Cursing Canaan/2/en

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Cursing Canaan

Exegetical Approaches

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Canaan Sinned

Noach punished Canaan because it was Canaan who had wronged him.

"אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לוֹ בְּנוֹ הַקָּטָן" – All these sources assume that the verse cannot be speaking of the action done by Cham, since he was not the youngest of Noach's sons.1  They disagree, though, regarding who is the subject of the phrase:
  • Canaan – Most of these commentators maintain that the term refers to Canaan, the youngest son of Cham,2 and see in this verse proof that he sinned.3  R"Y Kara and Seforno explain that Canaan is called Noach's son, despite his being his grandson, because 'בְּנֵי בָּנִים הֲרֵי הֵם כְּבָנִים', (a person's grandsons are like his sons).  Ibn Ezra and Ralbag4 assert, instead, that the "וי"ו" of "בְּנוֹ" refers back to Cham.5
  • Shem – R"Y Bekhor Shor, in contrast, suggests that the verse refers to Shem whom, he claims, was Noach's youngest son.6  According to him, the verse speaks not of the evil which was done to Noach, but rather the good.7  Its purpose is to emphasize that, of the three sons, Shem acted most appropriately and was thus the most blessed.
What did Canaan do?
  • Castrated/sodomized Noach – Most of these sources maintain that Canaan did a severe act, with Rashbam, Ralbag and Seforno positing that he castrated his grandfather and the Bavli suggesting that he sodomized him.  All these sources are likely picking up on the language of "‎ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לוֹ",‎8 and thus look for an active crime that Canaan might have committed.9  Moreover, in order to justify Canaan's being cursed, they need to assume that his deed was worse than that of his father.
  • Revealed Noach's nakedness – In contrast to the above, R"Y Bekhor Shor finds the hint to Canaan's sin in the phrase "וַיִּתְגַּל בְּתוֹךְ אׇהֳלֹה".‎10  He maintains that the word "וַיִּתְגַּל" is not a reflexive form, but rather means that Noach was revealed by others.  As such, he suggests that it was Canaan who did so, while Cham simply saw the nakedness.11
"וְחָם הוּא אֲבִי כְנָעַן"
  • Introduction – Rashbam and R"Y Bekhor Shor suggest that Cham is introduced as Canaan's father so that the reader understands who Canaan is when he is later cursed.12
  • "Like father, like son" – According to Ibn Ezra, Ralbag and Seforno, on the other hand, the text comes to identify father and son in their evil ways.13
"וַיַּרְא חָם אֲבִי כְנַעַן אֵת עֶרְוַת אָבִיו" – Seforno posits that the word "ערוה" here means shame, pointing to such usage in Ezra 4:14.  Thus, the verse is saying that, unlike his brothers who covered their father, Cham looked at his father's castration and disgrace.14
Contrast to Shem and Yefet – According to most of these commentators,15 there is a vast gap between Canaan and Shem/Yefet.  While the former committed an egregious sexual crime, the latter did not even look at their father.  Canaan therefore merited punishment while the others received a blessing.
Measure for measure punishment – Ralbag posits that Canaan purposefully prevented Noach from having other children so as to maximize the inheritance and land that he would get.  Since he desired a larger dominion, Noach punished him that he would get the opposite, and be enslaved to his brothers.

Canaan Born from Cham's Sin

Canaan was cursed as an illegitimate child, born of the illicit union between Cham and Noach's wife.

"וַיַּרְא חָם אֲבִי כְנַעַן אֵת עֶרְוַת אָבִיו" – This position compares this phrase to the similar one in Vayikra 20:11, "וְאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב אֶת אֵשֶׁת אָבִיו עֶרְוַת אָבִיו גִּלָּה".  There, "revealing a father's nakedness" is equivalent to "sleeping with the wife of your father".16  As such, in our verse, too, Cham is not simply viewing his father nakedness, but rather having intercourse with his father's wife. His son, Canaan, was the product of that encounter.
"אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לוֹ בְּנוֹ הַקָּטָן" – This approach understands this verse as referring to Cham and would likely suggest that the word "הַקָּטָן" refers to lowly stature, rather than young age.17  When Noach awoke he realized what his deprecated son had done to him by sleeping with his wife.
"וַיִּתְגַּל בְּתוֹךְ אׇהֳלֹה" – Hoil Moshe explains that in his drunkenness, Noach had relations with his wife openly, without any thought to modesty.  Cham, thus, saw, and was filled with desire.  I. Elizur suggests that the exceptional spelling of "‎אׇהֳלֹה"‎18 is Tanakh's euphemistic way of hinting to the fact that this took place in the bedroom tent of Noach's wife ("her" tent).19
"וְחָם הוּא אֲבִי כְנָעַן" – Since outsiders might mistake Canaan for Noach's son, the verse goes out of its way to emphasize that Cham, not Noach, was the father of Canaan.  Similarly, the following verse repeats the already known fact, "שְׁלֹשָׁה אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי נֹחַ", to highlight that these three alone (and not four) were the sons of Noach.
Shem and Yefet – I. Elizur suggests that Shem and Yefet covered not their father, but their mother.  ["עֶרְוַת אֲבִיהֶם" consistently refers to Noach's wife.]  It was she they turned their faces from and made sure not to look at or touch.
Punishment - "עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים יִהְיֶה לְאֶחָיו" – Canaan, who was the disgrace of Noach, was doomed to be a scorned servant.  This position might further suggest that when Noach says that Canaan will be enslaved to "his brothers" (verse 25), he is referring not to the other sons of Cham, but to Shem and Yefet themselves (Canaan's half-brothers).20  Noach is declaring that despite his being their half brother, Canaan is not to be on equal footing with them, but rather to serve them.

