What is the traditional English name of the wood used to build Noah’s Ark?

The traditional English name of the wood used to build Noah’s Ark is gopher wood. Genesis 6:14 tells Noah to make the Ark from “gopher wood,” although the text does not identify a securely known modern tree species.

The expression appears only in this biblical passage, making its exact meaning uncertain. Some translations preserve “gopher wood,” while others render it more generally as “resinous wood” or use another descriptive interpretation.

This uncertainty differs from the story’s clear measurements and sequence of events. Readers can identify the traditional term, but they cannot confidently name a modern botanical species from Genesis alone.

Later retellings sometimes substitute familiar woods, especially when artists or builders create Ark models. Those choices are practical or imaginative additions, not a firm identification supplied by the biblical text.