What is Gopher wood After careful study, of the world pre-flood, soon it may be revealed that deep beneath the many high altitude plains of the continents. This is because of the pine tar and resin found in the wood. Would the magnetic fields of double-planets clash? Gopher is the Hebrew word translated "cypress wood" in the NIV. The team claims to have found in 2007 and 2008 seven large wooden compartments buried at 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level, near the peak of Mount . The same word, is used 14 times in the Bible. Buses take you from the parking lot to the Ark. Answers in Depth explores the biblical worldview in addressing modern scientific research, history, current events, popular media, theology, and much more. Those that offer cypress, cedar, or some other pine are merely guessing based on what lumber might have been suitable for building a large wooden vessel. Gopher is a word unknown elsewhere in Hebrew or allied languages. Perhaps the LXX translators were privy to reliable sources to support this interpretation, but such materials are not available to researchers today. Some researchers believe the word gopher doesn't refer to a species of wood at all; rather, it refers to a process utilized to prepare the wood in the ark's construction. It probably refers to a type of cedar or pine. There is a large number of plants and trees that may have become extinct since the time of Noah. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. Noah is also told in Genesis 6:14 to cover [the Ark] inside and outside with pitch. The word cover is the Hebrew word , or kphar, which literally means to cover and by extension means to insulate or to atone for (by covering). This word is widely used in Mosaic law to describe the process of the high priest making atonement for the sins of the people (i.e., by covering those sins as if thereby protectively insulating the people), such as on Ym Kippr (Day of Atonement). The Ark experience was definitely worth it. Where is the replica of Noahs Ark built? Known as the mournful tree by the Greeks and the Romans, the tree was sacred to the Fates and Furies as well as the rulers of the underworld [like Pluto, the classical ruler of the underworld (see, for example the entry Cyprs in the Dictionnaire des Symboles, by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant)]. Genesis 6:14 states that Noah was to build the Ark of gofer (Hebrew ), more commonly transliterated as gopher wood, a word not otherwise known in the Bible or in Hebrew. They are larger than mice, but typically smaller than rats at around 5 to 14 inches (12.7 to 35.5 centimeters) long. There is a large number of plants and trees that may have become extinct since the time of Noah. Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. Sing praises on the harp to our God, One thing we can know for sure is that gopher wood doesnt have anything to do with the little mammals we call gophers. But this is a wonderful testimony to the truth and continuity of Scripture. Bait the gopher into a live trap and release it far from your property. Any wood suitable for building a large ship is a plausible candidate for gopher wood. The Syriac Peshitta translates this word as arqa, 'box'.[4]. There are some archaeologists who say that gopher may have referred to a lamination process which was done to improve the stability of the wood due to the extreme size and weight of the ark. Gophers are not in the squirrel family, they are in an entirely different family of rodents known as Geomyidae, which includes the beaver. flood destroyed the entire face of the earth, The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications, 50th Anniversary Edition by Morris & Whitcomb. The first three consonants of this term (g-p-r) match the Hebrew consonants in gopher. Today, no one actually knows what gopher wood is. This botanical fact casts an interesting theological light on Genesis 6:14, where God instructs Noah to build a large ship. In the beginning about 6,000 years ago, Jesus Christ created the heavens and the earth out of nothing, or ex nihilo, which I discussed in a previous Mutation-Selection: A Calamitous Creationist Concession. Furthermore, we have shown that gopher was very likely a particular kind of tree rather than a class of hardwoods containing sulphur-bearing lignin. And the most likely reason that the word is plural is that it was going to take more than one of them to make the ark. 10 Reasons God Might Not Be Blessing Your Life, Inspiring Mother Breaks Down after Earning Golden Buzzer with Celine Dion Hit, 7 Things that Will Keep Me from Coming Back to Your Church, 6 Truths about Jesus Coming into the World, 9 Christians You Don't Want to Sit Beside on Sunday Morning, 10 Things You Should Know about the Intermediate State of Death, 'You Raise Me Up' Duet Earns A Standing Ovation From The Judges, 7 Things I Would Do Differently if I Were Raising My Children Again. They believe that it is a process used to prepare the wood in the arks construction. So to my kmowledge these kind of wood do exist nowadays. The gopher tortoise species Gopherus polyphemus is its eldest endangered species living in a certain Southeastern U.S. range. As stated by Tony Evans, obedience in the midst of evil should be the supreme goal and desire of Gods people (The Tony Evans Bible commentary, p. 64). The 3.3 million board feet of wood was harvested from as far away as Oregon and British Columbia. A related and similar word used for pitch, , or kpher, most often describes the covering payment of a ransom for ones life or that of an entire village. What is gopher wood? a) it possesses an high stamina to immersions into sea water, since it is naturally impregnated with resin (); It is estimated there were 600,000 Torreya trees living in the Apalachicola River Valley during the early 1800s. "Gopher" in the KJV is simply a transcription of Hebrew . Expect to take at least three to four hours to get through the arks exhibits. The actual scientific name is "Torreya taxifolia". How could it possibly be the root of the feminine noun gofrit? So why would they be required to make an ark out of brimstone when the world was being Judged by water and not fire. The LXX is often helpful when trying to discover the meaning of Hebrew terms, but in this case, it does not seem to offer much assistance. In some cases, we need to consider whether these guesses are influenced by the unbiblical assumptions that the flood was merely a regional event and that Noah built the ark in the same region in which it landed. In this case, nouns based on the verb to cover (kaphar) can be formed to refer to anything that covers something else. (Actually, its stated in cubits, not feet). As mentioned before, Hebrew nouns are usually derived from verbal roots. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that it was most likely a translation of the Babylonian gushure i erini, 'cedar beams', or the Assyrian giparu, 'reeds'. