Home › Bible Stories › Dark Chronicles › The Nakedness of NoahDark Chronicles3 min readThe Nakedness of NoahHam saw and told. His brothers covered without looking. The difference between them was permanent.📖Based on Genesis 9:22The flood was over.The earth was new again.Noah planted a vineyard.He drank of the wine and became drunk.He lay uncovered in his tent.Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father.He went outside and told his two brothers.Shem and Japheth took a garment.They laid it on both their shoulders.They walked in backward.They covered the nakedness of their father.Their faces were turned away.They did not see their father's nakedness.When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.He said: Cursed be Canaan. A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.He said: Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem. And let Canaan be his servant.God shall enlarge Japheth. And let him dwell in the tents of Shem. And let Canaan be his servant.What Ham did is debated by scholars.The text says he saw and told.His brothers heard and covered.The contrast is the point.One published what he had seen.Two concealed what they had not allowed themselves to see.The curse did not fall on Ham.It fell on his son Canaan.Why Canaan and not Ham is a question the text does not fully answer.Noah's drunkenness was his own failure.Ham's response was a different failure.And the consequences traveled further than either of them.Scripture — Genesis 9:22"And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without."Reflection›His brothers heard the same information and walked in backward. Same knowledge, different response, different outcome.›The act of covering without looking is a form of honor that doesn't require the absence of knowledge.NoahHamnakednesscursedhonorShare This StoryShare on WhatsApp🔗 Copy Link← Previous storyThe Massacre of InnocentsNext story →Nadab and AbihuMore from this series: all dark chronicles · all Bible stories