Understanding the Curse of Ham and Canaan

Genesis 9

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, and on every fowl of the air, on all that moves on the earth, and on all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

3 Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall you not eat.

5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.

6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

7 And you, be you fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

8 And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

11 And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look on it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.

17 And God said to Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.

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 covered.

20 And Noah began to be an farmer, and he planted a vineyard:

21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers without.

23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on 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 to him.

25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.

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.

Ham was cursed because his actions toward his father revealed a deep-seated vileness, impiety, and a total lack of filial reverence that he had long before cast from his soulPP 117.1. While the outward act involved viewing his father's drunken nakedness and telling his brothers about it, the punishment addressed the character of the man and the future of his descendantsBDOC 36.1+2.

The Nature of Ham's Sin

• Irreverence and Mockery: Ham's conduct was not a sudden lapse but a revelation of a character that had already rejected the divine statutes regarding respect for parentsPP 117.1+1. He mocked his father in his state of disgrace rather than showing the dutiful care and reverence manifested by his brothers, Shem and JaphethPP 117.1+1.

• Violation of God's Law: His actions constituted a direct transgression of the principles of the fifth commandment, which requires children to honor their parentsSITI February 4, 1886, page 72.9+2.

• Unnatural Crime: The incident is described as an unnatural crime of base disrespect and vilenessBDOC 36.1+1. While some might view the "viewing" as a form of same-sex incestual-like attraction, the text treats the offense primarily as a manifestation of a debased soul that had lost all sense of proprietyBDOC 36.1+2.

The Reason for the Curse on Canaan

• A Prophetic Revelation: The curse pronounced by Noah was not an arbitrary act of wrath but a prophecy showing the result of the course of life Ham had chosen and the character he had developedPP 117.1.

• Inherited Tendencies: Children often inherit the dispositions of their parents and imitate their examples1MCP 142.2+1. The vileness and irreverence of Ham were reproduced in his posterity, particularly in Canaan, whose own continued guilt called for the judgments of God1MCP 142.2+1.

• A Mirror of Punishment: Canaan may have been singled out because he entered into the spirit of his father's sin, or so that Ham would experience his own punishment through the character and destiny of his sonBHOTV1 48.1.

• Future Fulfillment: The curse found its specific fulfillment when the Israelites, the descendants of Shem, later subdued and took possession of the land of the CanaanitesBHOTV1 48.1+2.

Spiritual Lessons and Warnings

• Drunkenness as a Snare: The entire situation was precipitated by Noah's intoxication, illustrating that intemperance has cursed the world from its infancy and can lead even a righteous man to expose himself to the vileness of othersBHOTV1 48.1+2.

• The Shame of Nakedness: In Scripture, nakedness is often associated with the result of transgression, shame, and ruinST May 29, 1901, par. 5. Believers are encouraged to seek the "white raiment" of Christ's righteousness so that the shame of their spiritual nakedness does not appear Revelation 3:181888 411.1+1.

• God's Requirements: Those in covenant relation with God are pledged to speak of Him and of sacred responsibilities in the most respectful and reverential manner16LtMs, Ms 126, 1901, par. 35. Any attempted unity or rebellion against these principles brings a curse, as seen in the later actions of Ham’s descendant Nimrod at the tower of BabelBHOTV1 51.1+2.