Analysis of Genesis 9:18-29
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Okay, we left off reading last week:
Genesis 9.18-10.14
July 10th 2022
Genesis 9:18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
So let continue at verse 22 where Moses adds:
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
Events Following Noah's Drunkenness
So let’s jump back to verse 21 where we read: 21 And he (Noah) drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. So, the scene is set. We have the Patriarch of the new world drunk – either accidentally or purposefully we cannot say but we can say that there was no law against it so to judge him on this account even if it was purposeful is probably a mistake.
From the English translation, Noah was in his own tent and was naked and uncovered. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. 24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
Speculations on Ham's Actions
The postulations on what Ham and possibly Canaan with him did include:
Just seeing him naked.
Seeing and mocking his nakedness.
Molesting him in his nakedness.
Raping him homosexually.
Castrating him.
And sleeping with his wife.
Now, we do have to wonder why Noah would throw down on Ham for merely seeing Him naked. And some say that anciently this crime would have been amplified by Ham coming out and telling his brothers – amplified because he mocked his father's nakedness to his brothers. Some of the language appears to support this view and that is why so many people believe that this is all that happened. Whatever it was, it resulted in a curse pronounced by Noah on Ham and his son Canaan and a blessing on Shem and Japheth.
At least one scholar holds that Ham’s son, Canaan, actually “committed the outrage” against Noah and it wasn’t Ham at all. A close examination of the text might help us see that what is most likely is that an incestuous heterosexual sin occurred between Ham and his mother (or step-mother) who was Noah’s wife.
Genesis 9:20-21 says: “Noah became a tiller of the ground and planted a vineyard. And then, “He drank of the wine and became drunk,…”
Because this is the first reference to “a vineyard” in the Scriptures many believe that Noah’s drunkenness was not the result of flagrancy but rather a result of not understanding fermentation. However, it is more commonly held that wine was prior to Noah but nowhere in the Scriptures is Noah represented as a drunkard but on the contrary, he is represented as “a righteous man, blameless.” In a day when no law is proposed against drunkenness I don’t see why we have the conversation at all.
In any case, Ham…saw the nakedness of his father…
In verse 21, it says that Noah “uncovered himself.”
Understanding Ham's Actions in Genesis
In verse 22a, it is stated that “Ham…saw the nakedness of his father…” On the face of it, it appears that Noah simply disrobed, and his son, Ham, saw him naked. The use of the distinct phrases, “uncovered himself” and “nakedness of his father” however, indicates more than Noah’s simply having disrobed and then was seen by his son, Ham.
First, the word translated into English as “uncovered” in Genesis 9:21 is the Hebrew word “galah.” This word is used consistently throughout Leviticus 18 and 20 in conjunction with another Hebrew word, “ervah,” which is translated into English as “nakedness.” Now listen – the combination of “galah,” (the Hebrew word for “father” – which is Ab, as in Abba) and “ervah” (which means “uncover(ed)) and nakedness) is a phrase unique to Moses and is only used by Him to describe . . . “forbidden incestuous sexual intercourse.” Moses never uses the phrase to describe the act of disrobing or seeing one disrobed either.
Phraseology and Context in Leviticus
The excerpts in which Moses uses this unique phrase are found in Leviticus 18 and 20, and may shed light on his use of the phrase here:
Leviticus 18:6-8 READS
‘None of you shall approach any blood relative of [your father] to uncover nakedness; I am the LORD. ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.”
Then Leviticus 20:11 Moses again writes
“If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their blood guiltiness is upon them.
Appealing to these two verses and comparing them to Genesis 9 Moses is consistent in his use of the idioms. In each instance in the Scriptures the words of the phrase “uncover(ed) + father(’s) + nakedness” it is always in reference to incestuous heterosexual sin. Note that in no case does the phrase refer to incestuous homosexual sin.
Implications of Moses' Wording
It is unlikely that Moses’ unusual way of referring to sexual intercourse with one’s mother or step-mother as having “uncovered the nakedness of his father” in the Leviticus passages would be used by him to describe a completely different type of sexual act in the Genesis 9 passage but most likely means the same thing. In the Leviticus passages, Moses clearly defines what he means by his use of the phrase, “uncover(ed) + father(’s) + nakedness.” By clearly defines the phrase exclusively as meaning incestuous heterosexual intercourse with one’s mother or step-mother.
Additionally, the single Hebrew word “ohel” used in verse 21b (which is translated as into English as “his tent” in the King James, New American Standard, New International, and Revised Standard versions of the Bible) is in question because the Hebrew text actually carries the feminine possessive suffix and therefore “ohel” would be more accurately rendered “her tent.”
The Leviticus passages mentioned above regarding Moses’ consistent use of the phrase “uncover(ed) + father(’s) + nakedness” combined with the clarification of the translated phrase “his tent” to “her tent” makes much more compelling the suggestion that Noah’s uncovering of himself referred to him more probably having relations with his wife, rather than simply to his having disrobed.
