Pitch, a sticky, resinous substance, is mentioned in the Bible primarily in the context of construction and waterproofing. It is a natural material derived from plants or petroleum and has been used since ancient times for its adhesive and sealing properties.

Biblical References

1. Genesis 6:14: The first and most notable mention of pitch in the Bible is in the account of Noah's Ark. God instructed Noah, "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out." . Here, pitch was used to waterproof the ark, ensuring that it would float and protect its inhabitants from the floodwaters. This use of pitch highlights its importance in ancient construction techniques, particularly for vessels intended to withstand water.

2. Exodus 2:3: Pitch is also mentioned in the account of Moses' infancy. When Moses' mother placed him in a basket to save him from Pharaoh's decree, she "coated it with tar and pitch" to make it watertight. This small ark, like Noah's, was sealed with pitch to protect its precious cargo, demonstrating the material's continued utility and symbolic significance in preserving life.

3. Isaiah 34:9: In a prophetic context, pitch is mentioned in the description of God's judgment upon Edom. The prophet Isaiah declares, "Her streams will be turned to pitch, and her soil to sulfur; her land will become a blazing pitch." . Here, pitch symbolizes desolation and destruction, as the land is transformed into a burning wasteland. This imagery underscores the severity of divine judgment and the transformation of the natural order as a consequence of sin.

Symbolism and Theological Significance

In the biblical narrative, pitch serves both practical and symbolic purposes. Practically, it is a means of protection and preservation, as seen in the accounts of Noah and Moses. Symbolically, pitch can represent both salvation and judgment. In the case of Noah's Ark and Moses' basket, pitch is a tool of deliverance, safeguarding the righteous and the chosen from peril. Conversely, in Isaiah's prophecy, pitch becomes a symbol of divine wrath and the irreversible consequences of sin.

The use of pitch in these narratives reflects broader theological themes of protection, judgment, and the fulfillment of God's promises. It illustrates the dual nature of God's interaction with humanity—offering salvation to the faithful while executing judgment upon the wicked. Through the lens of pitch, one can see the intricate balance of mercy and justice that characterizes the biblical portrayal of God's relationship with His creation.(Genesis 6:14), asphalt or bitumen in its soft state, called "slime" (Genesis 11:3; 14:10; Exodus 2:3), found in pits near the Dead Sea (q.v.). It was used for various purposes, as the coating of the outside of vessels and in building. Allusion is made in Isaiah 34:9 to its inflammable character. (see SLIME.) 1. (n.) A thick, black, lustrous, and sticky substance obtained by boiling down tar. It is used in calking the seams of ships; also in coating rope, canvas, wood, ironwork, etc., to preserve them.

2. (n.) See Pitchstone.

3. (n.) To cover over or smear with pitch.

4. (n.) Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure.

5. (v. t.) To throw, generally with a definite aim or purpose; to cast; to hurl; to toss; as, to pitch quoits; to pitch hay; to pitch a ball.

6. (v. t.) To thrust or plant in the ground, as stakes or poles; hence, to fix firmly, as by means of poles; to establish; to arrange; as, to pitch a tent; to pitch a camp.

7. (v. t.) To set, face, or pave with rubble or undressed stones, as an embankment or a roadway.

8. (v. t.) To fix or set the tone of; as, to pitch a tune.

9. (v. t.) To set or fix, as a price or value.

10. (v. i.) To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp.

11. (v. i.) To light; to settle; to come to rest from flight.

12. (v. i.) To fix one's choice; -- with on or upon.

13. (v. i.) To plunge or fall; esp., to fall forward; to decline or slope; as, to pitch from a precipice; the vessel pitches in a heavy sea; the field pitches toward the east.

14. (n.) A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand; as, a good pitch in quoits.

15. (n.) That point of the ground on which the ball pitches or lights when bowled.

16. (n.) A point or peak; the extreme point or degree of elevation or depression; hence, a limit or bound.

17. (n.) Height; stature.

18. (n.) A descent; a fall; a thrusting down.

19. (n.) The point where a declivity begins; hence, the declivity itself; a descending slope; the degree or rate of descent or slope; slant; as, a steep pitch in the road; the pitch of a roof.

20. (n.) The relative acuteness or gravity of a tone, determined by the number of vibrations which produce it; the place of any tone upon a scale of high and low.

21. (n.) The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.

