Question:

What really happened when Ham uncovered the nakedness of his father?

Bettye Crocker on Tonights.com - 2006-02-16 01:07:42 - Religion Spirituality

I was reading Genesis 9:20-26 when Ham "uncovered the nakedness of his father". I've heard a few interpretations relating to this particular scripture. One said that Noah was drunk and Ham entered Noah's tent and saw him naked. This was disgraceful because Noah was drunk and he was naked, which was considered to be immodest and immoral. Ham then went outside and found his two brothers, Shem and Japheth, and told them what happened to their father, rather than try to help him. Someone else said that Ham was a peeping Tom and looked upon his father Noah lustfully. Then when Noah awoke and realized what Ham had done to him, he cursed Ham's youngest son, Canaan. Another analysis took it a little further and said that Ham actually had sexual intercourse with his father. Noah was too drunk to defend himself, but when he sobered up he then cursed Ham's lineage. But what do you think happened?

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Ham married before the Flood. Along with his wife, his father and mother, and his two brothers and their wives, he survived the Flood. (Ge 6:18; 7:13; 8:15, 16, 18; 1Pe 3:19, 20) Ham’s sons were born after the Flood. Sometime later he became involved in an incident that brought a curse on his son Canaan. Noah had become intoxicated with wine and had uncovered himself in his tent. Ham saw his father’s nakedness, and instead of showing the proper respect for Noah, the family head and the servant and prophet whom God had made an instrument in the preservation of the human race, Ham told his two brothers of his discovery. Shem and Japheth exhibited the proper respect by walking backwards with a mantle to cover Noah so that they would not bring reproach by looking on their father’s nakedness. Noah, on awakening, uttered a curse, not on Ham, but on Ham’s son Canaan. In the accompanying blessing of Shem, which included a blessing for Japheth, Ham was passed over and ignored; only Canaan was mentioned as cursed and was prophetically foretold to become a slave to Shem and Japheth.—Ge 9:20-27. Why did Noah curse Canaan when Ham was the offender? Very likely Canaan was guilty of some abuse or perversion against the person of his grandfather Noah, and Ham witnessed this without interfering. Instead, Noah’s son Ham appears to have spread the story, whereas Shem and Japheth acted to cover their father. Therefore, they were blessed, the likely perpetrator Canaan was cursed, and the bystander and talebearer Ham suffered through the shame brought upon his offspring. Although the Scriptures do not provide all the details, the important point is that Jehovah caused Noah to utter the prophecy and God brought about its fulfillment when the Canaanites who were not destroyed by the Israelites were put under servitude to those descendants of Shem.—Joshua 9:23; 1 Kings 9:21.

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Who would know?

from where u get that story ???????????

I was reading that passage a few weeks ago, and it struck me that later on in the Bible (in the Law of Moses) the term "uncovering the nakedness of your father" is applied to seeing your father's wife naked (whether your own mother, or not). So it's possible that it's the same thing mentioned in Genesis, since often in the Bible we are not given a lot of detail, and wives were often only mentioned by implication.

the Bible says; "CURSED", so he was. plain and simple, read Rev 22:18-19, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Its a great question, but I don't think anyone really knows. We discussed it in my OT class, and we decided that the key phrase was that Noah knew what happened to him. So, it was probably something more than Ham seeing him naked. So, the real answer is that we simply don't know.

I will tell you the answer but must warn you this is from my own study and opinion, so take it for what it is worth. Ham castrated Noah. Reason is Ham was very ambitious to repoplulate the earth with his own generations. He could not get to his brothers but Noah was a drunk. So he stopped Noah from having anymore generations. This tightened up things just a little more for Ham. Ham realizing a golden opportunity to make the world after him did this. His brothers saw what he did and covered Noah. When Noah woke he cursed Ham's generations. Ham and his wife Semeramus had a son named Cush who started the city where Babel was built. Semeramus married her son and they had a son named Nimrod who built the tower in Babel plus founded Ninevah and Babylon. They began a religion together that has lasted the ages and influenced all others even today. The tower he built was an observation tower. Nimrod knew certain things astronomically were about to happen and this knowledge would be hinder certain things later that God needed to people to not know about. When God saw what Nimrod was about to figure out he stated there is nothing hid from him and destroyed the tower. He caused everyone to forget the one language everyone knew and left them with just sub dialects from it. Nimrod was killed by his uncle and his body parts distributed to all of Nimrod's cities as a warning. Semeramus who was already pregnant with Nimrod's child gave birth to Tamuz. I wont go into what Nimrod was about to figure out or what his influence in the ages has become. If you are interested in more email me at mesims at yahoo. Like I said it is based on opinion of my studies.

Ham married before the Flood. Along with his wife, his father and mother, and his two brothers and their wives, he survived the Flood. (Ge 6:18; 7:13; 8:15, 16, 18; 1Pe 3:19, 20) Ham’s sons were born after the Flood. Sometime later he became involved in an incident that brought a curse on his son Canaan. Noah had become intoxicated with wine and had uncovered himself in his tent. Ham saw his father’s nakedness, and instead of showing the proper respect for Noah, the family head and the servant and prophet whom God had made an instrument in the preservation of the human race, Ham told his two brothers of his discovery. Shem and Japheth exhibited the proper respect by walking backwards with a mantle to cover Noah so that they would not bring reproach by looking on their father’s nakedness. Noah, on awakening, uttered a curse, not on Ham, but on Ham’s son Canaan. In the accompanying blessing of Shem, which included a blessing for Japheth, Ham was passed over and ignored; only Canaan was mentioned as cursed and was prophetically foretold to become a slave to Shem and Japheth.—Ge 9:20-27. Why did Noah curse Canaan when Ham was the offender? Very likely Canaan was guilty of some abuse or perversion against the person of his grandfather Noah, and Ham witnessed this without interfering. Instead, Noah’s son Ham appears to have spread the story, whereas Shem and Japheth acted to cover their father. Therefore, they were blessed, the likely perpetrator Canaan was cursed, and the bystander and talebearer Ham suffered through the shame brought upon his offspring. Although the Scriptures do not provide all the details, the important point is that Jehovah caused Noah to utter the prophecy and God brought about its fulfillment when the Canaanites who were not destroyed by the Israelites were put under servitude to those descendants of Shem.—Joshua 9:23; 1 Kings 9:21.