in the years following the birth of Seth, many generations passed and eventually Noah was born. The name ‘Noah’ means ‘rest’ or ‘comfort’. When his father, Lamech, named him he said of Noah, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed” (Genesis 5:29).Clearly Lamech understood that his son would somehow play a pivotal role in the comforting of mankind following the cursing of the ground after the Fall. In other words, he would play an important role in God’s redemption plan.

By the time that Noah was born men had multiplied on the earth and God perceived that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).


What was the nature of this great evil? In the verses preceding Genesis 6:5 we are told that “the sons of God” had taken human women as wives, and this unholy union had given rise to ‘anakim’, usually translated as giants. Who were these “sons of God” and what manner of being were they? This is a mystery I do not claim to understand, but it seems to me that these verses are tied to those that follow and relate to the great wickedness of mankind at that time. I believe that, whatever its exact nature, this corruption of humanity was yet another attempt by Satan to destroy the Messianic line. This would explain God’s anger and his determination to purify the earth by destroying mankind by means of the Flood.

One man though was pure and godly. His name was Noah. The Word says, “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9 my emphasis). Not only was he just and had a personal friendship with God, he was also ‘perfect in his generations’. What does this phrase mean? The word here translated as perfect is ‘tamim’ in Hebrew and it means ‘complete, whole and innocent’. The genealogy of Noah is given in Chapter 5 of Genesis and it portrays a direct line of descent from Adam and Eve, through Seth. It was uncorrupted by intermarriage with the ‘sons of God’ whoever they might have been. It was a pure line and, as we have seen already, it was the line of royal descent that led directly to the Messiah-King, Yeshua. Thus when God saved Noah and his family from the flood, it was an act that not only saved the last righteous man from judgment but also one which preserved the line of the Messiah-King who is the cornerstone of God’s redemption plan.

Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and from them all the earth was repopulated after the Flood (Genesis 9:18-19). Shem was the eldest son and it was through him the Messianic kingly line would pass.

The Bible also tells us of a curious and important incident involving Noah and his sons that had far ranging repercussions. One day Noah got drunk, had fallen asleep and become uncovered in his tent. Ham, Noah’s second son, saw the nakedness of his father, Noah, and told his two brothers. The two brothers backed into the tent and covered their father’s nakedness without looking upon it themselves. When Noah woke up and realized what had happened, he called down a curse on Ham’s youngest son, Canaan, saying, “…cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren” (Genesis 9:25).

I always wondered when I read this passage what had been so bad about Ham seeing the nakedness of his father. Was it just a matter of shame or embarrassment, or was there more to it?  And why was it Canaan that was cursed and not Ham?

We are told that Ham ‘saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside’.  What exactly does this mean? The phrase “uncover his nakedness” appears in a number of places in Scripture and it is always a euphemism meaning to have sexual intercourse (Leviticus 18:6-19, 20:11, 20-21, Ezekiel 22:10-11, Habbukuk 2:15, I Samuel 20:30). Leviticus 20:11 says, “The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness…”  Did then Ham’s sin consist of having incestuous sex with his father’s wife, his mother?  If this was what indeed happened, as some commentators claim1, it would explain the severity of Noah’s reaction and the curse.  However the verb used in this passage is different. We are told that Ham ‘saw’ (וירא  (  his father’s nakedness. It does not say he ‘uncovered’ ( גילה )  his father’s nakedness. To uncover or strip away a garment is an active deed but to see something is more passive. He did not uncover his father’s nakedness, he merely saw it. But what did he see and why was it such a serious thing that resulted in Canaan being cursed? This passage has been the subject of much theological debate through the centuries and there are many theories2. The explanation that makes the most sense to me is that Canaan, Ham’s youngest son, uncovered his father’s nakedness (that is, he had sex either with his grandfather himself or his grandfather’s wife, according to the Biblical euphemism, and Ham saw it and reported it to his brothers. This would account for the seriousness of the sin and the fact that the curse was brought down on Canaan and not on Ham, nor on any of Canaan’s brothers. This view is supported by verse 24 which says, “So Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger (better translated as ‘youngest’) son had done to him”. The pronoun ‘his’ referring to the youngest son is confusing here but it must refer to Ham’s youngest son, Canaan, and not to Ham himself, because Ham was not Noah’s youngest son. Japheth was Noah’s youngest son.

If Canaan really did this, it would have been especially grave and appalling considering that God had just destroyed the rest of mankind because of the corruption of humanity resulting from illicit sexual relationships. Now Canaan would have now once more jeopardized mankind.  

Whatever the truth of the incident, when Noah became aware of what had happened he said,

Cursed be Canaan;

A servant of servants

He shall be to his brethren…

Blessed be the LORD,

The God of Shem,

And may Canaan be his servant.

May God enlarge Japheth.

And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;

And may Canaan be his servant.

(Genesis 9:25-27)

We should also note that in the passage quoted above the LORD (YHWH), is identified as the God of Shem, and that Shem was the eldest son and heir of Noah. It is from Shem that Abram was descended (Genesis 11:10-26). In other words the royal line passed through Noah and Shem and on down the generations to Abram, the father of Israel and the forefather of the Messiah-King, Jesus.

References:

  1. Torah, Prophets and the Writings : Volume 1 Genesis . 1987. Orenstein, Y. Yavneh Publishing House, Tel Aviv    (in Hebrew)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Ham#Early_Jewish_interpretations

http://www.christianlibrary.org/authors/Grady_Scott/noahcurse.htm

http://www.theologyonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13268

2. ibid