22. (n.) The distance from center to center of any two adjacent teeth of gearing, measured on the pitch line; -- called also circular pitch.

23. (n.) The length, measured along the axis, of a complete turn of the thread of a screw, or of the helical lines of the blades of a screw propeller.

24. (n.) The distance between the centers of holes, as of rivet holes in boiler plates.

PITCH

pich: The translation of the noun kopher, and the verb kaphar, in Genesis 6:14 and of the noun 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 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 of Isaiah 34:9-15 Exodus 2:3 zepheth is combined with chemar, which also means bitumen (Genesis 14:10; see SLIME), and the distinction between the words (different consistencies of the same substance?) is not clear.

Burton Scott Easton

2681. kataskenoo -- to pitch one's tent, encamp, dwell
... to pitch one's tent, encamp, dwell. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: kataskenoo
Phonetic Spelling: (kat-as-kay-no'-o) Short Definition: I encamp, tabernacle ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2681.htm - 6k

4078. pegnumi -- to make fast
... to make fast. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: pegnumi Phonetic Spelling:
(payg'-noo-mee) Short Definition: I pitch a tent Definition: I fasten, pitch a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4078.htm - 6k

1981. episkenoo -- to tent upon, fig. abide
... 1981 (from 1909 , "" and 4637 , "to dwell in a pitched tent") -- properly, to pitch
(live in) a tent; (figuratively) power radiating from Christ as He comes ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1981.htm - 7k

4637. skenoo -- to have one's tent, dwell
... tabernacle. Cognate: 4637 -- properly, to pitch or live in a tent, "denoting
much more than the mere notion of dwelling" (M. Vincent). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4637.htm - 7k

2203. zepheth -- pitch
... 2202, 2203. zepheth. 2203a . pitch. Transliteration: zepheth Phonetic
Spelling: (zeh'-feth) Short Definition: pitch. pitch From ...
/hebrew/2203.htm - 5k

3724b. kopher -- pitch
... kopher. 3724c . pitch. Transliteration: kopher Short Definition: pitch. Word Origin
of uncertain derivation Definition pitch NASB Word Usage pitch (1). ...
/hebrew/3724b.htm - 5k

2203a. zepheth -- pitch
... zepheth. 2203b . pitch. Transliteration: zepheth Short Definition: pitch. Word
Origin perhaps of foreign origin Definition pitch NASB Word Usage pitch (3). ...
/hebrew/2203a.htm - 5k

3722b. kaphar -- to pitch (with pitch)
... 3722a, 3722b. kaphar. 3723 . to pitch (with pitch). Transliteration: kaphar
Short Definition: cover. Word Origin denominative verb ...
/hebrew/3722b.htm - 5k

167. ahal -- to move a tent (from place to place)
... Origin denominative verb from the same as ohel Definition to move a tent (from place
to place) NASB Word Usage moved tent (1), moved tents (1), pitch tent (1). ...
/hebrew/167.htm - 6k

2583. chanah -- to decline, bend down, encamp
... camped (3), Settling (1). abide in tents, camp, dwell, encamp, grow to an end,
lie, pitch tent, rest in tent. A primitive root (compare ...
/hebrew/2583.htm - 6k

8628. taqa -- to thrust, clap, give a blow, blast
... 1), clap (2), drive (1), driven (1), drove (2), fasten (1), fastened (3), give pledges*
(1), given (1), guarantor (1), guarantor* (1), pitch (1), pitched (1 ...
/hebrew/8628.htm - 6k

3724. kopher -- the price of a life, ransom
... Definition: bribe. bribe, pitch, ransom, satisfaction, sum of money, village
From kaphar; properly, a cover, ie (literally) a village ...
/hebrew/3724.htm - 5k

5186. natah -- to stretch out, spread out, extend, incline, bend
... 1), leaning (1), lengthen (1), lengthened (1), lengthens (1), let down (1), offer
(1), outstretched (17), pervert (4), perverted (1), pitch (1), pitched (11 ...
/hebrew/5186.htm - 7k

6965. qum -- to arise, stand up, stand
... decree, X be dim, endure, X enemy, enjoin, get up, make good, help, hold, (help
to) lift up (again), make, X but newly, ordain, perform, pitch, raise (up ...
/hebrew/6965.htm - 7k

Tow Smeared with Pitch.
... Chapter X."Tow Smeared with Pitch. ... If, therefore, any one be found smeared with sins
and lusts as with pitch, the fire easily gets the mastery of him. ...
/.../unknown/recognitions of clement /chapter x tow smeared with pitch.htm

