Why did Noah curse Canaan instead of Ham? | GotQuestions.org

The biggest misinterpretation that I constantly hear when people try to explain what really happened boggles my mind. First and foremost, HAM didn’t do anything wrong and NOAH didn’t curse HAM — he cursed CANAAN. That’s the main subject. So, the question is why? Genesis 9:18 establishes the lineage of Noah and the birth order of his (3) sons… this is found more than once in scripture — SHEM, HAM, and JAPHETH. If you don’t start there then you will misinterpret and mistranslate this event. We have to establish that HAM “was not the youngest son of NOAH.” In fact, JAPHETH was the youngest son of NOAH. All of this has to be known before you even dive into this passage. And even before you reference LEV. 18. So, when you read the passage and realize that it says that once NOAH woke up “and found out what his youngest son had done… he said, “Curse be Canaan.” Now, if you already know by SCRIPTURE CONFIRMATION that HAM isn’t the youngest son of NOAH, then who was he taking about? Obviously, JAPHETH being the “youngest son of NOAH” didn’t do anything. He wasn’t even there when the “thing” happened. So, now this is where hermeneutical studies come into play. The word “son” in Hebrew is the word “Ben”… as in, “BEN-DAVID” whom the Scripture calls CHRIST the “SON OF DAVID.” Why would CHRIST be called the “SON OF DAVID” when he’s not the actual son of DAVID’s loins? Well, unlike the English language, the Hebrew words have more than one meaning. The word “son” [Ben] in Hebrew actually means.. “son, grandson, or descendant”. So, when the Scripture says that NOAH had found out what his “youngest son” had done he wasn’t talking about HAM (his second born), nor was he talking about JAPHETH (his actual youngest son — third born)… he was talking about his YOUNGEST GRANDSON (BEN)… CANAAN was the YOUNGEST GRANDSON of all the grandchildren of NOAH. This is why HAM I’d never mentioned as being cursed because he didn’t do anything. HAM saw his “father’s nakedness/nakedness of his father” which was a sexual act taking place that his youngest son (NOAH’s youngest grandson) was doing to NOAH’s wife (HAM’s mother). So, when HAM went out and told his brothers what had happened (CANAAN violating their mother), SHEM & JAPHETH walked backwards with a covering to “cover their mother (father’s nakedness)” because of the shame involved. It was and never has been a sin for a man to see his father naked. But, according to LEV. 18 (sexual sins), father’s nakedness is a sexual act that we know and is proven by scripture was what CANAAN did to his grandmother. This is why CANAAN was cursed and also why the people of CANAAN (the land) were known for their godlessness and sexual deviance. SODOM & GOMORRAH was in the land of CANAAN. And this is what GOD had the people CANAAN wiped out because of their forefather’s sin and curse — CANAAN and its people no longer exist because of what CANAAN the “BEN” (youngest grandson of Noah) did to Noah’s wife. HAM remains innocent and still is innocent to this day! In fact, the idea of HAM sexually involved with his mom and then going out to tell his brother’s what he supposedly did is the dumbest thing ever explained when it comes to this passage of scripture. If you truly pay attention to what MOSES is writing, you will see CANAAN’s name mentioned twice even before the actual act is known. MOSES was trying to give us clues about something that would involve CANAAN even before it actually happened. Don’t believe me? … ”The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.)“ Genesis‬ ‭9‬:‭18‬ ‭— ”Ham, the father of Canaan...“ Gen‬ ‭9‬:‭22‬ ‭

Very interesting, thank you for this 😊

Thank you for providing different perspectives and interpretations.

Pastor Nelson. Thank You For Your Work!

Praise God... lovely explanation.. God bless your ministry

That's a lot of families to go through to find out, whose who!, But thank you for sharing this bit of info.

Well put!

Great insight!

AWESOME explanation. GOD BLESS YOU.

What a better explanation👍

Thank you for this indepth understanding, it is greatly appreciated.❤

What an explanation. God bless you

AMAZING explanation

The nakedness of his father is actually the nakedness of his mother, which is an euphemism for having intercourse with her (or maybe even him?) according to the Bible. Lev. 18:7-8 (14) and 20:11. While Noah was drunk and unaware of what was going on around him, Ham entered his father's tent and had relations with his mother. Canaan was likely the result of that union, which explains why he was the target of the curse.

Amen from Malaysia

Thank you and God bless you for sharing your knowledge of the Bible.

this was great! thank you! I am reading the Bible from the beginning to see who the people were that came from Jesus' line, and I've always wanted to know why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham himself. thanks for the explanation.

Thanks I’m going to share this on my instagram

Do a word search for nakedness in the Old testament and you will discover what seeing or uncovering somebody’s nakedness really means. I don’t understand why people have such a hard time with this. We must free ourselves from reading scripture using our worldview and strive to read scripture with the worldview of the it’s contemporaries.

Strange this came across my feed. After this was our church family scripture reading yesterday…🤔🤨