In the Book of Genesis, what wood is Noah’s Ark said to be made from?

In the Book of Genesis, Noah’s Ark is said to be made from gopher wood.

Genesis 6:14 gives the instruction to make the ark from “gopher wood,” but the biblical text does not identify what modern tree or timber that term means. As a result, translations and commentaries have proposed several possibilities, including cypress, cedar, and resinous wood. “Gopher wood” remains the traditional English rendering and the canonical answer to this wording.

The ark’s construction instructions also mention rooms, a coating of pitch, and three decks. The pitch was intended to make the vessel watertight. The word “ark” in this story refers to a large chest-like vessel, rather than a conventional sailing ship with a described rudder or sail.

The term should not be confused with the Hebrew word used for the Ark of the Covenant. They are different objects in different biblical narratives, although both are often translated with the English word “ark.”