HAM THE FATHER OF CANAAN
Genesis 9:20-27
New International Version (NIV)
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[a] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Praise be to the LORD, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 May God extend Japheth’s[b] territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”
Why did Noah his grandson Canaan?
This boy’s father, Ham, saw Noah’s nakedness, and thus, Noah cursed Canaan, who became the patriarch of Israel’s enemies, the Canaanites. The story seems impulsive on the surface, in contrast to so much practical history in Genesis. So, let’s take a deeper look, together, at this mysterious action.
Why did Noah curse Canaan when it was Ham who saw him naked? Why was Noah so angry that Ham saw him naked?
- Scripture tells us that there were four women on the Ark. Often Bible students assume that the Scripture relates descendants from only Noah's three daughters-in-law. In actual fact, as Moses wrote, “The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness”(Lev. 20:11).
- Thus, in Genesis 9 Moses recorded, using the above figure of speech and in a manner as dignified toward Noah's wife as possible, that Ham committed incest against his mother shortly after they disembarked and therefore she bore Canaan. [This Bible study that follows fully establishes this observation.] ….to be cont’d
In Christ,
Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
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