In the Genesis story of Noah’s Ark, Noah was told to build the vessel from gopher wood.
Genesis 6:14 uses the Hebrew expression commonly rendered in English as “gopher wood.” The term appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, which means its precise botanical or technical meaning is uncertain. Some translations retain “gopherwood,” while others use more general wording such as “resinous wood.”
The same instruction says that Noah should make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch. Pitch would have helped waterproof the wooden structure, an important detail in the narrative’s description of construction.
Gopher wood is sometimes incorrectly identified with a specific modern tree. No surviving evidence establishes that it means cedar, cypress, or another particular species. The distinctive answer is therefore the traditional translation, not a confirmed modern timber identification.