Repeated phrase:
(I) "Ham was the father of Canaan" v.18,22
NET, The concluding disjunctive clause is parenthetical. It anticipates the following story, which explains that the Canaanites, Ham’s descendants through Canaan, were cursed because they shared the same moral abandonment that their ancestor displayed
Why Ham was cursed? v.21 the phrase “to uncover oneself” or “to be uncovered.” Noah became overheated because of the wine and uncovered himself in the tent. (NET)
Noted, Noah was in the tent when he uncovered himself. Ham must have gone into Noah's tent and saw Noah's nakedness. He did not need to tell his brothers then no one would have seen him naked.
Why seeing his father nakedness and told his 2 brothers were wrong? (NET) "The point of the text is that Ham had no respect for his father. Rather than covering his father up, he told his brothers. Noah then gave an oracle that Ham’s descendants, who would be characterized by the same moral abandonment, would be cursed. Leviticus 18 describes that greater evil of the Canaanites (see vv. 24–28)."
(NET) "In the ancient world, especially in a patriarchal society, seeing another’s nakedness was a major offense. (See the account in Herodotus, Histories 1.8–13, where a general saw the nakedness of his master’s wife, and one of the two had to be put to death.) Besides, Ham was not a little boy wandering into his father’s bedroom; he was over a hundred years old by this time."
Reflection:Again, brothers could be very different. Abel offered the best to the LORD while Cain murdered his brother out of anger. Ham gossiped about his own father while Shem and Japheth paid great respect to their father v.23.
9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
Are you the person that love to gossip? Or you would cover for other people and not spreading the gossip?
Would you respect other even though they may have done something wrong (Like, Noah got drunk, but Shem and Japheth still respected him because he was their father).
(II) the curse on Canaan v.25, 26 and 27
The curses and blessings from Noah were put on their descendants. Ham's youngest son, Canaan, was named instead of Ham when Noah cursed him. The blessings of Shem and Japheth were also extended to their descendants v.27.
(NET) The blessing for Japheth extends beyond the son to the descendants. Their numbers and their territories will be enlarged, so much so that they will share in Shem’s territories. Again, in this oracle, Noah is looking beyond his immediate family to future generations.
Why extended the curses and blessings to their descendants? Especially, the curse to Ham, I think it is more painful for Ham when Noah curses his son, Canaan.
(NET)The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).
Reflection: I think the practice of cursing other's descendants may not be easily understood, but we can at least see the reason behind. The character of the parents would easily affecting their children. How do you do as a parents? Have you affected your children with godly character? Or ungodly character? Even though I do not have any children I think I do affect children around me. How do we do in affecting our next generation?
Audrey
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