Why Did Noah Curse His Grandson Canaan?

The Scriptures, as spoken by God and written by Moses and the Prophets which are collectively referred to as the Old Testament stand true and to be believed even today. It is the foundation of the New Testament and all Christian teachings.

God, the Creator desires to reveal Himself to anyone who seeks to know Him, to sanctify in the truth those who are diligent to search His word with their whole heart.

The Scriptures, if read with a humble heart without pre-conceived ideas are not difficult to understand.

Most confusions, questions, and misunderstandings of the Scriptures arise because of linguistic translations, or should I say mistranslations.

Noah’s cursing of his grandson Canaan is among these misunderstood passages.

Reading from the Bible (KJV), we track Noah and his sons from the time they went out of the ark until his death. Genesis chapter 9, from verses 18 through 29, we read:

And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

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

And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

Some Mainstream Teachings

Bible readers are confused about why Canaan was cursed when there seems to have been no recorded offense that Canaan committed against his grandfather Noah that warranted the curse.

Jewish sages and Rabbis of Judaism, Christian Bible expositors, commentators in Christianity throughout the centuries, and even Pastors of today’s churches spin varied theories about this event. Here are some of them.

1. Dishonoring Authorities/Disrespecting Parents — Ham sinned by mocking his father by exposing his father’s nakedness to his brothers. This teaching apparently came from St. Augustine, then by Martin Luther, and famously by John Calvin. This is still promoted by present-day pastors and contemporary Bible teachers. Commonly used as a warning to those who wish to challenge church leadership, even when the leader/s goes rogue from God’s words. With it, they warn, “Do not touch God’s anointed!”

2. Castration to usurp authority — Ham castrated his father in order to usurp his authority. This is some Sages’ teaching from the Babylonian Talmud/ Jewish Sanhedrin’s view.

3. Paternal Incest — Ham or Canaan had sexual relations with Noah (pedophilia/sodomy), a teaching based on the phrase “saw the nakedness of his father” interpreted according to the laws in Leviticus. This is another view lifted from some Bible commentaries and Study Bibles.

4. Maternal Incest — Ham had sex with his mother resulting in the birth of Canaan which claims to be the reason why Canaan was the one cursed being the fruit of their incest. This is a teaching from an unknown source, being promoted around by some Bible teachers and pastors today.

Departure from popular teachings

Although my initial understanding of this passage was far diverse from these mainstream teachings, a recent study of the texts gave me a much clearer insight.

Many of the misunderstandings of the bible which led to grave erroneous teachings and doctrines come from what I term as “mis-pronouns.” Mis-pronouns, this I mean, ascribing a pronoun to the wrong person or thing thus misleading the reader away from the context of what the Scripture is really saying.

You will find many such cases in the bible especially when you do a parallel reading from various English bible (old vs. modern language) versions. The same goes for inter-language translations.

While writing this study as I went through the verses, phrase by phrase, the light that kept coming almost overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the many precious gems buried in this short account.

Here I explain what I believe took place in this story right from the word of God. The Scriptures explain itself. May the Spirit of God bring the truth to you in a clearer light as we follow the acts of Noah and his sons after they settled in the new land until his death.

Laying the Groundwork

Before Noah went out of the ark in verse 18, the flood had already abated and the ground was dry. Plants and trees were growing in the land as we are told in Gen. 8:11–12 that when Noah sent forth the dove the second time it returned with an olive leaf in her mouth:

And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. (Gen. 8:11–12).

This is significant because it shows us that before God asks man to do any work, He first feeds him and lets him rest in His sustenance. God will not ask us to do something without giving us first the grace and sufficiency to carry it out.

We see this truth when He planted the garden first for man’s food and sustenance then He put the man there so he could dress and keep it, of course with a specific condition.

Now, let’s focus on that momentous part of Noah’s life, from verse 20 until verse 25 wherein Noah pronounced the curse, and see how it unravels.

(20) And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

So “Noah began to be an husbandman” or in simpler terms, a farmer, “and he planted a vineyard.” Noah and his family began a new life in a new land.

We are not told exactly where this place was but most probably not too far from where the ark rested after the flood, “upon the mountains of Ararat” (Gen. 8:4), somewhere in present-day Armenia.

As the head of the household, he had a responsibility to feed his family. Being a husbandman is a noble occupation as this is the job God ordained our forefather Adam as they began their life on earth after God planted a garden eastward in Eden.

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Genesis 2:15)

Even the Son of God referred to His Father as the Husbandman in the 15th chapter of the gospel of John

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (John 15:1).

So Noah planted a vineyard while feeding on what God had already provided for the first 2 years for it would have taken him that long before he could harvest his firstfruits from the vineyard.

The Offering of the Firstfruits

Leviticus 25:1–22 tells us,

And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.

Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

Moving forward to verses 20–22,

And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

In the sixth year, God will supply them with food which will last till the ninth year. The ninth year is three years from the Sabbath year, then only in the ninth year, will they reap their firstfruits ready to offer their tithes. So, we read in Deuteronomy 26 that Moses spoke to God’s people before they entered the promised land:

Deuteronomy 26:1–14

And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.

And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God.

Skipping onto verses 10–14:

And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God: And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;

Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them:

I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.

Now, you may recall that after God delivered Noah and his family from the flood and when he came out of the ark onto the dry land, do you remember the first thing Noah did?

Let’s go back there in Gen 8:15–22,

And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

So Noah built an altar unto the LORD… and offered burnt offerings on the altar. This he did once they came out of the ark. This is an act of worship by offering back his gratitude and thanksgiving to God for what He has done and given.

