When you read our book, Noah’s Flood Did Take Place, you will notice that we do not delve into the topic discussed in this article- How Did Noah Build the Ark?
One reason we did not discuss it as it never crossed our minds. Do people really think that God picked a novice to build the ark, someone with no construction experience?
Reading the story of Noah’s ark today (Genesis 6–9), we naturally imagine that Noah, his family, and the loaded animals of all kinds survived the flood aboard a large wooden ship or other seaworthy vessel.
Well, it was and any artist’s depiction is not going to do the ark any justice as no one knows what the ark looked like. We know that God gave the instructions on which materials to use but out of the 4 men, at least one of them had ship building experience or at least construction experience.
So why does ancient biblical art depict Noah’s ark in this unusual way? The answer has to do with translation. While the original authors of the Pentateuch used distinct Hebrew terms to refer to Noah’s ark (tieveh) and the box-shaped “Ark” of the Covenant (aron), the Hebrew Bible’s Greek translators, who began their work in the third century B.C.E., used a single Greek word, kibotos, meaning an enclosed wooden container used to store valuables, to refer to both objects.
Be careful of translations, especially literal ones. While the Hebrew word for ark may mean box, the literal meaning may not be the one applied to the description of a boat.
The spiritual meaning may have been in use and as the ark is to save people from the punishment of sin, etc., so was the ark to save Noah, his family, and the animals from the punishment of sin.
Also, some artists’ depictions depend on the amount of space they have available to use and they use the best concept that would fit that space.
This Apamean coin shows Noah and his wife in the ark, which is depicted as a box with an open lid floating on water, with the name Noah written in Greek. The coin dates to the mid-third century C.E. Image by Internet Archive Book Images. Public Domain.(use the link to see the coin)
Getting back to the actual construction all God said was:
14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and put the door of the ark on the side; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. (Gen. 6)
Judging just by the terminology used, it seems that God knew that Noah and/or his sons had that needed construction experience or talent. One reason why many people, including us, do not talk about how Noah built the ark is that that work is not germane to the story.
What is germane is that the wages of sin are death. Only the righteous survive or those who believe in Jesus and do as he says. The construction of the ark would be more of a distraction and would not further the point being made in this true story.
The scholars who wrote that little booklet got distracted and seemed to miss the point of the whole chapter.
It seems likely, therefore, that early Jewish and Christians artists, working in the early first millennium C.E., were influenced by overly literal interpretations of the translated Hebrew Bible, which suggested to them that Noah’s ark and the Ark of the Covenant were similar in appearance.
They could have been as they were trying to convey the same message in a pictorial sense that the Bible uses 3 chapters to describe. But, the depictions do not necessarily distract from the point of the true story of the flood. Noahg, etc., were saved from punishment because they believed God and followed his ways.
Pre-flood shipbuilding would require the same techniques as they do today. Just the materials used were different.
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