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Study This Verse
Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Genesis 9:18–23. His three-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
Here is, I. Noah's family and employment. The names of his sons are again mentioned (Gen 9:18, Gen 9:19) as those from whom the whole earth was overspread, by which it appears that Noah, after the flood, had no more children: all the world came from these three. Note, God, when he pleases, can make a little one to become a thousand, and greatly increase the latter end of those whose beginning was small. Such are the power and efficacy of a divine blessing. The business Noah applied himself to was that of a husbandman, Heb. a man of the earth, that is, a man dealing in the earth, that kept ground in his hand, and occupied it. We are all naturally men of the earth, made of it, living on it, and hastening to it: many are sinfully so, addicted to earthly things. Noah was by his calling led to trade in the fruits of the earth. He began to be a husbandman, that is, some time after his departure out of the ark, he returned to his old employment, from which he had been diverted by the building of the ark first, and probably afterwards by the building of a house on dry land for himself and family. For this good while he had been a carpenter, but now he began again to be a husbandman. Observe, Though Noah was a great man and a good man, an old man and a rich man, a man greatly favoured by heaven and honoured on earth, yet he would not live an idle life, nor think the husbandman's calling below him. Note, Though God by his providence may take us off from our callings for a time, yet when the occasion is over we ought with humility and industry to apply ourselves to them again, and, in the calling wherein we are called, faithfully to abide with God, Co1 7:24.
II.Noah's sin and shame:
He planted a vineyard; and, when he had gathered his vintage, probably he appointed a day of mirth and feasting in his family, and had his sons and their children with him, to rejoice with him in the increase of his house as well as in the increase of his vineyard; and we may suppose he prefaced his feast with a sacrifice to the honour of God. If this was omitted, it was just with God to leave him to himself, that he who did not begin with God might end with the beasts; but we charitably hope that it was not: and perhaps he appointed this feast with a design, at the close of it, to bless his sons, as Isaac, Gen 27:3, Gen 27:4, That I may eat, and that my soul may bless thee. At this feast he drank of the wine; for who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit of it? But he drank too liberally, more than his head at this age would bear, for he was drunk. We have reason to think he was never drunk before nor after; observe how he came now to be overtaken in this fault. It was his sin, and a great sin, so much the worse for its being so soon after a great deliverance; but God left him to himself, as he did Hezekiah (Ch2 32:31), and has left this miscarriage of his upon record, to teach us,
1.That the fairest copy that ever mere man wrote since the fall had its blots and false strokes. It was said of Noah that he was perfect in his generations (Gen 6:9), but this shows that it is meant of sincerity, not a sinless perfection.
2.That sometimes those who, with watchfulness and resolution, have, by the grace of God, kept their integrity in the midst of temptation, have, through security, and carelessness, and neglect of the grace of God, been surprised into sin, when the hour of temptation has been over. Noah, who had kept sober in drunken company, is now drunk in sober company. Let him that thinks he stands take heed.
3.That we have need to be very careful, when we use God's good creatures plentifully, lest we use them to excess. Christ's disciples must take heed lest at any time their hearts be overcharged, Luk 21:34. Now the consequence of Noah's sin was shame. He was uncovered within his tent, made naked to his shame, as Adam when he had eaten forbidden fruit. Yet Adam sought concealment; Noah is so destitute of thought and reason that he seeks no covering. This was a fruit of the vine that Noah did not think of. Observe here the great evil of the sin of drunkenness.
(1.)It discovers men. What infirmities they have, they betray when they are drunk, and what secrets they are entrusted with are then easily got out of them. Drunken porters keep open gates.
(2.)It disgraces men, and exposes them to contempt. As it shows them, so it shames them. Men say and do that when drunk which when they are sober they would blush at the thoughts of, Hab 2:15, Hab 2:16.
III.Ham's impudence and impiety:
He saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren, Gen 9:22. To see it accidentally and involuntarily would not have been a crime; but,
1.He pleased himself with the sight, as the Edomites looked upon the day of their brother (Oba 1:12), pleased, and insulting. Perhaps Ham had sometimes been himself drunk, and reproved for it by his good father, whom he was therefore pleased to see thus overcome. Note, It is common for those who walk in false ways themselves to rejoice at the false steps which they sometimes see others make. But charity rejoices not in iniquity, nor can true penitents that are sorry for their own sins rejoice in the sins of others.
2.He told his two brethren without (in the street, as the word is), in a scornful deriding manner, that his father might seem vile unto them. It is very wrong,
(1.)To make a jest of sin (Pro 14:9), and to be puffed up with that for which we should rather mourn, Co1 5:2. And,
(2.)To publish the faults of any, especially of parents, whom it is our duty to honour. Noah was not only a good man, but had been a good father to him; and this was a most base disingenuous requital to him for his tenderness. Ham is here called the father of Canaan, which intimates that he who was himself a father should have been more respectful to him that was his father.
