pich: The translation of the noun kopher, and the verb kaphar, inGe 6:14and of the noun zepheth, inEx 2:3;Isa 34:9. InGe 6:14the words are the ordinary forms for "covering," "cover," so that the translation "pitch" is largely guesswork, aided by the Septuagint, which reads asphaltos, "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 ofIsa 34:9-15--the streams and land of Edom are to become burning bitumen, like the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah. InEx 2:3zepheth is combined with chemar, which also means bitumen (Ge 14:10; see SLIME), and the distinction between the words (different consistencies of the same substance?) is not clear.
Burton Scott Easton