Gopher wood
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Gopher wood or gopherwood is a term used once in the Bible, to describe the material used to construct Noah's Ark. Script error: No such module "Bibleverse". states that Noah was instructed to build the Ark of Template:Transliteration (Script error: No such module "Lang".), commonly transliterated as Template:Transliteration wood, a word not otherwise used in the Bible or the Hebrew language in general (a Script error: No such module "Lang".). Although some English Bibles attempt a translation, older English translations such as the King James Version (17th century) leave it untranslated. The word is unrelated to the name of the North American animal known as the gopher.[1]
Identity
The Greek Septuagint (3rd–1st centuries BC) translates the phrase as Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Grc-transl), Template:Gloss, translating Template:Translit as Template:Gloss.[2] Similarly, the Latin Vulgate (5th century AD) rendered it as Script error: No such module "Lang". (Script error: No such module "Lang"., in the spelling of the Clementine Vulgate), Template:Gloss.
The Jewish Encyclopedia states that it was most likely a translation of the Akkadian term Template:Transliteration, Template:Gloss, or the Assyrian Template:Transliteration, Template:Gloss.[3] Ancient and modern kuphar boats on the Tigris and Euphrates are also built of reeds, waterproofed with pitch. The Aramaic Targum Onkelos renders this word as Template:Transliteration, Template:Gloss. The Syriac Peshitta translates this word as Template:Transliteration, Template:Gloss (boxwood).[4]
Many modern English translations favor an identification with cypress. This was espoused (among others) by Adam Clarke, a Methodist theologian famous for his commentary on the Bible: Clarke cited a resemblance between the Greek word for cypress, κυπάρισσος Template:Transliteration, and the Hebrew word Template:Transliteration. Likewise, the Script error: No such module "Lang". (20th century) has it as Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Gloss.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Others, noting the visual similarity between the Hebrew letters Template:Transliteration (Template:Script) and Template:Transliteration (Template:Script), suggest that the word may actually be Template:Transliteration, the Hebrew word meaning Template:Gloss: thus Template:Transliteration wood would be Template:Gloss. Later suggestions for a dynamic equivalent of the word have included Template:Gloss (to strengthen the Ark), or a now-lost type of tree, but there is no consensus.[5]
References
External links
- Gopherwood and Construction of the Ark Template:Webarchive
- The Free Dictionary - "Gopherwood" (giving a definition of Cladrastis kentukea)