IV.The pious care of Shem and Japheth to cover their poor father's shame, Gen 9:23.
They not only would not see it themselves, but provided that no one else might see it, herein setting us an example of charity with reference to other men's sin and shame; we must not only not say, A confederacy, with those that proclaim it, but we must be careful to conceal it, or at least to make the best of it, be doing as we would be done by.
1.There is a mantle of love to be thrown over the faults of all, Pe1 4:8.
2.Besides this, there is a robe of reverence to be thrown over the faults of parents and other superiors.
Historical interpretation
Two Centuries of Reception
5 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
For another mystery was accomplished and predicted in the days of Noah, of which you are not aware. It is this: in the blessings wherewith Noah blessed his two sons, and in the curse pronounced on his son's son. For the Spirit of prophecy would not curse the son that had been by God blessed along with [his brothers]. But since the punishment of the sin would cleave to the whole descent of the son that mocked at his father's nakedness, he made the curse originate with his son. Now, in what he said, he foretold that the descendants of Shem would keep in retention the property and dwellings of Canaan: and again that the descendants of Japheth would take possession of the property of which Shem's descendants had dispossessed Canaan's descendants; and spoil the descendants of Shem, even as they plundered the sons of Canaan. And listen to the way in which it has so come to pass. For you, who have derived your lineage from Shem, invaded the territory of the sons of Canaan by the will of God; and you possessed it. And it is manifest that the sons of Japheth, having invaded you in turn by the judgment of God, have taken your land from you, and have possessed it. Thus it is written: "And Noah awoke from the wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him; and he said, Cursed be Canaan, the servant; a servant shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. May the Lord enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the houses of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant."
Now the three sons of Noah were Shem, Ham and Japheth, from whom again the race was multiplied: for these were the beginning of mankind after the flood. Now of these one fell under a curse, and the two (others) inherited a blessing by reason of their works. For the younger of them, who was called Ham, having mocked his father, and having been condemned of the sin of impiety because of his outrage and unrighteousness against his father, received a curse; and all the posterity that came of him he involved in the curse; whence it came about that his whole race after him were accursed, and in sins they increased and multiplied. But Shem and Japheth, his brothers, because of their piety towards their father obtained a blessing. Now the curse of Ham, wherewith his father Noah cursed him, is this: Cursed be Ham the child; a servant shall he be unto his brethren. This having come upon his race, he begat many descendants upon the earth, (even) for fourteen generations, growing up in a wild condition; and then his race was cut off by God, being delivered up to judgment. For the Canaanites and Hittites and Peresites and Hivites and Amorites and Jebusites and Gergasites and Sodomites, the Arabians also and the dwellers in Phœnicia, all the Egyptians and the Libyans, are of the posterity of Ham, who have fallen under the curse; for the curse is of long duration over the ungodly.
Noah cursed Canaan, saying, “Cursed be Canaan. A slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.” But what sin could Canaan have committed even if he had been right behind his father when Ham observed the nakedness of Noah? Some say that because Ham had been blessed along with those who entered the ark and came out of it, Noah did not curse Ham himself, even though his son, who was cursed, grieved him greatly. Others, however, say from the fact that Scripture says, “Noah knew everything that his youngest son had done to him,” it is clear that it was not Ham who observed his nakedness, for Ham was the middle son and not the youngest. For this reason they say that Canaan, the youngest, told of the nakedness of the old man. Then Ham went out and jokingly told his brothers. For this reason then, even though it might be thought that Canaan was cursed unjustly in that he did what he did in his youth, still he was cursed justly for he was not cursed in the place of another. Noah knew that Canaan would deserve the curse in his old age, or else he would not have been cursed in his youth.
First of all, let us show great reverence to our parents, as we read in Genesis 9:25-27, that whoever was blessed by their father, was blessed, and whoever was cursed by their father, was cursed! Therefore, God has granted this grace to parents, so that the piety of their children may be provoked. Therefore, it is the duty of children to obey their parents. Honor your father, so that he may bless you.
To be sure, some will say, this shows that the reason he did not curse Ham was that he had enjoyed blessing from God. Nevertheless, why is it that though Ham was the sinner, Canaan had to pay the penalty? This does not happen idly either. Ham did not endure less punishment than his son. He too felt its effects. You know well, of course, how in many cases fathers have begged to endure punishment in place of their children. Seeing their children bearing punishment proves a more grievous form of chastisement for the fathers than being subject to it themselves. Accordingly, this incident occurred so that Ham should endure greater anguish on account of his natural affection, so that God’s blessing should continue without impairment and so that his son in being the object of the curse should atone for his own sins. You see, even if in the present instance he bears the curse on account of his father’s sin, nevertheless it was likely that he was atoning for his own failings. In other words, it was not only for his father’s sin that he bore the curse but perhaps also for the purpose of his suffering a heavier penalty on his own account. After all, for proof that parents are not punished for their children, nor children for their parents, each being liable for the sins he has committed, you can find frequent statements among the inspired authors—as, for instance, when they say, “The teeth of the one eating sour grapes shall be set on edge,” “The soul that shall die is the soul that sins,” and again, “Parents shall not die for their children, nor children for their parents.”
