Noah’s Drunkenness and Curse
Genesis 9:18-29
Gen.9.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהיו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- נח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- היצאים: PART,qal,ptcp,m,pl,def
- מן: PREP
- התבה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- שם: ADV,loc
- וחם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויפת: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- וחם: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- אבי: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- כנען: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 10:6 (verbal): Lists the sons of Ham explicitly—Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan—echoing Gen 9:18's identification of Canaan as Ham’s offspring and expanding the Hamite genealogy (Table of Nations).
- Genesis 9:24-25 (thematic): Immediate narrative continuation: Ham’s action toward Noah leads to Noah’s pronouncement cursing Canaan. This connects the naming of Canaan in 9:18 to his later vulnerable status and fate.
- Genesis 6:10 (verbal): An earlier recital of Noah’s sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), paralleling Gen 9:18’s enumeration and showing continuity in the patriarchal genealogy surrounding the Flood narrative.
- 1 Chronicles 1:4 (quotation): A later genealogical summary in Chronicles that repeats the names of Noah’s sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), functioning as a retrospective citation of the same ancestral line found in Gen 9:18.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the sons of Noah who came out from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is the father of Canaan.
- And the sons of Noah who went out from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and Ham—he is the father of Canaan.
Gen.9.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שלשה: NUM,card,m,sg
- אלה: PRON,dem,pl
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- נח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומאלה: CONJ+PREP,from
- נפצה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- כל: ADJ,m,sg
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Genesis 9:18 (verbal): Immediate context naming Noah’s three sons (Shem, Ham, Japheth) and introducing the post‑Flood repopulation theme.
- Genesis 10:1 (verbal): Opens the Table of Nations with the same three sons and states that from them the nations of the earth were divided after the flood—direct continuation/expansion of 9:19.
- Genesis 10:32 (structural): Summarizes the families and nations descending from Noah’s sons and explicitly repeats that the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.
- 1 Chronicles 1:4 (verbal): Liturgical/genealogical repetition of the names of Noah’s three sons in the Chronicler’s genealogy, echoing Genesis’ claim about post‑Flood descent.
- Acts 17:26 (thematic): Paul’s statement that God made all nations from one blood and allotted habitation across the earth resonates the Genesis motif of origin and distribution of peoples from a common source.
Alternative generated candidates
- These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was scattered abroad.
- These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was populated.
Gen.9.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויחל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- נח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האדמה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ויטע: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- כרם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 2:15 (thematic): Both passages depict human responsibility for cultivation: God places humanity in a cultivated garden and Noah later resumes agricultural activity by planting a vineyard.
- Genesis 4:2 (verbal): Cain is described as a tiller/cultivator of the ground while Noah is called a 'man of the soil' and plants a vineyard—shared vocabulary and motif of agrarian labor after primeval events.
- Genesis 9:21 (structural): Immediate narrative continuation: Noah plants a vineyard and then drinks wine and becomes drunk. Verse 9:20 sets up the action and consequence narrated in 9:21–27.
- Isaiah 5:1–7 (thematic): The 'song of the vineyard' uses vineyard imagery to express expectation, fruitlessness, and resulting judgment—echoing the cultural and theological significance of planting a vineyard.
- John 15:1–8 (thematic): Jesus' vine/vinedresser imagery develops the vineyard motif theologically, using planting, pruning, and fruit as metaphors for life, dependence, and judgment in relation to God.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Noah, a man of the ground, began and planted a vineyard.
- And Noah, a man of the ground, began and planted a vineyard.
Gen.9.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישת: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- מן: PREP
- היין: NOUN,m,sg,def
- וישכר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- ויתגל: VERB,hitpael,impf,3,m,sg
- בתוך: PREP
- אהלה: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 9:22-24 (structural): Immediate narrative continuation: Noah's drunkenness leads to his nakedness being seen, his sons' reactions, and the curse on Canaan — these verses complete the episode begun in 9:21.
- Genesis 19:30-38 (thematic): Lot becomes drunk and is sexually exploited by his daughters; parallels the motif of intoxication producing sexual exposure and problematic family consequences.
- Leviticus 10:9 (structural): Priestly prohibition against drinking wine or strong drink when entering the tent of meeting — a formal contrast to Noah's intoxication in his tent (impropriety in a sacred/domestic precinct).
- Proverbs 23:29-35 (verbal): Graphic portrayal of the effects and shame of wine and drunkenness (staggering, woe, loss of self-control), echoing the moral and physical consequences seen in Noah's drunkenness.
- Isaiah 28:7 (allusion): Prophetic indictment that priests and prophets 'reel at wine and stagger from strong drink' — echoes the motif of leaders compromised by intoxication and its social/religious fallout.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and became uncovered within his tent.
- And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent.
