In my previous study, we considered that fact that the world would be inherited by Noah’s sons (Genesis 9:18-19). Conceivably, if Noah had a fourth or fifth son, he would have inherited with the first three sons, for the text reveals that Noah lived another 350 years after the Flood (Genesis 9:28-29). In such a context, Ham’s inheritance would have been smaller than one-third. Therefore, he devised a plan, and when Noah got drunk, he implemented his plan and took Noah’s wife and had sexual intercourse with her. This was done in order to increase his inheritance. What if Noah found out? What could Noah do, because the Lord had already blessed Ham (Genesis 9:1), and what the Lord blesses, no man can curse (Numbers 22:12; 23:20). Conceivably, Ham couldn’t lose. If Noah remained ignorant of the deed, Ham would inherit 50% of the available land area instead of one-third. On the other hand, if Noah did find out about what he had done, Noah’s hands were tied. How could he reverse the Lord’s blessing?
Whether the fact that Ham went in onto his father’s wife was rape or the deed was consensual, the text doesn’t say. However, when Japheth and Shem found out what Ham had done, they took a blanket, placed it on their shoulders and went backwards into their father’s tent and covered Noah’s wife (Genesis 9:23), without seeing her. Nevertheless, if this isn’t what had really occurred, and, if the usual scholarly interpretation is true, namely that Ham’s sin was really his immodesty and his disrespect of his father, it seems quite odd that Noah would curse Ham’s son, Canaan for the deed. Moreover, in this same context, it is also very odd that, although Noah lived to be 950 years old (verse-29), that in the 350 years he lived on this side of the Flood, he never had another son. What can we say of this?
It seems to be the practice of the righteous that, if their bed had been violated, they never again would have sexual intercourse with their wives (cp. 2Samuel 16:22; 20:3). Even when the deed is done inadvertently, the righteous never again have sexual intercourse with the wife of their near kin (cp. Genesis 38:12-15, 18, 25-26).
Therefore, when Noah awoke from his drunken stupor, and realized what Ham had done, Noah cursed Canaan, Ham’s son, saying he would be the servant of servants (Genesis 9:24-25). If Noah cursed Ham, his whole house, vis-à-vis all of his descendants, would be cursed. Nevertheless, Noah couldn’t curse Ham, because he had already been blessed by God (Genesis 9:1; cp. Numbers 22:12). Therefore, Noah cursed, or probably more accurately prophesied of the curse that God would bring upon Ham’s deed, namely birthing Canaan through Noah’s wife, Ham’s stepmother.
At this point, Noah blessed Shem saying, “Blessed be the God of Shem; and Canaan will be his servant (Genesis 9:26). This seems to be a play on the name of God, YHWH (cp. Genesis 2:4). The word Shem means the name which may point to the Lord, and prophetically to Jesus, the Messiah, who would come through Shem’s line. So, cursing comes through the act of Ham, but blessing through the name (Shem).
Moreover, Noah also blessed Japheth, but he does so in saying, “may he (or let him) dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan will be his servant!” (Genesis 9:27). Japheth’s blessing (dwelling in the tents of Shem) was fulfilled in the calling of the gentiles into the church (cp. Acts 9 & 10). Nevertheless, it seems quite odd that the greater blessing, as a result of Ham’s wickedness, went to Shem. Why is that?
It seems to me that Shem must be the youngest son of Noah, and Japheth was the eldest. Apparently, Noah’s first wife had died before the Flood, and Noah had a second wife, and it is she who was saved through the Flood, and she was Shem’s natural mother but stepmother to Japheth and Ham. This seems to fit Noah’s blessing and cursing. The great blessing went to Shem, who was the son sinned against. The curse went to Ham’s wickedness, which resulted in the birth of his son, Canaan. Nevertheless, this curse is undone in the fact that he would serve Shem and Japheth, because the Messiah would be introduced to Canaan through his service to Shem, and through his service to Japheth, who was blessed to dwell in the tents of Shem. So, Noah lived another 350 years after the Flood, dying at the age of 950 (Genesis 9:28-29).
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