Why Curse Canaan And Not Ham
The original story about forced rape of a father would explain why Noah would curse his youngest son so harshly, but Canaan is not Noahs youngest son Japhet is! In fact, Canaan isnt Noahs son at all! For this reason, many scholars suggest that in an earlier form of the story, Canaan must have been Noahs youngest son, not Japhet. Without the redaction supplement of Ham the father of, v. 22 would have originally read Canaan saw his fathers nakedness. It indeed makes perfect sense to accept this reconstruction of v. 22, and to assume that if the story concludes with the cursing of Canaan, Canaan must have been the original youngest-son-culprit of the story.
On the other hand, the idea that Canaan was Noahs youngest son is difficult. Verses 18-19, which introduce the non-Priestly account here, state that Noahs three sons are Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and that they are the progenitors of the world. Moreover, the nation lists in chapter 10 treat Ham as the father of Canaan and the progenitor of nations Canaan and his offspring are only a subgroup under Ham.
Getting The Context Straight
But there is a broader context to this curse of Ham. All mankind is under a curse whether we are offspring of Shem, Ham or Japheth. Adam and Eve, our original forebears, already disobeyed the Lord God when they ate of the forbidden fruit: of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die .
Just before the event known as the curse of Ham, God did wipe out all of mankind, except for Noahs family, in a flood. God immediately issued a chilling warning to those who survived the flood: Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image . God clearly harbours no illusions about the righteousness of mankind despite the awful punishment that he had just meted out! Even though God almost completely wiped out mankind in the flood, he had no doubt that they would sin againand soon!
Whether you are of the line of Shem, Ham or Japeth there is no distinction all fall short of the glory of God.
The New Testament does not alter this message one bit. When quoting Psalm 14 Paul says, there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . Whether you are of the line of Shem, Ham or Japeth there is no distinction all fall short of the glory of God.
Who Was Haman In The Bible
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The book of Esther tells us that Haman was a grand vizier, or prime minister for the Persian King Xerxes . According to Jewish tradition, Haman was a direct offspring of Agag, king of the Amalekites , in the 16th generation .
The story of Haman revolves around a man by the name of Mordecai who was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. This man had been taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had adopted when her parents died. Hadassah or Esther was a beautiful young woman. Mordecai worked in the citadel of Susa .
Esther appointed queen
When King Xerxes wanted to replace his first queen Vashti, he was advised to gather the beautiful virgins that he may choose a queen from among them . As result, Esther was selected . Mordecai asked her not to reveal her Jewish identity . When the king met Esther, he was pleased with her and crowned her queen .
Mordecai and the king
As Mordecai served Ahasuerus, he discovered that two of the kings eunuchs were planning to lay hands on the king. So, he told Queen Esther and she in turn informed the king in Mordecais name. And when an investigation was made, the matter was confirmed, and the eunuchs were hanged. This story was recorded in the kings chronicles .
Hamans hate for the Jews
Esthers decision to risk her life
The humiliation of Haman
The death of Haman
In His service,
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King James Bible Dictionary
Warm, hot, and hence the south also an Egyptian word meaning “black”, the youngest son of Noah . 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 Genesis 10 is the foundation of the earliest monarchy in Babylonia by Nimrod the grandson of Ham . The primitive Babylonian empire was thus Hamitic, and of a cognate race with the primitive inhabitants of Arabia and of Ethiopia.
The race of Ham were the most energetic of all the descendants of Noah in the early times of the post-diluvian world.
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.
Japtheth Caucasians & The Caucasus Mountains
In the scriptures we are told that Japheth migrated to the lands of the north, which belong to them. When we look on a map all the lands of the north are in Europe and Russia.
In the book of Jubilees this is made clear by Noah:
Book of Jubilees 8:11-12
11 And he called his sons, and they drew nigh to him, they and their children, and he divided the earth into the lots, which his three sons were to take in possession, and they reached forth their hands, and took the writing out of the bosom of Noah, their father.
12 And all that is towards the north is Japheths, and all that is towards the south belongs to Shem.
This coincides with the Modern day belief that Europeans come from the Caucasus Mountains..
