What wood does Genesis say Noah’s Ark was made from?

Genesis says Noah’s Ark was made from gopher wood.

Genesis 6:14 instructs Noah to make the Ark from “gopher wood,” traditionally rendered with that phrase in many English translations. The Hebrew term appears only in this passage, so its exact botanical meaning is uncertain. “Gopher wood” is therefore a traditional translation rather than the securely identified name of a modern tree species.

Some interpreters have proposed that the word could refer to cypress, resinous wood, or a construction method involving wooden beams. No proposal has achieved universal agreement, and the biblical text itself does not identify a species in terms modern readers can verify.

This detail is often confused with the Ark of the Covenant, which Exodus describes as being made from acacia wood. Those are separate objects in different biblical narratives. The Ark in the flood story is the large vessel built by Noah.