Ham “saw the nakedness of his father,” or saw him having relations with his wife and Moses use of describing what occurred as a result was Ham had sexual intercourse with his mother or step-mother. When people suggest that Ham actually performed a homosexual act upon his father in his father’s drunken state the notion falls short in light of the Leviticus passages mentioned above, and other details of the passage like the tent being hers not his.
What seems to fit the context best here is that Noah, in a drunken state, went into his wife’s tent to have sexual relations with her. Perhaps she was also drunk. At some point, either in place of or after Noah, Ham had relations with Noah’s wife (presumably Ham’s mother, but possibly his step-mother). Then, according to Genesis 9:22
Ham went out and told his two brothers outside.
It’s important also to note that anciently, and I suppose even in modern times, having relations with Noah’s wife would be seen as Ham’s attempt to overrun his father and assume his authority. This would explain why, after having performed some act of lewdness against his father, Ham would be willing to share the information with his brothers. He was the youngest son, and perhaps
Ham's Attempt to Usurp Authority
Later in Genesis 11, we read how Ham’s grandson, Nimrod, leads a rebellion against God in an attempt to establish a one world government with himself at the head. There we will read that he leads the people to establish their own “name” (the Hebrew word “Shem”), perhaps an allusion to Ham’s attempt to usurp his older brother, Shem’s, position and take charge of the family, which, in effect, would have been to take over “the or their world,” since he and his brothers and his father and their wives were the only people on the earth at the time.
This would not be a singular example of such an attempt to wrestle authority and position from one’s father through sexual relations with one’s father’s wife. Consider other similar grasps at power such as David’s taking of Saul’s wives, Absalom’s incest with Tamar followed by his attempts to overthrow his father, King David, and Adonijah’s attempt to have Abishag, the wife of King David too.
Incestuous Power Struggles
We will also read in Genesis 35:22 that after having lost favor with his father because of events inflicted upon Joseph, Reuben also committed an act of incestuous sexual relations with the wife of his father, Jacob, in a possible attempt to usurp his father. He was cursed for it and lost his birthright, which was then given to the sons of Joseph.
In any case, Genesis 9:23 tells us that upon hearing from Ham whatever it was he did, Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. Note that in Leviticus 20:17, Moses uses the phrase “see [someone’s] nakedness” as a literary devise to indicate sexual intercourse as it says:
“If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt.”
The brothers “covered the nakedness of their father…and…did not see their father’s nakedness.” That is, they covered their father’s wife (their mother or step-mother) both literally and figuratively and did not “know her.”
Implications of Ham's Actions
We also note in Genesis 9:22 Moses describes Ham as the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father…When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done. So, he says, ‘Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.’ He also said, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.’
If Ham had merely looked at or lusted after his father’s naked body, or derided and shamed him, Noah could hardly have guessed it when he awoke. But the scripture says that when “Noah woke and knew what he had done.”
There is another similar story from Genesis 19 concerning Lot and his daughters wherein the daughters used wine to bring about drunkenness in him and that resulted in heterosexual incestuous relations between them and their father, Lot, the purpose of which was to produce offspring. Why is Ham is mentioned and described here in Genesis 9:22 as “the father of Canaan.” Is it possible that Canaan figured prominently in the events of the story?
In Genesis 9:25-27 Canaan, the son of Ham, is the one cursed by Noah. It seems implausible that Noah cursed his grandson, Canaan, because Ham, Canaan’s father, looked upon Noah’s naked body, lusted after him or mocked and derided him. But if Ham performed a lewd act against his father or mother why is Ham’s son, Canaan, cursed?
The most plausible answer is that Ham had relations with his father’s wife, and produced a child, Canaan. Remember, Moses is writing in retrospect and this was Noah’s evidence of fowl play. His response is to curse the child, the daily reminder of his son, Ham’s, sin against him by His sleeping with his wife.
In this view, Genesis 9:25 is compressed and presents an overarching view of everything in super short order. The family has just exited the ark. Ham has had no children. There is a time span between exiting the ark and the birth of Ham’s son, Canaan. Noah curses
The Episode of Ham and Canaan
Canaan as the product of Ham’s sexual union with Noah’s wife, just as Moab and Ammon are cursed by God as the product of Lot’s sexual union with his daughters.
If Ham’s act of incest was homosexual, then it is odd that he himself would not have been cursed instead of Canaan. Moreover, that Ham was responsible for producing Canaan through heterosexual means and, indeed, populating much of the world to this day, him acting in a homosexual ways seems even more remote.
So it seems to me that the most probable explanation of this verse is:
Noah, after exiting the ark following the flood, plants a vineyard and drinks of its fruit. He becomes drunk and as alcohol has the tendency to do to some people, he enters the tent of his wife to engage in sexual relations and perhaps fails to remain alert.
While in this drunken state, his youngest son, Ham, takes advantage of the situation and engages in sexual intercourse with his father’s wife. Ham tells his brothers of his conquest in an attempt to assume his father’s position as head of the family.