Again when we look on a map the Caucasus Mountains are immediately north of mount Ararat .
The Caucasus Mountains is where Europeans derive the term Caucasian today. On inspection this is a confirmation of the Bibles flood and Noahs Ark.
Fortunately we have the Books of Jasher and Jubilees . The book of Jasher is mentioned in the scriptures . It gives us more granular insigh about the Gentiles and Japhetic people today.
I will also use a reference from Arthur Kostler a European Jew, who knew his people were not the biblical Jews. These are the Jewish peoples who are wrongly seen as Israel today
He entitled his book The 13th Tribe, and provides historic information that links his people to the Japhetic people in the bible, not the shemitic Nations.
Jasher 10:7
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Getting The Facts Straight
Scripture tells us that Noah had seventeen grandsons. And from their names we have a pretty good if not perfect idea which nations developed from which grandchildren. Four of those grandchildren were Hams four sons: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan . The Canaanites settled in the Middle East. They appear frequently in the Old Testament of the Bible. For the most part they have dissolved into other nations or died out. Egypt is even more obvious. For it is a nation that appears often in scripture and is still present today.
There is no record of a biblical curse put on the descendants of Cush or the nations of Africa.
In biblical Hebrew, the name Cush seems to mean Ethiopian or blackness. Black African nations seemingly developed from the offspring of Cush. But that is exactly where the so-called curse of Ham is misapplied. The curse never fell on Ham or on Cush. For whatever reason, not truly given in the text, it fell on Canaan. In Genesis 9:25 Noah pours out his anger, Cursed be Canaan! There is no record of a biblical curse put on the descendants of Cush or the nations of Africa.
The Families And Generations Of Ham
The Families and Generations of Ham. Hams descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. They were Ethiopia, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. Anciently they were known as Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. Cushs sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca.
Raamahs sons were Sheba and Dedan. Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, a mighty warrior whose strength came from the ALMIGHTY. Nimrod is the reason for the saying, You hunt like Nimrod with the strength of the LORD!
Nimrod first ruled in Babylon, Erech, and Accad, all of which were in Babylonia. From there Nimrod went to Assyria and built the great city of Nineveh. He also built Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, as well as Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah.
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The Father Of The Arab Nations
When we look at the lineage of Shem we find that Abraham is the father of the Arabs and Israelites. First lets deal with the Arabs
Abraham had a child with his Black Egyptian maid servant Hagar , whos name was Ishmael.
It is from Ishmael that the Arabs are produced. Arabs are a mixed peoples who are nomadic and dwell in regions of African and the so called Middle east.
Jubilees 20:12-13
12. And Ishmael and his sons, and the sons of Keturah and their sons, went together and dwelt from Paran to the entering in of Babylon in all the land which is towards the East facing the desert.
13. And these mingled with each other, and their name was called Arabs, and Ishmaelites.
Theres no mistaking the typical look of an Arab today. The most common term is an olive complexion, denoting the lightest brown olive
Nonetheless considering the region i.e. the weather climate, the chances are that the first Ishmaelites were of a dark brown complexion, because Hagar was Egyptian when Africans were black.
The nomadic nature of the Arab nations and their intermingling with other nations leaves us with Arabs the complexion of the lightest brown Olive.
All that being said we can conclude that Arabs range from the darkest brown to the lightest brown colours, even to a literally so called white complexion.
Now we know where and who Arabs are lets look at the Israelites.
The Surprising Sin Of Ham And Curse Of Canaan
The sordid story of Ham is an enigma. Did God condone slavery? Why was Hams son cursed? What made the sin of Ham so heinous?
Today I came across an interesting interpretation of scripture in Bible Study Magazine from Michael S. Heiser that brought to mind the importance of understanding the culture and times in which the Bible was written. There are some things in the scripture that we understand at a surface level. However, there are many things in the Bible that require an understanding of the culture or practices of the time in which the Bible was written if we want to truly understand what the Lord would have us learn. One of those passages is in Genesis 9 about Noah cursing his grandson for something that his own son did. Heres the passage.
Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their fathers nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, Cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers. .
