Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out.
Parallel translations
- WEB Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch.
- KJV Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
- NKJV Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.
- NASB Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
- NLT “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands Noah to build an ark of gopher wood, sealed with pitch. This vessel will be the means of salvation through the flood.
Overview
The detailed instructions show God providing a concrete way of deliverance in the midst of judgment. The ark, sealed against the waters, becomes a classic picture of salvation, with the New Testament linking the flood to baptism and to being saved through Christ. Noah's obedient building expresses faith in God's word about things not yet seen.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 1 Pet 3:20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.
- Luke 17:27People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
- Matt 24:38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.
- Exod 2:3But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 6:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.