Noah's Insobriety (9:20-27)

3. Noah's Insobriety (9:20-27)Noah and his three sons set about repopulating the earth. Noah settled down and became a farmer, much in the tradition of Adam and Cain. In the process, Noah, although "a righteous man, upright in his generation" (6:9), fell prey to what appears to be unseemly behavior--he gets drunk. God's judgment on humanity in the flood obviously had not improved human nature.

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The Drunkedness of Noah, by Michelangelo (1475-1564) 1512, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome -- ChristusRex

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    The text is not direct in its negative judgment on Noah's insobriety, but from other biblical passages we can assume this.

    Note the special interest in Canaan. God's curse of Ham's son, Canaan, is especially difficult to justify. Why doesn't Ham himself suffer the consequences of his actions? Perhaps the "Ham to Canaan" direction of cursing reinforces the biblical rule that later generations suffer the consequences of the sins of previous generations. Furthermore, this story is here to prove that sin was still around after the flood. Not even Noah was perfectly righteous.

Yahwist and Other Nations. There also may have been a political agenda in this story. Living in the tenth century and connected to the royal court, the Yahwist was interested in justifying the elimination of the Canaanite inhabitants of Palestine who were Israel's enemies. This story gives Israel religious warrant for dispossessing the Canaanites and possessing the land. Other places where the Yahwist shows special interest in neighboring peoples include Genesis 26 on the Philistines (this is especially anachronistic, since the Philistines did not establish a presence in Palestine until the thirteenth century B.C.E.; presumably, Abraham is much before that); Genesis 29-31 on the Arameans; and Numbers 20-25 on the wilderness stories on Ammon, Moab, and Edom.

²⁴ When Noah awoke from his insobriety, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵ He said, "Cursed is Canaan! The most lowly servant will he be for his brothers." ²⁶ He also said, "Blessed is YHWH, the Elohim of Shem. May Canaan be his servant. ²⁷ May Elohim enlarge Japheth. He will dwell in the tents of Shem. May Canaan be his servant." (9:24-27)

Ham's Indiscretion. We cannot be sure exactly what made Noah so distraught. Bassett (1971) suggests that Ham committed incest with Noah's wife, arguing that uncovered nakedness is equated with sexual intercourse. Cohen (1974) suggests that Ham acquired Noah's sexual potency by the act of seeing him naked. Such interpretations go beyond what is given in the text, which is not specific enough to determine exactly what Ham's offense was, beyond the fact that he dishonored his father.

²⁰ Noah became a man of the ground. He planted a vineyard, ²¹ drank wine and got drunk. He was uncovered in his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. ²³ Shem and Japheth took a cloak, placed it on their shoulders, walked backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away so they did not see the nakedness of their father. (9:20-23)