Genesis 6 · Verse 14

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.
Genesis 6:14, King James Version

Genesis 6:14 in other translations

BSBMake for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out.
WEBMake a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch.
ASVMake thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
YLT‘Make for thyself an ark of gopher-wood; rooms dost thou make with the ark, and thou hast covered it within and without with cypress;
DARBYMake thyself an ark of gopher wood: with cells shalt thou make the ark; and pitch it inside and outside with pitch.
BBEMake for yourself an ark of gopher wood with rooms in it, and make it safe from the water inside and out.
WebsterMake thee an ark of gopher-wood: rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

What does Genesis 6:14 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
14. Make thee an ark--ark, a hollow chest (Ex 2:3). gopher wood--probably cypress, remarkable for its durability and abounding on the Armenian mountains. rooms--cabins or small cells. pitch it within and without--mineral pitch, asphalt, naphtha, or some bituminous substance, which, when smeared over and become hardened, would make it perfectly watertight.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 14 Make thee an ark - תבת tebath, a word which is used only to express this vessel, and that in which Moses was preserved, Exo 2:3, Exo 2:5. It signifies no more than our word vessel in its common acceptation - a hollow place capable of containing persons, goods, etc., without any particular reference to shape or form. Gopher wood - Some think the cedar is meant; others, the cypress. Bochart renders this probable, 1. From the appellation, supposing the Greek word κυπαρισσος, cypress, was formed from the Hebrew גפר, gopher; for take away the termination ισσος, and then gopher and κυπαρ will have a near resemblance. 2. Because the cypress is not liable to rot, nor to be injured by worms. 3. The cypress was anciently used for ship-building. 4. This wood abounded in Assyria, where it is probable Noah built the ark. After all, the word is of doubtful signification, and occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. The Septuagint render the place, εκ ξυλων τετραγωνων, "of square timber;" and the Vulgate, de lignis laevigatis, "of planed timber;" so it is evident that these translators knew not what kind of wood was intended by the original. The Syriac and Arabic trifle with the passage, rendering it wicker work, as if the ark had been a great basket! Both the Targums render it cedar; and the Persian, pine or fir.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 6:12-21

God told Noah his purpose to destroy the wicked world by water. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, Psa 25:14. It is with all believers, enabling them to understand and apply the declarations and warnings of the written word. God chose to do it by a flood of waters, which should drown the world. As he chooses the rod with which he corrects his children, so he chooses the sword with which he cuts off…

Read the full comment on Genesis 6:12-21 →

Genesis 6:14 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

עֲשֵׂ֤ה'a.SehmakeH6213
לְךָ֙le.Khafor <the> yourself
תֵּבַ֣תte.Vatan ark ofH8392
עֲצֵי\־'a.tzei-wood<s> ofH6086
גֹ֔פֶרGo.fergopherH1613
קִנִּ֖יםki.NimnestsH7064
תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֣הta.'a.Sehyou will makeH6213
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַתֵּבָ֑הha.te.Vahthe arkH8392
וְכָֽפַרְתָּ֥ve.kha.far.Taand you will coverH3722
אֹתָ֛הּ'o.Tah<obj.> itH853
מִבַּ֥יִתmi.Ba.yitfrom insideH1004
וּמִח֖וּץu.mi.Chutzand from outsideH2351
בַּכֹּֽפֶר\׃ba.Ko.ferwith <the> pitchH3724

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 6:14

  • 1 Peter 3:20

    Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

  • Luke 17:27

    They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

  • Matthew 24:38

    For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

  • Exodus 2:3

    And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A.M. 1536. B.C. 2468. Make.
Mt 24:38; Lu 17:27; 1Pe 3:20
rooms. Heb. nests. shalt pitch.
Ex 2:3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 6:13

    And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

  • 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.

  • Genesis 6:15

    And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

Read all of Genesis 6

Genesis 6:14 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Hazte un arca de madera de Gopher: harás aposentos en el arca, y la embetunarás con brea por dentro y por fuera.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Fais-toi une arche de bois de gopher. Tu feras l’arche avec des loges, et tu l’enduiras de poix en dedans et en dehors.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Mache dir eine Arche von Gopherholz; mit Kammern sollst du die Arche machen und sie von innen und von außen mit Harz verpichen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Fac tibi arcam de lignis lævigatis; mansiunculas in arca facies, et bitumine linies intrinsecus et extrinsecus.