A Matter Of Idioms
Why Is This Important?
www.tomthinking.com. Used by permission.
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The Theological Battle Over Slavery
As soldiers in the Civil War waged battles with bullets and bayonets, Christian pastors and theologians fought with the words of the Bible. Southern white Christians, far from viewing slavery as wrong or sinful, generally affirmed that God sanctioned slavery in Scripture and that bondage under white authority was the natural state for people of African descent. To complicate matters, abolitionists and socially moderate Christians struggled to argue against what seemed evident to many peoplethe Bible never repudiates slavery. Indeed, many of the godliest people in the Bible enslaved others. So the Civil War also sparked a battle over the Bible.
Dabney not only believed that slavery was morally acceptable he viewed it as a positive for the African: Was it nothing, that this race, morally inferior, should be brought into close relations to a nobler race?² Dabney accepted the myth of the moral and intellectual inferiority of enslaved blacks, believing that if they were left to their own devices, they would only tend toward lying, theft, drunkenness, laziness, waste. In Dabneys theology, it was only through contact with the nobler race of white people in a master-slave relationship that there was hope of elevating the ethics of Africans.³
Medieval Serfdom And Pseudo
In medieval Christian exegesis, Ham’s sin was regarded as laughter .
Elsewhere in Medieval Europe, the curse of Ham also became used as a justification for serfdom. Honorius Augustodunensis was the first recorded to propose a caste system associating Ham with serfdom, writing that serfs were descended from Ham, nobles from Japheth, and free men from Shem. However, he also followed the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7:21 by Ambrosiaster , which held that as servants in the temporal world, these “Hamites” were likely to receive a far greater reward in the next world than would the Japhetic nobility.
The idea that serfs were the descendants of Ham soon became widely promoted in Europe. An example is Dame , who, in a treatise on hawks, claimed that the “churlish” descendants of Ham had settled in Europe, those of the temperate Shem in Africa, and those of the noble Japheth in Asia , because she considered Europe to be the “country of churls”, Asia of gentility, and Africa of temperance. As serfdom waned in the late medieval era, the interpretation of serfs being descendants of Ham decreased as well.
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Bringing Shem And Japhet Into The Story
Once the perpetrator of the crime was identified as Ham rather than Canaan, the originally unnamed older brothers automatically became identified as Shem and Japhet . The addition of their meritorious act on behalf of their father allowed the editor to bestow blessings on them and to transform the story from one of relatively limited scope to one of worldwide proportions.
The secondary character of the blessings of Shem and Japhet is further indicated by the fact that while the curse of Canaan is secular in nature, the blessings of Shem and Japhet are religious and grounded in divine agency:
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Gen 9:25 So he said, Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves he will be to his brothers.9:26 He also said, Worthy of praise is YHWH, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 9:27 May God enlarge Japheths territory and numbers! May he live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave!
It is only natural that the Israelite deity would be introduced into the story as it was transformed into one focused on Israelite destiny.
When Did The Curse Of Ham Happen
The Curse of Ham makes an appearance late in the ninth chapter of Genesis. After a massive flood has covered the Earth, eliminating most of life, Noah, his three sons, and all of their wives are the only people left alive. Aboard the ark with them, are all of the animals selected before the flood. Now that the ordeal is over, God makes a covenant with them. In this covenant, God gives them a commandment be fruitful and multiply.
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
The name of each son is Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ironically, one of the very people blessed by God is the one who is cursed, or rather the descendant of the son is cursed. However, God didnt initiate the curse.
Continuing in the chapter, Noah and his family exit the ark to fulfill Gods commandment. Noah, being a gardening-type of man, began the process of repopulating the Earth by planting a vineyard . Despite being chosen by God for such an important occurrence, Noah is human, and thus susceptible to sin. He became drunk one night, a result of how he used the vineyard, and was found naked in his tent. The person who found him was his son Ham.
Instead of supporting his father and covering his nakedness, Ham decided to go tell the other brothers, Shem and Japheth. They came as Ham instructed, but not to see their fathers low moment. Rather, they covered their father and did not witness his nakedness or add to his embarrassment.
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