Gen.9.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וירא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- חם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אבי: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- כנען: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- את: PRT
- ערות: NOUN,f,sg,cns
- אביו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- ויגד: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- לשני: PREP+NUM,m,dual,cns
- אחיו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m,sg
- בחוץ: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Leviticus 18:7 (verbal): Uses the same idiom 'uncover the nakedness of' in a legal prohibition against uncovering a parent's nakedness—linguistic parallel to Gen 9:22's phrasing about seeing/covering nakedness.
- Leviticus 20:11 (verbal): Repeats the formulaic language and prescribes a penalty for a man who 'uncovers the nakedness' of his father’s wife—an explicit legal echo of the sexual/kinship vocabulary used in Genesis 9.
- Genesis 49:4 (thematic): Jacob rebukes Reuben for 'defiling his father's bed'—a related theme of a son's sexual/ethical transgression against his father and its lasting familial consequences.
- Proverbs 20:20 (thematic): Condemns cursing or dishonoring one's parents and portrays severe consequence—parallels Gen 9's concern with filial disrespect and the ensuing curse spoken by Noah.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside.
- And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.
Gen.9.23 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקח: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,sg
- שם: ADV,loc
- ויפת: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- את: PRT
- השמלה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- וישימו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- על: PREP
- שכם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שניהם: PRON,3,m,du
- וילכו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- אחרנית: ADV
- ויכסו: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT
- ערות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- אביהם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,pl
- ופניהם: NOUN,f,pl,abs+3,m,pl
- אחרנית: ADV
- וערות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- אביהם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,pl
- לא: PART,neg
- ראו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Genesis 9:22-24 (structural): Immediate context: contrasts Ham's seeing and reporting Noah's nakedness (v.22) with Shem and Japheth's action of taking a garment and covering their father (v.23–24); same episode, complementary narrative resolution.
- Genesis 19:30-38 (thematic): Lot's daughters get their father drunk and lie with him, producing descendants; thematically related through the motif of a father's sexual exposure and the problematic filial response and its generational consequences.
- Leviticus 18:7 (verbal): Uses the technical phrase 'uncover the nakedness' of a parent (incest prohibition). Parallels the legal/ethical language and the sense that exposing a parent's nakedness is a moral violation.
- Isaiah 20:2-4 (thematic): The prophet's symbolic stripping/exposure functions as public humiliation and shame; parallels the motifs of nakedness, honor/shame, and the significance of covering or exposing bodily shame in Israelite discourse.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Shem and Japheth took the garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered their father’s nakedness; and their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
- And Shem and Japheth took the garment and put it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned backward, and the nakedness of their father they did not see.
Gen.9.24 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וייקץ: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- נח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מיינו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- וידע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT
- אשר: PRON,rel
- עשה: VERB,qal,ptc,m,sg
- לו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- בנו: NOUN,m,sg,abs,3,m,sg
- הקטן: ADJ,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Gen.9.22 (structural): Immediate context: describes Ham (or Canaan) seeing Noah’s nakedness — the act that Noah discovers when he awakens in 9:24.
- Gen.9.25 (structural): Noah’s reaction and the resulting curse on Canaan — the direct consequence of what Noah ‘knew’ after awakening in 9:24.
- Lev.18.7 (verbal): Uses the same Hebrew idiom “uncover the nakedness of” regarding one’s father — legal/ritual prohibition echoing the conduct described in Genesis 9.
- Lev.20.11 (verbal): Another legal formulation employing the phrase “uncover his father’s nakedness” (here in the context of sexual relations with a father’s wife), paralleling the idiom and its sexual/ethical taboos.
- Deut.27.16 (thematic): Pronounces a curse on anyone who dishonors (or ‘rejects’) father or mother, paralleling the theme of filial dishonor in Genesis 9 that leads to a curse.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him.
- And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him.
Gen.9.25 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- ארור: ADJ,m,sg
- כנען: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- עבד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עבדים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יהיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- לאחיו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 9:24-27 (structural): Immediate context: Noah's curse on Canaan and blessings on Shem and Japheth; verse 25 is part of this oracle declaring Canaan's subjection.
- Genesis 10:15-19 (structural): The Table of Nations lists Canaan and his descendants and their territorial holdings, identifying the peoples to whom Noah's curse applies.
- Joshua 9:23-27 (verbal): The Gibeonites are made 'hewers of wood and drawers of water' for Israel and the altar—an explicit narrative enactment of Canaan's servitude anticipated in Genesis 9:25.
- Psalm 105:43-45 (thematic): The psalm recounts God giving the lands of the nations to Israel and their taking possession—echoing the theme of Canaanite dispossession and Israelite dominance implied by the curse.
- Deuteronomy 20:16-18 (thematic): Commands to dispossess and destroy the Canaanite nations reflect the covenantal judgment and removal of Canaanite sovereignty that underlies Noah's pronouncement of subjection.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.
