Genesis 6:14

Summary

God instructs Noah to build an ark for himself from gofer wood, to construct compartments inside it, and to cover it with pitch both inside and outside.

Key words

• ta'aseh ("you will make", H6213H) — qal imperfect, expresses a future/ongoing command distinct from the initial imperative aseh ("make", H6213H); the same root appears twice with different aspectual force.
• qinnim ("nests", H7064) — masculine plural noun, literally "nests," used here to describe compartments or divisions within the ark's structure.
• gofer ("gopher", H1613) — masculine singular noun identifying the type of wood; construct with atzei ("woods of", H6086G).
• khafarta ("you will cover", H3722B) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the narrative sequence of commands begun with the imperative.
• mi-bayit ("from inside", H1004O) and mi-chutz ("from outside", H2351) — paired prepositional phrases marking the two surfaces to be covered.

What the text says

The verse opens with the imperative aseh ("make", H6213H) paired with the reflexive-directional phrase le-kha ("for yourself", from H9005 + H9031), establishing that Noah himself is the builder and recipient of the command. The object is tevat atzei-gofer ("an ark of woods of gopher", H8392 + H6086G + H1613), a construct chain specifying the material.

The second clause shifts verb form: qinnim ta'aseh et ha-tevah uses the imperfect ta'aseh (H6213H) rather than repeating the imperative, describing an ongoing or subsequent action — the making of qinnim ("nests", H7064) within the already-mentioned tevah ("ark", H8392), now marked definite with ha- ("the", H9009) and the object marker et (H0853). The noun qinnim literally denotes "nests," a term whose concrete meaning (bird nests) is applied to the ark's internal divisions.

The narrative vav on ve-khafarta (H9001 + H3722B) connects a new sequential-perfect verb, continuing the chain of instructions: the ark is to be covered with kofer ("pitch", H3724B) — a term sharing its root with khafarta ("you will cover", H3722B), producing a wordplay between the verb and the substance. The coverage is specified spatially by two paired prepositional phrases, mi-bayit ("from inside", H1004O) and mi-chutz ("from outside", H2351), each preceded by the preposition min ("from", H9006).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders qinnim ("nests", H7064) as νοσσιάς (also "nests/broods"), preserving the concrete term. The Vulgate instead reads mansiunculas ("small chambers"), an interpretive rendering rather than a literal one. For atzei-gofer ("woods of gopher", H6086G + H1613), the LXX gives ξύλων τετραγώνων ("squared timbers"), while the Vulgate has lignis lævigatis ("smoothed/planed wood") — both diverge from the Hebrew, which names a specific wood type (gofer, H1613) rather than describing its shape or finish.