In Genesis, what material is Noah told to use when building the Ark?

In Genesis, Noah is told to build the Ark from gopher wood.

The instruction appears in Genesis 6:14, where the Hebrew term is traditionally translated into English as “gopher wood.” The text does not clearly identify a modern tree species, so “gopher” is generally treated as an uncertain or possibly specialized ancient term rather than a confidently identified botanical name.

The same verse tells Noah to make rooms in the Ark and coat it with pitch inside and out. Pitch is a waterproofing substance, and this detail helps explain how the story presents the vessel as capable of surviving the floodwaters. The Ark’s construction instructions are followed by its measurements in the next verse.

Readers sometimes assume that “gopher wood” names a familiar tree such as cedar or cypress. Those identifications have been proposed over time, but Genesis itself does not settle the question. The stable textual answer is the traditional phrase “gopher wood.”