Discovery BoxGenesis 9:23-27 
Context9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment 1 and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned 2 the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor 3 he learned 4 what his youngest son had done 5 to him. 9:25 So he said,
The lowest of slaves 8
he will be to his brothers.”
9:26 He also said,
“Worthy of praise is 9 the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 10
9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! 11
May he live 12 in the tents of Shem
and may Canaan be his slave!”
1 tn The word translated “garment” has the Hebrew definite article on it. The article may simply indicate that the garment is definite and vivid in the mind of the narrator, but it could refer instead to Noah’s garment. Did Ham bring it out when he told his brothers?
2 tn Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”
3 tn Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
4 tn Heb “he knew.”
5 tn The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.
6 sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.
7 sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).
8 tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.
9 tn Heb “blessed be.”
10 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
sn There is a wordplay (paronomasia) on the name Japheth. The verb יַפְתְּ (yaft, “may he enlarge”) sounds like the name יֶפֶת (yefet, “Japheth”). The name itself suggested the idea. The blessing for Japheth extends beyond the son to the descendants. Their numbers and their territories will be enlarged, so much so that they will share in Shem’s territories. Again, in this oracle, Noah is looking beyond his immediate family to future generations. For a helpful study of this passage and the next chapter, see T. O. Figart, A Biblical Perspective on the Race Problem, 55-58.
12 tn In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).
