6 Things You Didn’t Know About Noah in the Bible

He Did Not Design the Ark

The Designer of the Ark was not Noah, but God Himself. We do not need to assume Noah knew anything about ship-building. The instructions for design are given in Genesis 6:14. In regards to construction materials, the Bible says the Ark was to be built of “gopher wood.” “Gopher” is the actual Hebrew word. In early English translations, the meaning of the word was unknown so it was left untranslated. The NIV translates it “cypress wood”; however, this is only a guess. It was undoubtedly translated this way due to the fact that cypress wood is highly resistant to rot. What this material was is still a mystery. It could have been a pre-flood wood which we are not familiar.