Editing Noah's Ark (section)

==Description==
The structure of the Ark (and the chronology of the flood) is homologous with the Jewish Temple and with Temple worship.{{sfn|Blenkinsopp|2011|p=139}} Accordingly, Noah's instructions are given to him by God (Genesis 6:14–16): the ark is to be 300 [[cubit]]s long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high (approximately {{convert|134|*|22|*|13|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}}).{{sfn|Hamilton|1990|pp=280–281}} These dimensions are based on a numerological preoccupation with the number 60, the same number characterizing the vessel of the Babylonian flood hero.{{sfn|Bailey|1990|p=63}} 

Its three internal divisions reflect the three-part universe imagined by the ancient Israelites: heaven, the earth, and the underworld.{{sfn|Kessler|Deurloo|2004|p=81}} Each deck is the same height as the Temple in Jerusalem, itself a microcosmic model of the universe, and each is three times the area of the court of the tabernacle, leading to the suggestion that the author saw both Ark and [[tabernacle]] as serving for the preservation of human life.{{sfn|Wenham|2003|p=44}}{{sfn|Batto|1992|p=95}} It has a door in the side, and a ''tsohar'', which may be either a roof or a [[skylight]].{{sfn|Hamilton|1990|pp=280–281}} It is to be made of [[gopher wood]] "''goper''", a word which appears nowhere else in the Bible, but thought to be a loan word from the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''gupru''<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Longman |first1=Tremper |title=The lost world of the flood: mythology, theology, and the deluge debate |last2=Walton |first2=John H. |date=2018 |publisher=IVP Academic, an imprint of InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-8782-8 |location=Downers Grove, IL}}</ref> – and divided into ''qinnim'', a word which always refers to birds' nests elsewhere in the Bible, leading some scholars to emend this to ''qanim'', reeds.{{sfn|Hamilton|1990|pp=281}} The finished vessel is to be smeared with ''koper'', meaning [[pitch (resin)|pitch]] or [[bitumen]]; in Hebrew the two words are closely related, ''kaparta'' ("smeared") ... ''bakopper''.{{sfn|Hamilton|1990|pp=281}} Bitumen is more likely option as ''"koper"'' is thought to be a loanword from the Akkadian "''kupru''", meaning bitumen.<ref name=":0" />