Ham saw his father naked, why Noah cursed Canaan (Son of Ham) instead of Ham?

[MrE]

As the story as told in Genesis goes, Ham sees his drunk dad, naked in his tent--- And that's all we know. It really is. The rest is complete speculation, including the idea from Leviticus, that "seeing your father's nakedness' is having relations with his wife. Speculation and inference.

Scripture is fully capable of saying exactly what it means, as it does so clearly in Leviticus 18, where it implicitly states>>>

“‘No man is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations with her. I am the LORD. You must not expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her. You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness. You must not have sexual relations with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; you must not have sexual relations with either of them. You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual relations with them, because they are your own nakedness.

It's not like the Bible has to use code language to avoid calling sex-- sex. That's not what "exposing your father's nakedness" means. It's one of the ways how it occurs. It simply means to shame him. One's nakedness being exposed is akin to one being humiliated. To be shamed, left em-bare-assed, made powerless, made fun of, mocked, rendered helpless, vulnerable, exposed, etc. And in this case it means to have your garments stolen from you.

Not just any garments-- very special one of a kind, original garments-- handed down by generations-- not only your clothes, but your birthright, your position of leadership, --your mantle of power. And that is what Ham stole from his father-- leaving him naked. If Ham had done what so many want to accuse him of, I suspect that Noah would have slain him rather than banishing/cursing his son Canaan, but that part of the story is yet to come.

 

[MrE]

In Jasher 7, we get the deets.....

The garments in question, are the very garments of skin that Adam and Eve covered themselves with "to cover their shame" because they were.... wait for it.... ashamed of their nakedness. (I hope this is starting to make sense).

And Cush the son of Ham, the son of Noah, took a wife in those days in his old age, and she bare a son, and they called his name Nimrod, saying, At that time the sons of men again began to rebel and transgress against God, and the child grew up, and his father loved him exceedingly, for he was the son of his old age.

And the garments of skin which God made for Adam and his wife, when they went out of the garden, were given to Cush.

For after the death of Adam and his wife, the garments were given to Enoch, the son of Jared, and when Enoch was taken up to God, he gave them to Methuselah, his son.

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.

And in their going out, Ham stole those garments from Noah his father, and he took them and hid them from his brothers.

And when Ham begat his first born Cush, he gave him the garments in secret, and they were with Cush many days.

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.

 

[PaulThomson]

God does everything

No he doesn't. And it was Noah who cursed Canaan not God. Being a servant is not a curse in God's eyes.

 

[Daisy2]

No he doesn't. And it was Noah who cursed Canaan not God. Being a servant is not a curse in God's eyes.

The Bible say in times of distress God will speak through us when we can't some people believe the holy people in the Bible all spoke words of God. They do after all call the Bible the word of God. Also it say 1 Samuel 3:19 James 5:17 Yes that's true. Even Jesus are Lord said
" I am among you as he that serveth” (Luke 22:27). the first will be last, and the last will be first" Matthew 20:16.

 

[JohnRH]

GENESIS 9:20-25
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, 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 brethren without.

23 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.

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

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

It could be that "his younger son" is a reference to Canaan; and we're not told exactly what Canaan did to Noah. Sometimes "son" can be a further-removed descendant; such as Jesus, the son of David.

 

[MrE]

we're not told exactly what Canaan did to Noah.

There is no mention of anything that Canaan did to Noah. The punishment was for the crime of his father, so it's not even a relevant question of 'what Canaan did to Noah.'

The answer is absolutely nothing.

So why was Canaan singled out? That's the real question.

And the answer to that question might be rather simple. No one knew who took Noah's garments.... which I've mentioned as being much more than a favorite outfit, or coat.... it was his inheritance, the source of his position and prominence and power. The simple answer is that Canaan got blamed for the disappearance of the garments.

If you read on in Jasher, it says>>>

Ham was the one who stole the garments and he gave them in secret to his oldest--firstborn son Cush.

Cush goes on later to given them to his youngest/favorite son-- Nimrod (prominently mentioned in Scripture) who goes on to become a mighty warrior and king on the earth, building both the great city of Ninevah, and the Tower of Babel. And when Nimrod started wearing them he rose to power.

These particular garments were considered to be special-- like a King's robe, and a prophet's mantel--- they were an important symbol historically and spiritually-- uniquely so.

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.

And Nimrod became strong when he put on the garments, and God gave him might and strength, and he was a mighty hunter in the earth, yea, he was a mighty hunter in the field, and he hunted the animals and he built altars, and he offered upon them the animals before the Lord.

And Nimrod strengthened himself, and he rose up from amongst his brethren, and he fought the battles of his brethren against all their enemies round about.

And the Lord delivered all the enemies of his brethren in his hands, and God prospered him from time to time in his battles, and he reigned upon earth.


The story goes on to say that Nimrod became top dog.... no one greater. But he became wicked-- more evil than any other since the days of the flood. He worshiped idols and rebelled against God. Yet>>

Nimrod reigned in the earth over all the sons of Noah, and they were all under his power and counsel.

He gathered together all the sons of his father Cush-- and led them into battle against the other sons of Noah-- Japeth and Seth. So we can see that despite Noah's curse on Canaan-- it had little effect. It was Ham's sons that rose to power and prominence, becoming much stronger and the sons of Seth and Japeth ended up in service to the sons of Ham, which included the Canaanites.

Among those in the service of Nimrod, was a guy named Terah (a Sethite)--- who became a favorite among the servants of Nimrod-- and to Terah, a son was born-- who was named Abram (the father is exalted) because of Nimrod's favor of Terah.

It's all quite interesting!