Ham

In Bible versions:

Ham: NET AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEV
Hamites: NET

a man and nation; son of Noah
a country occupied by the descendants of Ham

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hot; heat; brown

Google Maps: Ham (1) (31° 57´, 35° 55´); Ham (2) (30° 6´, 31° 20´)

Hebrew

Strongs #01990: Mh Ham

Ham = "hot" or "sunburnt"

1) the place where Chedorlaomer and his allies smote the Zuzim, probably
in the territory of the Ammonites, east of the Jordan; site uncertain

1990 Ham hawm

of uncertain derivation; Ham, a region of Palestine:-Ham.

Strongs #02526: Mx Cham

Ham = "hot"

n pr m
1) 2nd son of Noah, father of Canaan and of various peoples which
were inhabitants of southern lands
2) in late usage, a collective name for Egyptians

n pr loc
3) the place where Chedorlaomer smote the Zuzim, probably in the
territory of Ammonites (Gilead) east of the Jordan

2526 Cham khawm

the same as 2525; hot (from the tropical habitat); Cham, a
son of Noah; also (as a patronymic) his descendants or their
country:-Ham.
see HEBREW for 02525

Ham [EBD]

warm, hot, and hence the south; also an Egyptian word meaning "black", the youngest son of Noah (Gen. 5:32; comp. 9:22,24). The curse pronounced by Noah against Ham, properly against Canaan his fourth son, was accomplished when the Jews subsequently exterminated the Canaanites.

One of the most important facts recorded in Gen. 10 is the foundation of the earliest monarchy in Babylonia by Nimrod the grandson of Ham (6, 8, 10). The primitive Babylonian empire was thus Hamitic, and of a cognate race with the primitive inhabitants of Arabia and of Ethiopia. (See ACCAD.)

The race of Ham were the most energetic of all the descendants of Noah in the early times of the post-diluvian world.

Ham [NAVE]

HAM
1. Son of Noah, Gen. 5:32; 9:18, 24; 1 Chr. 1:4.
Provokes his father's wrath and is cursed by him, Gen. 9:18-27.
His children, Gen. 10:6-20; 1 Chr. 1:8-16.
2. Patronymic of the descendants of Ham, 1 Chr. 4:40; Psa. 78:51; 105:23, 27; 106:22.
3. Place where Chedorlaomer struck the Zuzims, Gen. 14:5.

HAM [SMITH]

(hot; sunburnt).

1. The name of one of the three sons of Noah, apparently the second in age. (B.C. 2448.) Of the history of Ham nothing is related except his irreverence to his father and the curse which that patriarch pronounced. The sons of Ham are stated, to have been "Cush and Mizraim and Phut and Canaan." (Genesis 10:6) comp. 1Chr 1:8 Egypt is recognized as the "land of Ham" in the Bible. (Psalms 78:51; 105:23; 106:22) The other settlements of the sons of Ham are discussed under their respective names. The three most illustrious Hamite nations--the Cushites, the Phoenicians and the Egyptians--were greatly mixed with foreign peoples. Their architecture has a solid grandeur that we look for in vain elsewhere.
2. According to the present text, (Genesis 14:5) Chedorlaomer and his allies smote the Zuzim in a place called Ham, probably in the territory of the Ammonites (Gilead), east of the Jordan.

HAM (1) [ISBE]

HAM (1) - ham (cham; Cham):

1. The Youngest Son of Noah:

The youngest son of Noah, from whom sprang the western and southwestern nations known to the Hebrews. His name first occurs in Gen 5:32, where, as in 6:10 and elsewhere, it occupies the second place. In Gen 9:18 Ham is described as "the father of Canaan," to prepare the reader for 9:25-27, where Noah, cursing Ham for having told Shem and Japheth of his nakedness, refers to him as Canaan. On account of this, it has been suggested that "Canaan" stood originally in all the passages where the three brothers are spoken of, and that this was later changed to "Ham," except in the verses containing the curse. It seems more likely, however, that the name "Canaan" is inserted prophetically, as Noah would not desire to curse his son, but only one branch of that son's descendants, who were later the principal adversaries of the Hebrews.

2. Ham as a Nationality:

The name given, in Ps 105:23,17; 106:22 (compare 78:51), to Egypt as a descendant of Ham, son of Noah. As Shem means "dusky," or the like, and Japheth "fair," it has been supposed that Ham meant, as is not improbable, "black." This is supported by the evidence of Hebrew and Arabic, in which the word chamam means "to be hot" and "to be black," the latter signification being derived from the former.

3. Meaning of the Word:

That Ham is connected with the native name of Egypt, Kem, or, in full pa ta' en Kem, "the land of Egypt," in Bashmurian Coptic Kheme, is unlikely, as this form is probably of a much later date than the composition of Gen, and, moreover, as the Arabic shows, the guttural is not a true kh, but the hard breathing h, which are both represented by the Hebrew cheth.

4. The Nations Descending from Ham:

Of the nationalities regarded as descending from Ham, none can be described as really black. First on the list, as being the darkest, is Cush or Ethiopia (Gen 10:6), after which comes Mitsrayim, or Egypt, then PuT or Libyia, and Canaan last. The sons or descendants of each of these are then taken in turn, and it is noteworthy that some of them, like the Ethiopians and the Canaanites, spoke Semitic, and not Hamitic, languages--Seba (if connected with the Sabeans), Havilah (Yemen), and Sheba, whose queen visited Solomon. Professor Sayce, moreover, has pointed out that Caphtor is the original home of the Phoenicians, who spoke a Semitic language. The explanation of this probably is that other tongues were forced upon these nationalities in consequence of their migrations, or because they fell under the dominion of nationalities alien to them. The non-Sem Babylonians, described as descendants of Nimrod (Merodach), as is welI known, spoke Sumerian, and adopted Semitic Babylonian only on account of mingling with the Semites whom they found there. Another explanation is that the nationalities described as Hamitic--a parallel to those of the Semitic section--were so called because they fell under Egyptian dominion. This would make the original Hamitic race to have been Egyptian and account for Ham as a (poetical) designation of that nationality. Professor F. L. Griffith has pointed out that the Egyptian Priapic god of Panopolis (Akhmim), sometimes called Menu, but also apparently known as Khem, may have been identified with the ancestor of the Hamitic race--he was worshipped from the coast of the Red Sea to Coptos, and must have been well known to Egypt's eastern neighbors. He regards the characteristics of Menu as being in accord with the shamelessness of Ham as recorded in Gen 9:20 ff.

See JAPHETH; SHEM; TABLE OF NATIONS.

T. G. Pinches

HAM (2) [ISBE]

HAM (2) - (ham):

(1) A place East of the Jordan named between Ashteroth-karnaim and Shaveh-kiriathaim, in which Chedorlaomer smote the Zu-zim (Gen 14:5). No name resembling this has been recovered. Septuagint reads bahem "with them," instead of beham, "in Ham." Some have thought that "Ham" may be a corruption from "Ammon"; or that it may be the ancient name of Rabbath-ammon itself.

(2) A poetical appellation of Egypt: "the land of Ham" (Ps 105:23, etc.) is the land of Jacob's sojourning, i.e. Egypt; "the tents of Ham" (Ps 78:51) are the dwellings of the Egyptians. It may be derived from the native name of Egypt, Kemi, or Khemi.

See MIZRAIM; SHEM.

W. Ewing