- And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.
Gen.9.26 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- ברוך: ADJ,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- שם: ADV,loc
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- כנען: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עבד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- למו: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Gen.9.25 (verbal): Immediate context: Noah pronounces the curse on Canaan ('Cursed be Canaan') which frames the blessing of Shem in 9:26.
- Gen.9.27 (verbal): Closely related verse that completes the blessing: prays for Japheth and explicitly repeats that 'Canaan shall be his servant,' tying Shem's blessing to Canaan's subordination.
- Gen.10:15-19 (structural): Table of Nations listing Canaan's sons and the Canaanite peoples—shows the corporate/ethnic outcome of Canaan's status described in 9:26.
- Gen.12:2-3 (thematic): God's promise to Abraham (of Shem's line) to make him a blessing to the nations; connects the motif of a blessed Shem-line through which nations are blessed.
- Deut.7:1-2 (thematic): Command to dispossess the Canaanite nations in the land—reflects the historical/ethical consequences tied to Canaan's portrayal as subject in Genesis 9:26.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he said, Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.
- And he said, Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be a servant to them.
Gen.9.27 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יפת: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אלהים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ליפת: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וישכן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- באהלי: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- שם: ADV,loc
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- כנען: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עבד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- למו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 9:26 (verbal): Immediate companion verse in Noah's blessing/curse: explicitly blesses the God of Shem and states 'Canaan shall be his servant,' forming the two-part saying continued in 9:27.
- Genesis 10:2–5 (structural): Lists the nations descended from Japheth ('by their clans, by their languages, by their lands, by their nations'), echoing the idea of Japheth's enlargement and dispersion in 9:27.
- Genesis 10:15–19 (thematic): Enumerates the sons and territories of Canaan (Sidon, Heth, Jebusites, etc.), providing the background for Canaan's future subjection mentioned in 9:27.
- 1 Chronicles 1:4–16 (structural): Parallel genealogical recapitulation of the lines of Japheth and Canaan in the chronicler's genealogy, reinforcing the same distribution of peoples implied by Genesis 9:27.
- Isaiah 2:2–3 (thematic): Prophetic vision of nations coming to the mountain of the LORD and dwelling under Israel's instruction; thematically parallels 'let him dwell in the tents of Shem' as Gentile inclusion under the blessing associated with Shem.
Alternative generated candidates
- May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be their servant.
- May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be a servant to them.
Gen.9.28 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויחי: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,sg
- נח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחר: ADJ,m,sg
- המבול: NOUN,m,sg,def
- שלש: NUM,card,f,sg
- מאות: NUM,card,f,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וחמשים: NUM,card,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Genesis 9:29 (structural): Immediate continuation: gives Noah’s total lifespan (950 years) and death, directly completing the note that he lived 350 years after the Flood in 9:28.
- Genesis 5:32 (structural): Part of the patriarchal lifespan formula in Genesis (‘and he lived after he begat… years’); situates Noah within the same genealogical/lifespan reporting style used for antediluvian figures.
- Genesis 11:10 (structural): Shem’s chronology (‘Shem was 100 years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood’) uses the same post‑Flood dating conventions and genealogical reckoning as Genesis 9:28.
- Genesis 6:3 (thematic): God’s declaration about the span of human days (‘My spirit shall not abide… their days shall be 120 years’) is thematically related to the Bible’s concern with limits on human lifespan in the pre‑ and post‑Flood narratives.
- Psalm 90:10 (thematic): Contrasts antediluvian long lifespans (e.g., Noah’s 950 years) with the normal human lifespan (‘threescore years and ten’), highlighting themes of mortality and limited life.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
- And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
Gen.9.29 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהיו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- כל: ADJ,m,sg
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- נח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תשע: NUM,card,f,sg
- מאות: NUM,card,f,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וחמשים: CONJ+NUM,m,pl
- שנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וימת: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Gen.5:5 (structural): Same lifespan formula: “And all the days of Adam were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.” Parallel wording and function—reporting total years lived and death.
- Gen.5:27 (structural): Another Genesis patriarchal lifespan using the identical formula: Methuselah’s total years (969) and death are recorded in the same way.
- Gen.11:32 (structural): Terah’s life summary follows the same pattern (“And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.”), showing the standard biblical formula for reporting lives and deaths.
- Gen.25:7 (structural): The summary of Abraham’s life uses the same phrasing (“These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.”), a thematic/structural parallel in reporting age and death.
Alternative generated candidates
- And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
- And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
And the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and Ham—he is the father of Canaan.
These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth spread abroad. And Noah, the man of the soil, began and planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. And Shem and Japheth took the garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his youngest son had done to him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers. And he said, Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be a servant to them.
May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be a servant to them. 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.