Canaan Cursed for Cham's Sin

Despite the fact that it was Cham who acted wrongly, for technical reasons Canaan was cursed instead.

"אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לוֹ בְּנוֹ הַקָּטָן" – These sources maintain that the verse is speaking of an action done by Cham, but differ regarding why he is called "הַקָּטָן":
  • Youngest – Ramban asserts that despite the fact that Cham is named in the middle of the progeny lists, he was in fact Noach's youngest child.  He points to Bereshit 10:21 as evidence that Yefet was the oldest, and to our verse that Cham was the youngest.21  Shem, the middle child, is consistently listed first only due to his loftier stature.22
  • Low Stature – Bereshit Rabbah, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, and Rashi, in contrast, suggest that Cham is not the smallest in age, but in stature.  He is referred to as the "smallest" because of his behavior.
"וַיַּרְא... אֵת עֶרְוַת אָבִיו" – What did Cham do? These sources disagree regarding what it was that Cham did:
  • Saw Noach's nakedness – Ramban reads the verse literally, and assert that Cham was disrespectful in looking at his father's nakedness.
  • Castrated or sodomized Noach  – The Bavli, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, and Rashi, in contrast, understand the term "גילוי ערוה" to have a sexual connotation and assume that Cham must have done an actual act, either castration23 or sodomizing.  This works with the language of "אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לוֹ" in verse 24 which suggests that Cham did more than look.
"וַיַּגֵּד לִשְׁנֵי אֶחָיו בַּחוּץ" – Ramban posits that what made Cham's action so disrespectful was not just that he shared what he saw with his brothers, but that he did so "בַּחוּץ", in front of others.  It was this public revelation that is referred to when the verse says that Noach knew "what his son had done to him".
"וְחָם הוּא אֲבִי כְנָעַן"
  • Introduction – Rashi asserts that the verse is simply an introduction so the reader can understand who Canaan is when he is cursed.
  • Canaan the eldest - According to Ramban the verse teaches that at the time of the story, Canaan was the only son of Cham.24  As such, Cham was known as "the father of Canaan".
If Cham sinned, why curse Canaan? These sources offer a variety of possibilities:
  • Curses don't fall on the blessed – R. Yehuda in Bereshit Rabbah asserts that since Hashem had already blessed Noach's sons, cursing Cham would have been ineffective and so Noach cursed his son instead.  It is not clear, though, why Canaan, and not Cham's other children, was cursed.
  • Measure for measure – The Bavli suggests that this was a "measure for measure" punishment of Cham.25  Since Cham had prevented Noach from having a fourth child, Noach decided to curse Cham's fourth son.
  • Cham too close to Noach – According to Josephus, Noach did not want to curse Cham as he was too close to him in blood, and thus he pushed the curse onto his progeny.
  • Not enough to punish Cham – In contrast to Josephus, Ramban asserts that Noach felt that cursing Cham would not be enough; his progeny needed to suffer as well.26  Since Canaan was the only son who was alive at the time, he was the one cursed.27

Canaan not Cursed

Canaan was never cursed; only Cham was.

"חָם הוּא אֲבִי כְנָעַן" – R. Saadia asserts that אֲבִי כְנָעַן is Cham's nickname; he was known to all as "אֲבִי כְנָעַן", after his oldest child, Canaan.28  R. Saadia compares this to the custom in his own time of referring to a person as the father of a specific child, using names such as "Abu Yitzchak" or "Abu Alhasan".
"Cursed be Canaan" – R. Saadia asserts that Noach was actually cursing "אֲבִי כְנָעַן", using Cham's epithet.29  The verse is missing the word "אֲבִי " as is the case in many verses which skip the titles "son", "father" or "brother".30
"בְּנוֹ הַקָּטָן" – R. Saadia translates this as "his younger son" rather than "his youngest son".  Cham is referred to in relationship to Shem, being younger than him, though older then Yefet.
"וַיַּרְא חָם... אֵת עֶרְוַת אָבִיו" – What did Cham do? R. Saadia reads the verse literally and asserts that Cham viewed his father's nakedness.  The real sin, though, lay in his sharing the fact with his brothers.
"וַיֵּדַע אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לוֹ" – R. Saadia responds to those that argue that seeing and telling do not constitute actions (אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לוֹ), by asserting that defaming another is considered an action in Tanakh.  As support, he points to Shelomo saying to Shimi, "אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ אֵת כׇּל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר... עָשִׂיתָ לְדָוִד אָבִי" referring to his cursing of David.
Contrast to Shem and Yefet – R. Saadia further supports his claim that Cham's action was limited to revealing his father's nakedness by the contrast drawn between him and his brothers.  They are praised for covering their father, suggesting that he was condemned for the opposite.