GOPHER WOOD (עֲצֵי־גֹ֔פֶר. Lit. wood of gopher.) Noah was commanded to construct his ark out of this wood. גֹּ֫פֶר, H1729, occurs only in Genesis 6:14 and has defied attempts to identify it with any finality. Scholars have frequently emended גֹּ֫פֶר, H1729, to כֹּ֫פֶר֮, H4109, “pitch,” which occurs at the end of the verse: “...and cover it inside and out with pitch.” כֹּ֫פֶר֮, H4109, is another hapax legomenon, but note Akkad. kupru, kupur, “pitch.” “Wood of pitch” could be a resinous wood, such as the conifers. Cypresses are another possibility, since they often were selected for shipbuilding purposes.

If גֹּ֫פֶר, H1729, does equal כֹּ֫פֶר֮, H4109, it could indicate an initial foreign phoneme, medial between ג and ך. This occurs with the velar plosives ך and ק in כֹּ֤ובַע and קֹ֥ובַע, a word for helmet with a probable Hitt. origin (1 Sam 17:5, 38). The meaning still remains dubious, however.