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Why was Canaan Cursed Because of His Father?

 

 

Who is Canaan?

 

Canaan is the fourth son of Ham (Genesis 10:6), who is one of the three sons of Noah born before the Great Flood. Because of the transgression of his father Ham, Canaan was put under a curse (9:22-27).

 

(Noah said) “Cursed be Canaan; servant of servants he shall be to his brothers.”  And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan be his servant.” ~ Genesis 9:25-27

 

 

Why did Noah Curse Canaan?

 

It is recorded that Noah cursed Canaan because when he was drunk, his son Ham who was also Canaan's father saw his nakedness (Genesis 9:18-27). However, there are still many questions about this incident. 

 

• Why was seeing a father’s nakedness so serious that Noah had to put a curse on his own grandson? 
• Since it was Ham who committed the “offensive act”, why did Noah curse Ham's son Canaan but not Ham himself?
• The Bible tells us that Noah is a righteous man (Genesis 6:9), so why did he pronounce such a severe judgment on a child?

 

 

What is Meant by “Uncovering Father’s Nakedness”?

 

I believe this confusion may be caused by our modern day usage of the phrase “uncovering nakedness”. 

 

In modern times, “seeing someone’s nakedness” or “uncovering someone’s nakedness” simply means being undressed. However, these phrases appear to have a different meaning in the Bible.

 

Cursed be anyone who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. ~ Deuteronomy 27:20

 

The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of your father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness.~ Leviticus 18:7-8

 

If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing ..... He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his guilt. ~ Leviticus 20:17

 

From the above verses, it appears that “uncovering nakedness” has a sexual connotation, and "seeing nakedness" is the same as "uncovering nakedness". This could actually mean “having a relationship with the father’s wife, or one’s own mother”.

 

If Ham’s “uncovering of his father’s nakedness” in fact refers to having a sexual relationship with his mother, it gives a valid reason why Canaan was cursed - which was because Canaan is an offspring born from incest. 

 

If Noah had intended to punish Ham, why didn't he put a curse on all the four children of Ham? However, we see that only Canaan was cursed, probably because Canaan was an illegitimate child and could not be given a rightful place in the family’s genealogy.

 

 

Why did Ham Commit this Sinful Act?

 

The Bible did not explain why Ham “uncovered his father’s nakedness”, but since seniority was so important in the Old Testament (Jacob fought for the firstborn rights all his life since the time he was in his mother’s womb), we may speculate that Ham did that in order to make his son Canaan become a senior among his siblings through raising Ham's own position to the same level as his father Noah.

 

As we can see in later Chapters, Canaan did become a very aggressive warrior who gave birth to powerful nations and inhabited the Promised Land given to the Israelites. Finally, descendants of Israel had to fight many battles against the Canaanites in order to take back their Promised Land. 

 

 

Noah’s Action was Justified

 

If our assumption is correct that Ham sought to obtain for his son Canaan the authority of a senior in the family, then Noah’s action could be justified. Instead of letting Canaan have the highest position, Noah totally reversed their plan by declaring that Canaan would be the lowest servant among all his siblings. As it is written in the Scriptures:

 

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. ~ Luke 14:11

 

 

What do You Think, Readers?

 

As mentioned, there is still a lot of controversies regarding the interpretation of this story. We encourage people to think in Christian Thinks, and you are most welcome to drop us a line to let us know your thoughts.