Genesis names gopher wood as the material used to build Noah’s Ark. Genesis 6:14 instructs Noah to make the Ark from “gopher wood,” although the text does not identify a modern tree species with certainty.
The Hebrew expression appears only once in the Bible, making its precise meaning difficult to establish. Some translations preserve the phrase as “gopher wood,” while others have proposed descriptions such as cypress wood or resinous wood. These alternatives are interpretations rather than universally accepted identifications.
This uncertainty is different from the Ark’s dimensions, which Genesis states numerically. The biblical account gives measurements, decks, compartments, and an opening, but it does not provide a modern construction specification or a confirmed botanical identity for gopher wood.