ARTB Bible Blog

You make a box of GOPHER wood and make NESTS in the box. Atone its housing on the outside with henna. (Genesis 6:14, ARTB)

A note from A. Frances Werner:

My last blog posting dealt with the second half of this verse, commenting on the words ATONE and HENNA.  I mentioned that there had to have been waterproofing materials used on the ark. But HENNA is not a waterproofing material like the bitumen and pitch.  So where is it?

The word GOPHER (Strong's 1613) has been a mystery for many years.  There has never been a species of tree that matches to this designation, and since it appears only once in the entire scriptures, it has been very difficult to discern.  I believe a credible answer is found in ARAMAIC.  Jastrow's Dictionary*, page 263 shows the entry to mean "to make water-tight", "sulphur [or bitumen, pitch]".

The Hebrews were not shipbuilders.  The famous shipbuilders were to the north, in Lebanon, closer to the center of the Aramaic world. I believe Yahweh was instructing Noah to build a boat with WATERPROOFED wood.  Further evidence comes from a book on EMULSIONS** which explain that the word bitumen is what we call asphalt in the US. Combining bitumen and sulphur make it a longlasting waterproofing emulsion.

I know from working in the rubber chemical industry supporting the tire business that SULFUR was the key ingredient to make rubber sap solidify to the product we know as RUBBER.  So, a WATERPROOFING product made of sulphur and bitumen seems like a very credible answer.  

The other fun word is the word NEST (QEN, Strong's 7064).  It is used 13 times in the Old Testament, and 9 times in the Aramaic New Testament.  Most other versions use the word ROOM here, even though they generally use the word NEST everywhere else. Isn't that a lovely word from a nurturing God? 

*Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature,  Marcus Jastrow 1945, reprinted in 2005, Hendrickson Publishers.

**Emulsions and emulsion stability, Johan Sjöblom, 2005 CRC Press. More information on emulsions can be found online by typing the combination SULFUR BITUMEN EMULSIONS.

Just published this at the discussion site on GOPHER wood at wikipedia if you'd like to join the discussion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Gopher_wood#New_theory:_GOPHER_is_an_Aramaic_word_for_WATERPROOFING_involving_sulphur_and_bitumen.

ATONE its housing on the outside with HENNA. (Genesis 6:14, ARTB)

A note from A. Frances Werner:

This is part of the instructions from Yahweh for the construction of Noah's box, or vessel.  Most other translations are closer to the KJV: "and PITCH it within and without with PITCH".

Even during the publication of the ARTB Old Testament, I was always uncomfortable including the word ATONE in the text here, because it was so odd.  But it truly is the same Hebrew word KAPARET (Strong's 3727) which is used over 25 times in the Old Testament. By far, the use of the word ATONE is associated with the SANCTUARY ARK and in sacrifices for our sins. KAPARET has nothing to do with the words BITUMEN (Strong's 2564, HEMER) and PITCH (Strong's 2203, ZEPET) used in Exodus to seal Moses' box.

The word HENNA is, in fact, more odd.  First of all, the Hebrew is related to the word KAPARET. The text word is KAPAR (Strong's 3724), which is why other versions utilize the same word twice.  At first glance, this would appear to violate the ARTB cornerstone policy of consistently utilizing the same words throughout. But scholars believe that the word KAPAR is the word for the plant CAMPHIRE, a beautiful smelling plant that is called HENNA today.

There had to have been waterproofing materials used on the ark. But HENNA is not a waterproofing material like the bitumen and pitch.    It is an ancient RED dye commonly used as a hair dye and a tatoo dye today.  So is it possible that Yahweh instructed Noah to paint the vessel RED?  How could that be a correct rendering of the verse? 

All Jews and Christians know that the blood of the Passover lamb on the wood doorposts saved the Israelites from the angel of death.  Christians believe that salvation comes from being washed in the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.  My friends, I believe that this is the same story for Noah.  His box was ATONED with a RED dye for his protection and salvation of all on the box. 

Look at Passover again.  Is it possible that the blood on the doorposts not only saved them from the angel of death, but that this was a HUGE signal that they were soon to experience salvation amidst a lot of water, just like Noah? Selah.

All of our modern depictions and cute sets for our children show it as a brown wooden structure.  If you have young children, or are teaching Sunday school, consider painting or even just pasting a RED sheet of construction paper over your pictures and telling all the stories about RED.  This is a hugely important lesson to reinforce the importance of the protection of the atoning throughout the bible.     

All creatures were wiped from over the face of the earth. Humans unto animals unto reptiles and unto the birds of the heaven were wiped from the land. (Genesis 7:23, ARTB)

A note from A. Frances Werner:

On Monday, when the comparative pictures from Japan appeared on the news and in the papers, I was stunned.  The pictures, especially from Google Earth, showed entire peninsulas before and after the tsunami, changed from vibrant towns to nothing but dark, deep muck.   I had never before seen what it meant to be WIPED off the face of the earth.   I don't ever recall photos of other events which captured the meaning of WIPED for me.  This was it. 

I reflected that I never had considered that the Great Flood may have contained tsunami events.  But severe floods only FLOAT things around.  They can be destroyed but don't disappear: Everything just settles very jumbled with a lot of mud.  Floods don't WIPE towns away in the same sense that Japan has suffered.

The people in Japan are in my prayers.   I'm sobered that I learned this lesson at their expense.