GOD'S DETAILED INSTRUCTION TO NOAH AND HIS SONS (GENESIS 9:1) In this whole passage God is Elohim, the Creator, for He is as it were beginning again, and reinstating man as His representatives on earth. Here God includes Noah's sons in His instructions. This is different from Genesis 8:21 and previ... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD'S COVENANT WITH MAN AND WITH ALL LIVING CREATURES (GENESIS 9:8) Now we come to the primary covenant around which the whole history is written. This covenant, made with Noah and his sons, is distinctive. It is not a covenant of relationship but of direct fiat from God. It is not dependent on any... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the sons of Noah that went out from the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth, and Ham became the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah and of these three was the world populated.' These sentences are preparing for the next sections. Firstly they are explaining that Ham has produced a s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Noah, a man of the soil (ish ha adamah), began and planted vineyard.' There is possibly a reference here back to words of Lamech at Noah's birth (Genesis 5:29). The man who came from the adamah, which had been cursed, now from that adamah produces a source of comfort for man. Compare Psalms 104:15... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and was uncovered within his tent.' In a drunken state Noah lies naked in his tent, unaware of the impropriety of his situation. In his right mind he would never have done this for he knew men might enter the tent, and to be seen naked was a shameful thin... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and told his brothers outside.' The continual stress on Ham as the father of Canaan shows that by this time Canaan has been born. This event is thus some time after the end of the Flood. The phrase ‘saw his father's nakedness' may be a eup... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Shem and Japheth took a robe (shimlah - which acted as a blanket at night and a robe during the day - see Exodus 22:26) and laid it over their shoulders, and went in backwards and covered their father's nakedness, and their faces were backwards and they did not look on their father's nakedness.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him.' After Noah's careless abandon he has to face the unpleasant consequences. This is always the case with sin. It is quite clear that whatever Ham had done was looked on with the utmost seriousness. “HAD DONE TO HIM”. It w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said, “cursed be Canaan. A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers”.' It is possible that Noah kept what Ham had done in his heart and that this series of curse and blessing was given some time after the event, possibly even on Noah's death bed. Thus Ham may by then have died and thi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.' This is an unusual phrase as we expect to read ‘blessed be Shem'. It arises from the fact that Noah sees the greatness of the blessing that is to be Shem's and is consequently filled with wonder and praise to Yahweh. The purpose i... [ Continue Reading ]
‘God enlarge (yaphth) Japheth and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.' The word ‘enlarge' is a play on Japheth's name. In 1 Chronicles 5:10 ‘dwell in the tents of' suggests being subjugated. However here it more probably refers to them receiving benefits from ‘Shem'.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And after the flood Noah lived 350 years. All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.' This directly connects back with Genesis 5 showing the unity of the whole section. The separate covenants have been deftly combined into one whole. It is possible that ‘three hundred years and fifty years'... [ Continue Reading ]