Hello everyone. You are watching the 10th video of Genesis in a Bible study video series.
In this video we will go through Genesis chapter 9, verses 18-29.
Beginning in verse 18 it says: "And the sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark, were
Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These three were the sons
of Noah: and of these was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be a husbandman,
and planted a vineyard: and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered
within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told
his two brethren without. 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."
Even though Canaan's name looks like it should be pronounced "Ca-na-an", it's commonly pronounced
like the name Cain. Pronouncing Canaan's name like Cain's name is slightly misleading, because
Canaan and Cain were two completely unrelated people, and (according to Strong's work) the
two names sound different in Hebrew. However, the problem with trying to pronounce Canaan's
name correctly is no one will know who you're referring to, especially when you mention
the "Ca-na-an-ites". Strong says Canaan's name means ". . . humiliated
. . .". It's likely that Canaan was named because of the events that this chapter mentions.
Either Canaan was already born by the time of these events (and was either still unnamed,
or soon renamed), or he wasn't born yet (maybe being in the womb, or maybe not even yet conceived).
Whatever the case was, his name's connection to these events seems to be pointed to in
verses 18, 22, and 25-27. The fact that he's even mentioned here (even though he's not
the first born according to Genesis chapter 10, verse 6) seems to make it more clear that
he was young at that time, soon-to-be-born, or possibly Ham's favorite son. Ham would
have been a logical candidate for Noah to curse because he was the one whom Noah was
infuriated with, Ham's firstborn would have been a logical candidate because he was the
one who would get the best blessing and inheritance from his father, and Ham's youngest, soon-to-be-born,
or favorite would be a logical candidate because the curse would have dampened Ham's joy.
The word translated as "nakedness" in verse 22 means: ". . . nudity, literally . . . or
figuratively (disgrace, blemish) . . .". This word is not the same as Canaan's name, but
it may have something to do with why he was named what he was.
Strong says this about the word translated as "told" in verse 22: "a primitive root;
properly, to front, i.e. stand boldly out opposite; by implication (causatively), to
manifest; figuratively, to announce (always by word of mouth to one present); specifically,
to expose, predict, explain, praise . . .". Instead of covering his father (or simply telling
his two brothers discretely not to enter the tent), he told his two brothers that he saw
their father naked, possibly even saying what he saw. If this is true, Noah's curse on Ham's
son Canaan (which we'll read about next) may not have been because Ham saw Noah's nakedness,
but because he shamed his father by his action and/or inaction concerning his nakedness.
Continuing on in verse 24 it says: "And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest
son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants shall he
be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; And let Canaan
be his servant. God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan
be his servant." Whether Noah woke up immediately after his
two sons covered him (while they were still in the tent), or woke up at an unspecified
time after that, the fact that he knew what had happened and who it was seems to hint
that Ham had shown disrespect to his father before. Maybe Ham and Noah had a difficult,
rocky relationship? Don't forget that Ham had a wife at this point.
It seems like Shem was the oldest son, Ham may have been the second oldest, and Japheth
may have been the youngest. Ham probably cannot be considered the oldest, because in verse
24 it says that Ham was the "youngest son", or (according to the ASV footnotes) the "younger
son". I should probably also mention that the word translated as "youngest" may (though
unlikely) not be referring to Ham's age. Strong says this about the word: "abbreviated, i.e.
diminutive, literally (in quantity, size or number) or figuratively (in age or importance)".
After Ham's son Canaan is cursed, Shem is blessed first (and Shem seems to get the better
blessing, if in nothing else than that Japheth will ". . . dwell in the tents of Shem . . .", which
implies that Shem would have enough to support his brother and himself). Another important
point that should be made is that every time Shem, Ham, and Japheth are mentioned together,
their names are found in the same order (see Genesis chapter 5, verse 32, chapter 6, verse
10, chapter 7, verse 13, chapter 9, verse 18, and chapter 10, verse 1; I'll let you
look those verses up yourself). The only thing that seems it could go against this idea (the
birth-order of Noah's sons being Shem, Ham, and then Japheth) would be Genesis chapter
10, verse 21 (according to the King James Version). I'll quickly mention chapter 10,
verse 21 in the next video, because I think the ASV's translation makes more sense when
you look at the context. I just gave you a lot of information. If you want to, look it
up yourself and verify what I just said. I don't believe I left anything out.
Continuing on in verse 28 it says: "And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty
years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: And he died."
Noah was likely the longest living person who lived after the flood. Of course, the
fact that he only lived 350 years after the flood may be an important detail worth noting.
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