Noah’s Downfall

Now, back to our story in chapter 9. For three years God fed and sustained Noah and his family while he planted his vineyard. Then, what’s the first thing Noah did when he had his first harvest, his firstfruits? Did he make an offering to God? No, he didn’t!

Instead, verse 21 immediately says,

…And he drank of the wine…

If Noah offered his firstfruits to God, it would be recorded in the Bible as God cares so much for that act of worship. This act of gratitude also causes the worshipper not to forget but to remember his Source and his Sustainer. (Refer to Abel and Cain’s story).

Failing to do this could lead man to a spiritual downfall as we see what happened to Noah…

…and was drunken;

What happens when a person gets drunk? Indiscretion! As the flesh takes over, he loses self-control, even consciousness of what he does and what happens around him.

…and he was uncovered within his tent.

This was Noah’s indiscretion. Indulging in his first fruits without regard to God, getting drunk, and finally uncovering himself or allowing himself to be uncovered. He exposed himself to shame. Verse 22,

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

We have to give Ham the benefit of the doubt here since there was really no record of him committing any offensive act except that he saw the nakedness of his father, which may not even be an offense.

Let’s recount this event.

Noah got drunk, and he was uncovered or naked, intoxicated but asleep inside his tent. Then came Ham, entering his father’s tent, and found his father asleep but perhaps for the first time, he saw him naked.

Ham was confused… he did not know what to do, so he went out of the tent and told his two brothers who seemed to know exactly what to do. So we read the next verse 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.

Although the phrase “seeing the nakedness” of someone relates to a sexual act in other passages of the Scriptures, the word of God does not generalize it. I don’t believe it to be so here as many speculated. I believe that it means literally what it says, Ham saw the nakedness of his father as Noah was uncovered in his tent asleep and drunk. Ham committed no sexual act here for if “seeing the nakedness” means a sexual act in this passage, what does Shem and Japheth’s acts of taking a garment to cover the nakedness of their father means? Reversing a sexual act?

We must note that nakedness is oftentimes not a sin in itself but a result of sin. We recall our fore-parents (Adam and Eve) finding themselves naked to their shame in the garden after they sinned, disobeying God’s command (Genesis 3:6–11).

We continue reading on Noah (verse 24)…

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

Mis-pronouns, source of grave error

This is where the confusion comes, by misunderstanding the pronouns, which I coined at the beginning as MIS-PRONOUNS.

Let me explain this in verse 24.

And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what HIS YOUNGER SON had done unto him.

This second pronoun “HIS” in this verse actually refers to Ham, not to Noah, and this “YOUNGER SON” refers to Ham’s younger or youngest son (as translated in other versions), which is Canaan.

So using their proper names instead of the pronouns, verse 24 will read like this:

And Noah awoke from his wine (drunken state) and knew what Ham’s younger son, Canaan had done unto him.

There are many such cases of mispronouns in the English bible which resulted in twisted theological doctrines taught in Christianity today. I will cover it in detail separately but as an example, for now, I can point you to 1 Samuel chapter 3:19 where it is written:

And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. (1 Samuel 3:19)

Most bible commentaries interpret “his words” in this verse as Samuel’s words, as he spoke this prophecy and the words being fulfilled regarding the end of the priesthood of Eli.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary says:

“By fulfilling what he (God) spoke by him (Samuel): God did let none of his (Samuel’s) words fall to the ground,” (1 Samuel 3:19).

Adam Clarke’s Commentary states:

None of his words fall (meaning) Whatever prediction he (Samuel) uttered, God fulfilled it; and his (Samuel’s) counsels were received as coming from the Lord.

This is clearly a mis-pronoun, incorrectly attributing “his words” to Samuel rather than to God. Let’s compare 2 Kings 10:10.

Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the LORD has done what he said by his servant Elijah. (2 Kings 10:10)

That is why Samuel was established in Israel as a prophet of the LORD (1 Samuel 3:20) because Samuel received all the words of the LORD and let none of the words of the LORD fall to the ground but whatever God spoke, Samuel spoke. That is the sign of a true prophet from God.

By this example, you can see that the context of the whole verse was turned upside down.

With that, I hope that we established that Ham did nothing sinful. Continuing with Noah in verse 25,

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

So what could Canaan have done causing Noah to pronounce a curse on him?

Something serious happened during Noah’s drunken stupor: while drinking; being drunk; and being uncovered within his tent.

The Scriptures suggest two similar drunken stupors and their uneventful results: first, the account of Lot and his two daughters in Genesis; and second, the account of Israel and the molten (golden) calf in Exodus.

Let us unscroll these two events and see how they relate in parallel to Noah.

Lot with his two daughters

(Genesis 19:30–35)

And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

Though this might have a similarity to what might have taken place between Canaan and Noah, it tells us that Lot had no knowledge or remembrance of what happened between him and his daughters, thus Lot saw no offense committed toward him. This is different from the case of Noah for when he awoke from his wine (drunkenness) he was fully aware of what happened, what he did, and what Canaan did to him. He was angry.

Two Questions Leading to Conclusion

1. What could have taken place between Noah and his grandson?

2. Was it because of Noah’s guilt and shame before God and before his sons that made Noah placed the blame on someone else, that is, to Canaan? Remember after Adam and Eve sinned? When God searched him out, he hid in shame because he found out he was naked, then placed the blame on Eve, who then pointed it to Satan.

Whatever happened there, we can conclude that it was Noah’s self-indulgence and intoxication that led to his indiscretion. Thus, resulting in his nakedness. At what point Canaan came into the scene is uncertain.

But let’s see what happened in the second drunken stupor in Exodus 32. At that point, Israel looked at Moses as a representation of God.