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Other less common translations avoid the word completely and go with generic phrases like cedar (ISV), lumber (CEV), or timber (GNB). [2] Similarly, the Latin Vulgate (5th century AD) rendered it as de lignis levigatis (lvigatis, in the spelling of the Clementine Vulgate), 'of timber planks'. These trees once grew worldwide before the last ice age, and why a small number have survived in Florida is a real mystery. God continues to speak to us in details that may not even be able to understand or fully know but uses even these small details as a way to bring himself glory and honor. Gophers are considerably smaller than groundhogs at only about 2 or 3 pounds. However, leading academic lexicons like HALOT and Clines give this word four separate entries, making it clear that this is not one word with four separate meanings. Third, although there is no known etymological connection between these terms, it would be possible that they were related conceptually if the known meanings of the terms overlapped. Connect on Facebook or at JasonSoroski.net. Look at what the leading lexical reference works have to say about this term. What an amazing bio! Who by Lori Fausak and Susan Windsor* You're almost done! Groundhogs are bigger and stockier and they hibernate in the winter, unlike gophers, which have special cheek pouches. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Since the Bible does not provide enough information for us to make such a determination, we simply have no way of knowing what gopher wood is today. As we seek to know why Noah used gopher wood to build the ark, the simple, and perhaps very obvious answer is this: God told him to. Linear Algebra - Linear transformation question. What in the world is gopher wood? Well, thats a difficult question to answer because it requires us to properly identify gopher wood (or gopherwood in some Bibles). Scripture is filled with little details that are unknown to us, and may even be confusing. The word they chose is tetragonos () or "four-cornered," which gave rise to speculation that this might actually be some early form of laminate or cross-grained plywood sheets. There is no translation for this tree. Gopher tree can be cypress or any of the following: cedar, pine, ebony, fir, wicker, juniper, acacia, bulrushes, and boxwood. Try downloading another browser like Chrome or Firefox. When we dig deeper into the Hebrew, we begin to find enlightening connections. This site is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a subsidiary of, Copyright 2023, Crosswalk.com. By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. The Arks framing consists of Englemann spruce, and the exterior is made mostly of Accoya wood sustainable, insect-resistant radiata pine that undergoes an acetylation process to make it class 1 durable. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament dating back 300 years before Christ, translates it to mean squared timber. Ark Encounter theme park located on a hill in Grant County, Kentucky, United States. Pine knots burn especially hot because they are almost pure pitch. To access a file or document, a person using a Gopher client types the URL of an accessible Gopher server. A bribe or ransom covers a debt. Perhaps the most famous ship known for its size is the Titanic. For example, the word translated in English as ark is , but this same word is used in the Greek New Testament to speak of the ark of the covenant (Hebrews 9:4, Revelation 11:19). What made some animals clean and others unclean (Genesis 7)? The Final World: Renovation or New Creation? Gopher tree can be cypress or any of the following: cedar, pine, ebony, fir, wicker, juniper, acacia, bulrushes, and boxwood. Article Images Copyright . Many people have seen pictures of Devils Tower or visited the site in Wyoming. Reflecting on an Ancient Mystery. HALOT suggests that gofrit is a loan word from a non-Semitic language or perhaps an Eastern Semitic language like Akkadian. Gopher wood or gopherwood is a term used once in the Bible for the substance from which Noahs ark was built. We walked the entire Ark in about 3 hours and were able to see all of the displays and informational pieces. Pick up the scripture in Genesis 6:14 "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." I would like to show 4 aspects of Noah's ark for us to think about and, once again, to make things easier to remember I will let each thought begin with the letter "S". There is no way for us to know at present whether the timbers squared of the LXX is an accurate translation of the Hebrew text, which technically refers to trees of gopher. The word can also refer to sticks or logs. Furthermore, since the word wood (i.e., tree or timber) in gopher wood is the plural form of the Hebrew (), this fits well with the fact that wooden ships are typically built of many types of hardwood. Australian Buloke: This is an ironwood tree that is native to Australia, with a Janka hardness of 5,060 lbf. Some of what they find, like mammoths, are expected, while others leave a mystery behind. It is a species of tree that grows only in Blountstown Florida. @NigelJ Gophrith actually means brimstone, something like that. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? @NigelJ can you support your claim that the root of Gopher is Gophrith? Answer (1 of 14): Gopher wood it thought to be not a particular type of wood but the way the wood was used, today we have block board, which is strips of wood overlaid with plywood, we also have ply wood sheets, Gopher wood is thought to be the technique used to fasten the wood or hold it togethe. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. As the written documentation of Gods interaction with humanity, the Bible is filled with miraculous and amazing events. In modern terms, when we talk about a new deck, wooden privacy fences, or beautifully crafted bookshelves, we are not referring to the type of tree used to create them, but the finish and purpose of the wood. It only takes a minute to sign up. In 1933, the state legislature passed a law protecting the Torreya. Answer (1 of 136): The biblical use of the word gopher wood is actually not a correct translation. It was found frozen under ice, preserved for thousands . Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! [3] The Aramaic Targum Onkelos, considered by many Jews to be an authoritative translation of the Hebrew scripture, renders this word as qadros, 'cedar'. It is 155 meters (510 ft) long. The primary and most important thing to keep in mind is that even when we dont understand, we can always see examples set by faithful people such as Noah, and respond when God calls us to follow him. Not a detail left undone. It could be a good material for different home accessories as well as home accents.