Tebah — a model constrained to Genesis 6:14

תֵּבָהTEBAH

Reconstruction from Genesis 6:14–16 and 8:13 only. Tebah means chest or box — the term used elsewhere only of the pitched basket of Exodus 2:3, never אֳנִיָּה (oniyah, ship). Hull is therefore a rectangular parallelepiped: no bow, stern, keel, sheer, rudder, mast or taper.

MEASURE — GEN 6:15

LENGTH: 300 c · m
BREADTH: 50 c · m
HEIGHT: 30 c · m
VOLUME: m³
DECK AREA: m² × 3
TOTAL AREA: m²
HEADROOM: 10 c · m
PROPORTION: 6 : 1 · 5 : 3

FABRIC — GEN 6:14

Timber is עֲצֵי־גֹפֶר atsei-gofer, a hapax legomenon; species unidentifiable. Rendered as heavy resinous conifer, plank-on-frame, one-cubit courses with open seams. No modern species is implied.

STRUCTURE — GEN 6:14, 16

תַּחְתִּיִּם · שְׁנִיִּם · שְׁלִשִׁים

OPENINGS — GEN 6:16; 8:6

צֹהַר tsohar, “finished to a cubit above” (6:16). The clause is genuinely ambiguous; three readings are offered.

Gen 8:6 uses a different word — חַלּוֹן chalon, “window” — for the opening Noah unstops for the raven. The two may be separate features, so the chalon is modelled as a small hatch in the covering, distinct from whichever tsohar reading is active.

פֶּתַח petach, the door, is set “in its side” (6:16) — here on one long face. The text gives no dimensions; the opening shown is 12 × 9 cubits, sized for large-animal loading and inferred, not specified.

SECTION & SCALE

CUT POSITION50%

FLOATING STATE

Genesis states no draft. Half the hull height follows the rabbinic reading of Gen 7:20 (Rashi): the waters stood fifteen cubits above the mountains because the ark drew eleven — a deduction, not a specification. Submerged volume at this line: m³.

FEATURE REGISTER

Box hull, no ship form6:14 SPECIFIED

300 × 50 × 30 cubits6:15 SPECIFIED

Cubit length, 44.5 / 52.5 cm— INFERRED

Gopher-wood planking6:14 SPECIFIED

Plank-on-frame construction— INFERRED

Pitch, within and without6:14 SPECIFIED

Compartments (qinnim)6:14 SPECIFIED

Stall grid, aisles, cell size— INFERRED

Three decks6:16 SPECIFIED

Equal deck spacing— INFERRED

Tsohar, to a cubit above6:16 SPECIFIED

Which tsohar reading— INFERRED

Door in the side6:16 SPECIFIED

Door size and placement— INFERRED

Removable covering (mikseh)8:13 SPECIFIED

Chalon hatch8:6 SPECIFIED

Waterline / draft7:20 INFERRED

Ramp, rudder, mast, keel— NOT MODELLED

HEBREW TEXT PER BHS. NO POST-BIBLICAL DETAIL IS MODELLED; EVERY DIMENSION NOT GIVEN IN THE TEXT IS MARKED INFERRED.

DRAG ORBIT · SHIFT-DRAG PAN · SCROLL ZOOM

TSOHAR READING A