Ham’s brothers, Shem and Japheth, refuse to support their brother’s grasp at power and seek to mitigate the damage by covering their father’s wife with a garment and not looking upon her.
The Curse of Canaan
In other words, they do not repeat their brother’s incest. Noah is probably made aware of Ham’s sin by the product of a son, Canaan. Perhaps even though Noah was in the habit of having sexual relations with his wife, in his advancing years he was not able to produce children. So he either learns of Ham's act via his wife or other sons or through the fact that she gets pregnant.
And then Noah curses the illegitimate grandson, Canaan. This episode becomes something of a pattern for future grasps at power that we will see in Reuben, Saul, David, Absalom and Adonijah, all of whom make their attempts at usurpation through sexual intercourse with the wife of the one whom they wish to overtake.
So there.
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
Genealogies of Noah’s Sons
Okay, at this point let’s move on to chapter ten where we read the genealogies of Noah’s sons after the flood. I am going to read it all, then step back and cover the highlights before wrapping it up:
Genesis 10:1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. 7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, 12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. 13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, 14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.
15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, {Sidon: Heb. Tzidon} 16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, 17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, 18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. 19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the…
Genealogy of Shem and His Descendants
The brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,
27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.
31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
Interpretations of Noah's Descendants
So let me go back and touch on some highlights of all of these names before we move on to chapter 11 next week. I have listed them on the board just to give ourselves another view of them but am not going to do what many scholars have done in tying the names to certain places or people.
Just know this: It is extremely difficult to say what particular nations and people sprang from the three grand divisions of the family of Noah, because the names of many of those ancient people have changed and have become places OR the places have become names. Moses does not always give the name of the first settler in a country, but rather that of the people from whom the country afterwards derived its name. And from this we know that certain places could never have been reflective of certain people.
When we read of Kittim, Dodanim, Ludim, Ananim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, Philistim, and Caphtorim all of them are PLURALS and are not the names of individuals, but of families or tribes. Additionally, in the listing of the posterity of Canaan we find whole nations reckoned instead of the individuals from whom they sprang; therefore we read about Jebusites, Amorites, Girgasites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites, (listen in Genesis 10:16-18) which collectively were known as Canaanites who came from Canaan which came from Ham.
Genealogy in Sacred Text
Moses also, in this genealogy, seems to have introduced even the name of some places that were remarkable in the sacred history, instead of the original settlers. This is the case with Hazarmaveth,(verse 26) and probably Ophir and Havilah (Genesis 10:29). This type of thing is not unusual or infrequent in the sacred writings.
In fact, Church historian Eusebius and others state (from what authority we are unsure) that Noah was commanded of God to make a will and bequeath the whole of the earth to his three sons and their descendants in the following manner: To Shem, all the East; to Ham, all Africa; to Japheth, the Continent of Europe with its isles, and the northern parts of Asia.
Verse 8 states, "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth." Of this person Nimrod very little is known, but he is mentioned in 1st Chronicles 1:10, which appears to be a copy of the text in Genesis where he is called “a mighty hunter before the Lord,” and who, according to Genesis 10:10, founded a kingdom which included the cities “Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”
Nimrod's Legacy
Though the words are not definite in conveying this to us, it is believed that Nimrod was very likely a pretty bad dude. His name Nimrod means, “he rebelled;” and the Targum on 1st Chronicles 1:10, says: “Nimrod began to be a mighty man in sin, a murderer of innocent men, and a rebel before the Lord.” The Jerusalem Targum says: "He was mighty in hunting (or in prey) and in sin before God, for he was a hunter of the children of men in their languages; and he said unto them, Depart from the religion of Shem, and cleave to the institutes of Nimrod." The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel says: "From the foundation of the world none was ever found like Nimrod, powerful in hunting, and in rebellions against the Lord." And the Syriac calls him “a warlike giant.” Some suggest that he was a hunter of men through persecution, oppression, and tyranny. It is likely that Nimrod, having acquired power, used it in
The Legacy of Nimrod
Tyranny and oppression of others; and by and through violence he founded what might be one of the first or second Dark Kingdom’s of Man on earth. Some suggest that Nimrod was the principal instrument of the idolatry. All we read of him is in verse 9 which says:
9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Because Babel signifies, “confusion,” it is thought that this resulting city was the product of Nimrod and his ways on earth.
The Land of Shinar and Beyond
And this was all in the land of Shinar, which appears to have been in the southern part of Mesopotamia. Then we read at verse 11
11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
In other words, Nimrod, went out into Assyria and built Nineveh; and hence Assyria (according to Micah 5:6) is called the land of Nimrod supporting the idea that this mighty hunter extend his dominions in every possible way. Officially, the city of Nineveh, which was the capital of Assyria, was supposed to have had its name from Ninus, the son of Nimrod; but probably Ninus and Nimrod are the same person.
I am not going to detail any more of the genealogies here through the rest of chapter ten but move straight into chapter 11 which speaks more about Babel and what was going on there.
