered no decay" (Bush). Rooms — kinnim, nests, applied metaphorically to the chambers of the ark— shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. וְכָפַרְתָּ בַּכֹּפֶר : literally, shalt cover it with a covering . The substance to be employed was probably bitumen or asphalt ( α ̓ ì σφαλτος , LXX .; bitumen, Vulgate). The root (cf. English, cover) signifies also to pardon sin, i.e. to cover them from God's sight ( Psalms 65:3 ; Psalms 78:38 ; 2 Chronicles 30:18 ), and to make expiation for sin, i.e. to obtain covering for them ( Genesis 32:20 ; Daniel 9:24 ); whence gopher is used for a ransom ( Exodus 21:30 ; Exodus 30:12 ), and capporeth, the covering of the ark ( Exodus 25:17 ), for the mercy-seat ( ι ̔ λαστη ì ριον , LXX .; propitiatorium, Vulgate).