Part of the portion that we went through in our class this week was an “incident” between Noah and His youngest son, Ham.

And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.” (Gen 9:20-25)

What?! Ham did something to his father and Noah cursed Canaan?

What do we know about Ham from Torah? Practically nothing. He does not seem any different from either of his two older brothers, Japheth and Shem.

But Yasher gives us some very interesting clues as to the temperament of Ham. I like that word Temperament. “The manner of thinking, behaving, or reacting characteristic of a specific person.”

Get this! Yasher does not even record the birth of Ham. His name is not even mentioned until after everyone comes out of the ark.  And here is the only thing Yasher tells us about the birth of Japheth and Shem, and their early years.

Yasher 5:16 And Noah was four hundred and ninety-eight years old, when he took Naamah for his woman.
17 And Naamah conceived and bare a son, and he called his name Japheth, and Noah said, Elohim (the law-maker and judge) has enlarged me in the earth; and she conceived again and bare a son, and he called his name Shem, and Noah said, Elohim has made me a remnant, to raise up seed in the midst of the earth.
18 And Noah was five hundred and two years old when Naamah bare Shem, and the boys grew up and went in the ways of Yehovah, in all that Methuselah and Noah their father taught them.

It appears to me that Ham did not sit at the feet of Methuselah and Noah, learning Yehovah’s ways. Was he a man of the flesh and not interested in spiritual things?

Noah did what he could to provide women of worth for his 3 sons.

Yasher 5:32 And thou shalt choose for thy sons three maidens, from ha-a-dam’s seed, and they shall be thy sons women. …
35 Then Noah took the three daughters of Eliakim, son of Methuselah, as women for his sons, as Yehovah had commanded Noah.

The next time we learn something about Ham it is not sequential but it discusses something that happened just as Noah and his sons were leaving the ark. Ham is stealing something of great value, both historically and tangibly.

Jasher 7:23 And Cush the son of Ham, the son of Noah, took a woman in those days in his old age, and she bare a son, and they called his name Nimrod, saying, At that time ha-a-dam seed again began to rebel and transgress against Elohim. And the boy grew up, and his father loved him exceedingly, for he was the son of his old age.
24 And the garments of skin which Elohim made for Adam and his woman, when they went out of the garden, were given to Cush. [This was the big picture, now let’s find out how that happened.]
25 For after the death of Adam and his women, the garments were given to Enoch, the son of Jared, and when Enoch was taken up to Elohim, he gave them to Methuselah, his son.
26 And at the death of Methuselah, Noah took them and brought them to the ark, and they were with him until he went out of the ark.
27 And in their going out, Ham stole those garments from Noah his father, and he took them and hid them from his brothers.
28 And when Ham begat his first-born Cush, he gave him the garments in secret, and they were with Cush many days.
29 And Cush also concealed them from his sons and brothers, and when Cush had begotten Nimrod, he gave him those garments through his love for him, and Nimrod grew up, and when he was twenty years old he put on those garments.

Nimrod became “the profaned mighty one” on the earth when he put on those garments.

So even as Ham stole those garments from His Father, garments which were to be possessed by righteous men, Ham appears to be thinking ahead in anticipation of his seed becoming elohim in the earth. I wonder if Noah knew it was Ham who stole the garments from him? I think he did.

Now we come to the topic of this article. What did Ham do to his father? In the beginning of this section it says that Ham “saw the nakedness of his father.” So are we to believe that he saw his dad in the buff? Yeah, right! They were all together on the same boat for more than a year. Where in Torah does it say “you shall not see your father nude”? How about your mother, or any man or any woman? It is not there.

No, there is more to this story which only those with discerning eyes can see. The answer is found line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. Seeing “the nakedness of one’s father or mother” usually means that a man has taken his mother or his father’s woman. It is a euphemism, a nice way of saying “don’t have sexual relations with a near of kin.”

The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of your father’s woman you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness. (Lev 18:7-8)

But Ham did not take his own mother or his father’s woman; which in this case is the same person, Naamah. No, it appears to me that Ham took his own father and humbled him while he was in a weakened state. Remember what Noah had understood after he awoke.

So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. (Gen 9:24)

Was this egregious sin the result of Ham being in an unofficial subservient position in his family due to his lack of interest in spiritual matters? Is it possible that his love of the world and his frustrations in his life finally manifested in the humbling of his father Noah, a wholly righteous man?

So now the question you should be asking is why does Torah say that “Noah cursed Canaan”? Canaan is the youngest of 4 brothers, why not curse Cush?

Ham’s seed were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. (Gen 10:6)

Noah said,

Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.” (Gen 9:25)

So is Canaan to serve Cush, Mizraim and Put, his brethren? Who did those men serve?

No, there is more to understand in this as well; and you will have to watch the video to get “the rest of the story.”

And for the rest of you pitiful individuals who want to use this story to support your racist beliefs, Yehovah is telling Ham and His seed, men of the flesh, to serve Yehovah’s spiritual men. And that is how it will end at the end of this world also; flesh men will serve spiritual men or perish from the earth once again.

Noah Cursed Canaan?

2G11 Genesis 9:18 – 10:19
[Click here to download this audio mp3]

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