The Hebrew word commonly translated as Noah’s Ark in Genesis is tevah.
In the Hebrew Bible, the noun tevah refers to the vessel Noah builds in the Flood story. The same unusual word is also used for the basket in which the infant Moses is placed in Exodus, creating a linguistic link between the two rescue narratives.
English translations normally render tevah as “ark,” a traditional term meaning a chest or large container. It is different from the Hebrew words used for ordinary ships elsewhere in the Bible. The translation emphasizes the vessel’s role as a protected container rather than assigning it the vocabulary of a conventional sailing ship.
The linguistic connection does not mean the two stories are identical. Noah’s tevah carries people and animals through the Flood, while Moses’ basket carries one child on the Nile. In both cases, however, the word describes a vessel that preserves life through dangerous waters.