pitch

A brown-black, gummy, resinous, tarlike substance used for waterproofing and as an adhesive. Resinous pitches are derived from conifers such as pine. Tarlike mineral pitches can be derived from natural asphalt or bitumen deposits or as by-products of petroleum processing. Moses’s mother waterproofed the rush basket that she put him in and set upon the Nile by smearing it with pitch (Exod 2:3). Pitches were used to waterproof boats as well, and in the Bible they provided caulking for Noah’s ark (Gen 6:14). The burning streams of pitch in (Isa 34:9) refer to the flammable properties of asphalt and bitumen.