Gopher Wood

[Ktoyou]

I thought gopher was someone who did things for you.

 

[CherubRam]

The word 'gopher' was an American English neologism, probably derived in the 19th C from the French for honeycomb in reference to the burrows of the rodent.

If a similar word appeared in the bible then it has to have meant something else (the Bible wasn't written in English, after all), so it was probably just a term for a type of wood whose meaning has been lost, as the context suggests.

I answered your question. (Goper wood / Gopher wood) means hewn wood. It was not a particular tree.

 

[rako]

I think I read that "gopher" word, based on etymology of Hebrew and similar languages and on the Septuagint, means "pitch".

Either this was a special kind of wood that was called "pitch" (tar), or it just meant that the wood must be treated with pitch.

 

[Yoḥanon-benYaʿăqov]

“Gopher wood,” is merely a transliteration of the Hebrew phrase - עֲצֵי־גֹפֶר- ʿătzéy-gofer, which literally means “trees of gofer.” Which simply means a resinous tree, it’s not rocket science.

 

[CherubRam]

“Gopher wood,” is merely a transliteration of the Hebrew phrase - עֲצֵי־גֹפֶר- ʿătzéy-gofer, which literally means “trees of gofer.” Which simply means a resinous tree, it’s not rocket science.

The Hebrew word for "tree" is also translated as "wood."

 

[gcthomas]

I think I read that "gopher" word, based on etymology of Hebrew and similar languages and on the Septuagint, means "pitch".

Either this was a special kind of wood that was called "pitch" (tar), or it just meant that the wood must be treated with pitch.

That is true if gopher was a mis-transcription of kopher (pitch, tar): the g and k letters do look very similar in hebrew. It is as likely as any other translation, since gopher doesn't appear in any other hebrew writing not anywhere else in the Bible.

 

[Desert Reign]

It's a great pleasure to see a thread about Noah's Ark that doesn't consist of people bashing each other over the head about whether it is a historical or mythical account. Its just brilliant to see them bashing each other over something else for a change.

 

[patrick jane]

It's a great pleasure to see a thread about Noah's Ark that doesn't consist of people bashing each other over the head about whether it is a historical or mythical account. Its just brilliant to see them bashing each other over something else for a change.

But what about the pitch DR ?

 

[chair]

“Gopher wood,” is merely a transliteration of the Hebrew phrase - עֲצֵי־גֹפֶר- ʿătzéy-gofer, which literally means “trees of gofer.” Which simply means a resinous tree, it’s not rocket science.

Apparently to some of us here this is rocket science. Hebrew Gofer, a kind of wood, gets connected to English Gopher, a kind of rodent. Makes perfect sense- if you know nothing about language.

 

[LoneStar]

H1613
גּפר
gôpher

BDB Definition:
1) cypress?, gopher, gopher wood
1a) wood of which the ark was made
1b) meaning and exact type unknown​

Part of Speech: noun masculine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from an unused root, probably meaning to house in




It does seem as though the type of wood used was of a resinous kind.
The same word appears in the 'brimstone' translation.

Deuteronomy 29:23 KJV
(23) And that the whole land thereof is brimstone [H1614], and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:​

Isaiah 34:9 KJV
(9) And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone [H1614], and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.​

STRONG'S
H1614
גּפרית
gophrı̂yth
gof-reeth'
Probably feminine of H1613; properly cypress resin; by analogy sulphur (as equally inflammable): - brimstone.


BROWN-DRIVER-BRIGGS
H1614
גּפרית
gophrı̂yth

BDB Definition:
1) brimstone
1a) of judgment (figuratively)
1b) of Jehovah’s breath (figuratively)​

Part of Speech: noun feminine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: probably from H1613