Remember your Creator in the days of your youth! |
We receive repeated questions regarding the shape and design of Noah's Ark, specifically the outside. Let's start by considering the front of many ships, like tankers, freighters, and cruise ships. Many of them have what's called a "bulbous nose", or bow. This is essentially an extension of the ship at the front, but just at or under the water line when the ship is loaded. The sole purpose of the bulbous bow is to provide efficiency to the engines. There is no other purpose for this design. It's actually quite unique in that it reduces friction, and can actually save a
lot of fuel. Again, the only purpose for this structure is to allow efficient forward movement of the ship when the engines push it. Now, consider the forward parts of a ship that are above the water line. The front of the ship is called the bow and the "sharp" part of the bow is called the prow. The prow is also specifically designed to allow more efficient forward movement of the ship in
water as the engines push it. All of these designs allow a ship to move from point A to point B efficiently. Both of them assume an energy source to push the vessel. The ark that Noah built was not a ship. The word "ark" in Hebrew means "box" or "coffin". It had no engines, or any other means to push it forward. It was not intended to push
forward, either. It was purely designed as an emergency floatation device to save all of the animals and the people on board. Efficiency in movement was not part of the design. It was merely a large, floating box. It had no energy source, nor did it need
one. Therefore, it is our opinion that models of the ark that include these exterior features are more a depiction of a ship rather than the ark that Noah built. There was no need whatsoever for either a prow or a bulbous bow as depicted. Furthermore, the Bible makes no mention of any other external parts. It is always extremely important
when using artistic license not to go beyond what the scriptures teach. |
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