Pitch
Pitch [1]
pich : The translation of the noun לּפר , kōpher , and the verb כּפר , kāphar , in Genesis 6:14 and of the noun זפת , zepheth , in Exodus 2:3; Isaiah 34:9 . In Genesis 6:14 the words are the ordinary forms for "covering," "cover," so that the translation "pitch" is largely guesswork, aided by the Septuagint, which reads ἄσφαλτος , ásphaltos , "bitumen," here, and by the fact that pitch is a usual "covering" for vessels. The meaning of zepheth , however, is fixed by the obvious Dead Sea imagery of Isaiah 34:9-15 - the streams and land of Edom are to become burning bitumen, like the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Exodus 2:3 zepheth is combined with ḥēmār , which also means bitumen ( Genesis 14:10; see Slime ), and the distinction between the words (different consistencies of the same substance?) is not clear.
