The Mystery of 'Gopher' Wood in the Bible

In the Bible, the term "gopher" wood is mentioned only once, in the story of Noah's Ark. Despite its prominent role, the meaning of this term remains a mystery to scholars and theologians. Some theories suggest it could refer to a type of cypress or cedar wood, while others propose it might be a specific method of wood preparation.

#bible #theology #biblestudy #deconstruction #languages

[charlesco]

It could be a location of a specific tree type but more likely it is a process to make it "Gopher." What say "Gopher" means waterproof by staining it in pitch tar. Gopherith means brimstone or pitch.

[moisessalazar]

gopher (גֹּפֶר, gofer) wood seems to be an akkadian cognate(gupru).That verse has very peculiar words believed to be akkadian cognates

[joshualeonpearl]

Onkelos translates "עצי גפר" as "אעין דקדרום" - which means cedar wood. Also, see the Nesinah LaGer (by Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler) for a more detailed explanation of the word קרדום and his contention that this is a type of wood found in the area of Ararat.
The Yashar of Gorizia agrees that it is cedar wood that grows in the area of Ararat.
The Ralbag agrees and says that it is a very long-lasting wood, and that it is cedar wood.
In Sanhedrin 108b, Rav Adda says in the name of the academy of Rav Sheila, that עצי גפר is either wood of the "מבליגא" tree or wood of the "גולמיש" tree. Jastrow identifies both of these as species of cedar.
Rav Saadia Gaon translates it as "כ̇שב אלשמשאר", which means "Shamshar wood." Shamshar is Arabic for "boxwood".
Rav Menachem ibn Saruq explains that the word "גפר" is etymologically related to "גפרית", which means "sulfur", and so refers to an "עץ קל", "a light wood."
The Radak, Rabbeinu Bahya, and Ibn Ezra agree, saying that it is the name of a wood the rides lightly on water.
In more modern times, Jastrow identifies גפר as a "resinous tree." Brown-Driver-Briggs agrees, explaining that this is because it is etymologically linked to "כופר", which means pitch. Thus, גפר would mean pitched wood, i.e., resinous wood.
The Shadal identifies "עצי גפר" as wood by the name of גפר and says that the resin that it produces is כופר (pitch). He also quotes the dissenting view of Celsus and Bochart that גפר is "cupressus", which is Latin for cypress.
Chizkuni explains that this is wood, the resin of which yields sulfur, and that it is not soluble in water - "גפרית יוצא ממנו ואינו כלה במים
".

[holdingpattern]

What's funny is that Hebrews tended not to write the vowels in words, since it saves space and vowels barely matter in Hebrew anyway, but it does create confusion sometimes. For example, no one can figure out who the Biblical king "Nimrod" is, but some people think that it is actually "En-Mardu" meaning "king of the Amorites, " you'll notice that the consonants (N-M-R-D) are exactly the same. So "gopher" could be any word or phrase with that exact sequence of consonants, and is probably a foreign loanword.

[physchir]

I went looking for ply trees. Isn't that where they get plywood?

[Tom_McMurtry]

With massive floods it wouldn't be surprising for a localized species of tree to go extinct. Or even a large regional tree

[carenann]

I appreciate how you deconstruct the bible.

[The_mrbob]

I’m not religious but find your videos very interesting.

[mordechaifogel]

Also, the Hebrew language was used as a language of liturgy, poetry, and study, as well as communication between different parts of the Jewish diaspora for the entire time it was “dead”. It began being used more widely as a language of daily communication in the 1500’s when Jews began emigrating in large numbers to Jerusalem and Safed

[plankton]

Important to keep in mind Hebrew didn't totally die out in the time between 200AD and 18th century. It was still used by the Hebrew faith for religious purposes.

[Dagfari]

The Septuagint, translated by people for whom the Hebrew language had not been lost, has it as "square timber", where GFR is "square".

[denielalain]

hello.
nice, this transition was pretty good :D
interesting story also

[QuitaLovesSports]

Love this channel! Thanks for the info

[bagobongdako]

RESINOUS TREE
A tree whose wood Noah used in the construction of the ark but which cannot be identified with any degree of certainty. (Ge 6:14) The King James Version simply transliterates the Hebrew name. On the basis of the similarity between the Hebrew name and the Hebrew term for “tar” (“pitch, ” KJ; Heb., koʹpher) some relate it to some kind of resinous tree. Scholars generally favor the cypress, which is a very durable tree, extremely resistant to decay.​

[צביקהכהן-סע]

I am Jewish and I think I have insight on Gopher.
In Hebrew our word for sulfur is "גופרית"(gophrit) and as you can see it comes from the same root: g, ph, r.
In Hebrew words that have the same root have similar meanings. I don't know for sure what is the connection but I am sure that there is one.

[taustyz]

In Arabic, the word Gh-F-R(Ghafara) means to cover up or conceal, and it can also be used to mean forgiveness.

[adrianguntherkeedle]

I'm not religious, in any way, but this channel has really caught my attention. I think what you're doing is very insightful into the creation of religion. You're poking holes into what people believe in and challenging literal text that have been used for

[joebaxter]

That was a clean loop. Kudos to your editing.

[Chrismbo]

Just found this channel. I love etymology, especially of the ancient biblical language! I even have the French bible "Bible de Chouraqui" which is meant to be a more accurate Hebrew translation into French.

[Mrmaverickism]

You should do a video on the revival of Hebrew as a spoke. Language. The method was very human