The Hebrew word used for Noah’s Ark in Genesis is tebah, commonly transliterated as tevah or tebah. In Genesis 6–9, the term refers to Noah’s large vessel during the Flood.
The word is notable because it is also used in Exodus for the basket in which the infant Moses is placed. In both stories, the object protects a vulnerable person from dangerous water. Translators usually render tebah as “ark” in the Noah passage and as “basket” or “ark” in the Moses passage, depending on the translation.
Tebah is distinct from several other Hebrew terms for boats or ships. It does not simply mean a normal seagoing vessel, and the Genesis narrative emphasizes its construction, compartments, coating with pitch, and survival through the waters.
English readers may encounter different spellings because Hebrew is transliterated in multiple ways. Tebah is a short, widely used scholarly form, while tevah reflects another common attempt to represent the Hebrew pronunciation.