 | Noach |  |
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| | 6:14 |
'Make yourself an ark of cypress wood. Divide the ark into compartments. Caulk the inside and outside with pitch.
Aseh lecha tevat atsey-gofer kinim ta'aseh et-hatevah vechafarta otah mibayit umichuts bakofer. |
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Commentary:
cypress
Gopher in Hebrew. This word is usually translated as cypress, since it is assumed that the Greek word for cypress, kyparissos (from kaphar or gaphar), is derived from the Hebrew. The commentaries also state that it is a species of pine (Abarbanel), or boxwood (Ibn Janach, based on Saadia Gaon). The Targum renders it as kadrom or kadros, which the Talmud defines as a species of cedar (Rosh HaShanah 23a). The Talmud itself translates gopher as mabliga or golmish, both species of cedar (Sanhedrin 108b, Rosh HaShanah 23a; cf. Arukh s.v. Adar). The Septuagint, however, translates it as 'squared timber.'
| ark
Tevah in Hebrew, literally a box. This indicates that it did not have the shape of a boat (Abarbanel).
| pitch
Kofer in Hebrew. The word also denotes asphalt or bitumen. See Genesis 11:3.
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