The Burning ??sculapius; Tricks with Fire.
... For (the magician) lays his hand upon the cauldron of pitch, [250] which is in,
as it were, a boiling state; and throwing in (at the same time) vinegar and ...
/.../chapter xxxiii the burning aesculapius tricks.htm

The Legend of La Brea {331A}
... Down beside the loathly Pitch Lake, In the stately Morichal, {331b} Sat an
ancient Spanish Indian, Peering through the columns tall. ...
/.../kingsley/andromeda and other poems/the legend of la brea.htm

Against Men who Embellish Themselves.
... For their service the towns are full of those who take out hair by pitch-plasters,
shave, and pluck out hairs from these womanish creatures. ...
/.../clement/the instructor paedagogus/chapter iii against men who embellish.htm

Trinidad
... He left somewhat too soon. For on the 22d of March Raleigh sailed into Cedros
Bay, and then went up to La Brea and the Pitch Lake. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/at last/chapter iii trinidad.htm

Book vii. On the Useful or the Ordinary
... [Ps.68(69):22(21)]. Pitch is inequity and blackness of offenses: in Solomon:
he who touches pitch is defiled from it. [Eccl.13:1]. ...
/.../eucherius/the formulae of st eucherius of lyons/book vii on the useful.htm

Date and Place of Writing.
... The mention of pitch (v.27) as a readily obtainable commodity is inconclusive,
as stated under the corresponding section of Part II. ...
/.../daubney/the three additions to daniel a study/date and place of writing 2.htm

Isaiah's Discourse
... And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into
brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. ...
/.../various/select masterpieces of biblical literature/v isaiahs discourse.htm

The Saint among Sinners
... earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark,
and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the saint among sinners.htm

Footnotes:
... {331a} This myth about the famous Pitch Lake of ... {331b} A magnificent wood of the
Mauritia Fanpalm, on the south shore of the Pitch Lake. {331c} Humming-birds. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/andromeda and other poems/footnotes .htm

Pitch (25 Occurrences)
... them. 2. (n.) See Pitchstone. 3. (n.) To cover over or smear with pitch.
4. (n.) Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure. 5. (vt ...
/p/pitch.htm - 18k

Slime (6 Occurrences)
... The vale of Siddim was full of slime pits (14:10). Jochebed daubed the "ark of
bulrushes" with slime (Exodus 2:3). (see PITCH.). Noah Webster's Dictionary. ...
/s/slime.htm - 11k

Sharp (115 Occurrences)
... 4. (superl.) High in pitch; acute; as, a sharp note or tone. 5. (superl.)
Raised a semitone in pitch; as, C sharp (C/), which is ...
/s/sharp.htm - 38k

Pits (13 Occurrences)
... chomer, "clay," "mortar"): In the account of the ark in Genesis 6:14, kopher Septuagint
asphaltos; Vulgate: bitumen; compare Arabic kufr, "pitch") does not ...
/p/pits.htm - 13k

Bitumen (3 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Genesis 11:3, RV, margin, rendered in the AV "slime"),
a mineral pitch. With this the ark was pitched (6:14. ...
/b/bitumen.htm - 8k

Brimstone (14 Occurrences)
... BRIMSTONE. brim'-ston, brim'-stun (gophrith; to theion): The word translated "brimstone"
probably referred originally to the pitch of trees, like the cypress. ...
/b/brimstone.htm - 14k

Gopher (1 Occurrence)
... Lagarde considered that it was connected with gophrith, meaning "brimstone," or
"pitch," while others connect it with kopher, also meaning "pitch"; hence ...
/g/gopher.htm - 9k

Flat (33 Occurrences)
... 8. (superl.) Below the true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals, minor, or lower
by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A flat. ... 30. (vi) To fall form the pitch. ...
/f/flat.htm - 21k

Bulrushes (3 Occurrences)
... Slime (chemar, "bitumen"), pitch (zepheth, "pitch") was probably the sticky mud
of the Nile with which to this day so many things in Egypt are plastered. ...
/b/bulrushes.htm - 10k

Wood (226 Occurrences)
... Lagarde considered that it was connected with gophrith, meaning "brimstone," or
"pitch," while others connect it with kopher, also meaning "pitch"; hence ...
/w/wood.htm - 42k

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