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Ark out of redwood

granpa

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Gopher wood:
Gopher wood
Gopher wood or gopherwood is a term used once in the Bible,
for the substance from which Noah's ark was built.
Gen 6:14 states that Noah was to build the Ark of גפר, gofer, more commonly gopher wood,
a word not otherwise known in the Bible or in Hebrew.

Its identity has not been established with certainty.
Older English translations, including the King James Version (17th century), simply leave it untranslated

...there is no consensus

The Pitch of Noah's Ark
Gesenius' Hebrew-Latin Lexicon suggests that etse-gofer refers to a resinous tree like spruce, cypress or cedar. This dictionary suggests that the verbal root gpr is a variation of kpr and also means to cover.

In conclusion, not only can we conclude that a resinous tree product is the undoubted source of the pitch used by Noah in Genesis chapter six,
we can see that the word used for covering in the Hebrew text has deep spiritual connotations,
as well as textual interconnections that should confirm, bolster and fortify the faith of Bible-believing Christians,
rather than to damage our belief in the truth of God's word
Rosin
Varnish
Wood finishing

gopher (resinous) wood -גֹּ֫פֶר
pitch, resin - כֹּ֫פֶר
cover over (specifically with pitch) - כָּפַר
olive tree - oil tree

mighty - גִּבּוֹר
cherub - כְּרוּב
sword - חָ֫רֶב


Redwood:
The truly Amazing Redwood tree
To someone who has never seen one, a Redwood tree must seem to be something from a tall tale.
Averaging eight feet to as much as twenty feet in diameter,
and some as tall as three hundred seventy five feet.
That is a tree taller than the Statue of Liberty, from base of the pedestal to the tip of the torch.
A tree larger around and through than a Greyhound bus.
Absolutely the largest living thing on earth

Once found almost world-wide, their natural range is now restricted to
the foggy coastal belt of Northern California (the sequoia sempervirens),
a strip in the Sierra Nevada mountains of sequoiadendron gigantia
and a small group of meta sequoia (Dawn Redwood) in a remote valley in China

They will grow about anywhere, as evidenced by photos
people have sent us over the years of trees growing in such disparate places as
Fresno California, Waycross Georgia, Florida and even one hardy voyager in Phoenix Arizona

Coastal Redwoods have the unique ability to survive rising soil levels over their immense lifespans.
Rising ground levels are commonly brought about by flood deposits,
deposits that typically smother other trees root systems, killing them.

Couple this with redwoods ability to survive long periods of immersion
and their immense durability in the face of flood borne debris
and you will realize that the redwood can survive and indeed
thrive in flood planes that wipe out less hardy tree species

Redwood is very resistant to water associated rot.
It is not uncommon to drill a well in a creek bed in this area and end up drilling right through a redwood log that may have been buried there for thousands of years.
The wood comes out of the pipe sound and in good shape


The Ark:
I suggest that the ark was not a ship but a Pleasure barge or rather 3
100-cubit-long barges each made from a single redwood tree.
Interlinear genesis description of Ark

first, 3 redwood trees would each be split lengthwise into 5 enormous sections each.
Another poster has suggested that a battering ram and a wedge
would have been used to split it along its grain.
I dont know whether that would work or not.
(Even if you only tapped the redwood once every 30 sec and it only moved 1/10th mm each time
then it would still only take 6 months to go through the whole tree)

3 of these enormous sections would form the foundation of each barge.
This foundation would be so large that, even with the weight of the ark on it,
it (the foundation) would remain partly above water.
(the density of redwood is half that of water)
Therefore the barge wouldnt even need to be waterproof to stay afloat.
The 2 outer pieces of each tree would form the sides of each Barge.


Size of the Ark:
1. The dimensions of the ark are probably slightly exaggerated.
(The round numbers do seem a bit suspicious)
2. The cubits used are probably short cubits (6 palms, 24 fingers).
3. The cubits are probably those of a people whose average height
was significantly smaller than the average height today.
4. The redwoods used may have been grown under ideal conditions and therefore been unusually large​


Building of the Ark:
if the Egyptians could built pyramids and obelisks out of stone
then they (& others) could certainly build an ark out of wood.
Of course, building an ark out of wood would be much easier and require far fewer people
than building a pyramid or obelisk out of stone.

we arent told how many worked on the ark.
nothing in the story implies that noah and his sons did it all themselves
Noah being from a long line of kings beginning with Adam
could simply have ordered it to be built.

One very easy way to raise and lower such large pieces of redwood would be to
use a river (like the nile) with large seasonal variations in water level

I assume that the redwood tree was felled into water then floated up river to the site​


Trees:
8And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

19 He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.

23 In the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits[a] high. 24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. 26 The height of each cherub was ten cubits. 27 He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
14 So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”


6And Abram passeth over into the land, unto the place Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh;

13And one who is escaping cometh and declareth to Abram the Hebrew, and he is dwelling among the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, and they [are] Abram's allies.

10As to the visions of my head on my bed, I was looking, and lo, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height [is] great:
11become great hath the tree, yea, strong, and its height doth reach to the heavens, and its vision to the end of the whole land;


the flood account is probably a dream or vision that Noah had.
(It may have been based on similar real events though)
In the dream he filled his ark, his floating palace, with animals & food and rode out a great flood.
At the end of it he was cursing Canaan and then he awoke.

the story paints us a picture but as usual, like the parables of Jesus,
it is left to the reader to decide for themselves what the point is.
(hint:there might be more than one)

Gen 11:9
Therefore the name of it is called 'Babel' because there the Lord did overflow the shore of all the earth

__________________
 
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barryrob

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Exodus 25:10
"And they must make an Ark of acacia* wood, two and a half cubits its length and a cubit and a half its width and a cubit and a half its height.

*J. Strong Hebrew #7848 שׁטּים שׁטּה .. Feminine of a derivative (the second form being only in the plural, meaning the sticks of wood) from the same as H7850; the acacia (from its scourging thorns): - tah, tim. See also H1029.
 
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Jpark

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If redwood, as you say and show, is indeed that tall, how did Noah and his sons successfully construct a ark from these in a limited time (Gen. 6:3 "...his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.")? 120 days is about 3 months. You mentioned 6 months.

Was it the result of extraordinary perseverance in work, God's intervention and assistance, or something else?

Because of this, and multiple other reasons, such as Gen. 1:7, I believe that Noah and his sons were giants.

It's much more sound than angels mating with women:

Bibleland Studios - Were Adam and Eve Giants?

And the Flood was global. Why is there no evidence? I think it's because people are looking in the wrong places and looking at the wrong dates.

Ancient snakes that had legs lived around 90 mya. Some modern snakes have tiny leg bones that are apparently vestigial. Gen. 3:14 implies snakes losing their legs and probably indicates immediacy rather than slow change over time. So the fall of man likely happened in the Late Cretaceous period. Also, only around such a time could there be sustaining waters in the midst of the air that enabled man to live hundreds of years.

Gen. 8 mentions a dove and a raven. Diversity of mammals and birds began in the Paleogene period.
 
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Jpark

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Jpark, it's 120 YEARS, not days.
But it says "his days".

Nevertheless, if people could live long lives because of the waters which were above the expanse, then why couldn't they have grown to be giant in stature?
 
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granpa

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by combining many architectural elements given in the bible
I have reconstructed one possible internal arrangement of the ark.
the upper deck would have been similar but with a lightweight tent and curtains rather than wood.
notice that each of the 3 sections divides neatly into 2 perfect 50 cubit squares with a fireplace in the center of each square. (for a total of 6 fireplaces)

Palace.jpeg

Palace.jpeg

Palace.jpeg
 
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