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Summary
Genesis 9:23 meticulously recounts the honorable and respectful actions of Noah's sons, Shem and Japheth, who, upon learning of their father's intoxicated nakedness, took a garment, approached him backward, and covered him without gazing upon his shame. This deliberate act of filial piety stands in stark contrast to their brother Ham's disrespectful behavior, highlighting profound themes of modesty, the covering of vulnerability, and the preservation of dignity.
Context
Literary Context
This verse is a pivotal moment within the post-Flood narrative, immediately following God's covenant with Noah and the establishment of the new world order. After disembarking from the ark, Noah, now a farmer, cultivates a vineyard. The preceding verse, Genesis 9:22, describes Ham's discovery of his father's drunken nakedness and his subsequent reporting of it to his brothers outside the tent. Genesis 9:23 then details the contrasting, respectful response of Shem and Japheth. This narrative sets the stage for Noah's subsequent pronouncements of blessing and curse in Genesis 9:25-27, which profoundly impact the destiny of their descendants and the early history of nations. The entire episode serves as a moral lesson on familial duty and the consequences of one's actions.
Historical & Cultural Context
In ancient Near Eastern cultures, nakedness, especially of a patriarch or elder, was considered a profound source of shame and dishonor. To gaze upon it, let alone expose it or mock it, was an act of extreme disrespect, often carrying connotations of sexual impropriety or a curse. The tent, in this nomadic or semi-nomadic setting, served as a private dwelling, and its interior represented a sacred space of family intimacy. Noah, as the patriarch and the new progenitor of humanity, held immense authority and dignity. His state of intoxication and nakedness, while a personal failing, did not negate his inherent status. The actions of Shem and Japheth reflect a deep understanding of cultural norms regarding honor, shame, and filial duty, emphasizing the importance of protecting the dignity of one's elders, even when they are vulnerable.
Key Themes
Genesis 9:23 contributes significantly to several overarching themes in the book of Genesis and beyond. It highlights the theme of filial piety and the honor due to parents, even in their weakness, contrasting it with disrespect and mockery. This narrative also introduces the crucial concept of covering shame versus exposing it, a principle that resonates throughout biblical ethics, foreshadowing the divine covering of sin. Furthermore, it underscores the consequences of moral choices, as the distinct actions of Noah's sons directly lead to differing destinies for their lineages, illustrating the principle of blessing and curse that recurs throughout the patriarchal narratives, from Abraham's call to the blessings and curses of the Mosaic covenant in Deuteronomy 28. The narrative implicitly touches upon the dignity of humanity, even in compromised states, and the responsibility to uphold it.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This primitive root means "to take (in the widest variety of applications)." In this context, it implies a deliberate and intentional action. Shem and Japheth did not stumble upon the garment; they "took" it, suggesting a purposeful act of acquiring it with the intent to cover their father. This highlights their proactive and thoughtful response, rather than a passive or accidental one.
Prolonged from אָחוֹר (achor), meaning "back, hind part." This adverb emphasizes the precise manner of their approach: they literally walked backward. This detail is crucial, signifying their conscious effort to avoid seeing their father's nakedness. It's an act of profound respect and self-control, demonstrating their commitment to preserving Noah's dignity and their own purity by averting their gaze from a shameful sight.
Derived from ʻârâh (to lay bare), this term signifies "nudity, literally (especially the pudenda) or figuratively (disgrace, blemish)." In this context, it refers not merely to physical nudity but carries strong connotations of shame, disgrace, and vulnerability. Shem and Japheth were covering not just a body, but their father's "shame" or "dishonor," performing an act of grace and protection that went beyond the physical.
Verse Breakdown
"And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid [it] upon both their shoulders,"
This clause emphasizes the collaborative and intentional nature of their act. The garment was not casually thrown; it was taken and carefully borne by both brothers, signifying a shared commitment and a joint effort to honor their father. The act of laying it upon "both their shoulders" conveys a sense of solemnity and shared responsibility in carrying out this act of covering.
"and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father;"
This part of the verse reveals the extraordinary measure of respect and sensitivity displayed. Their decision to walk backward into the tent was a deliberate strategy to avoid seeing their father's vulnerable and shameful state. The act of "covered" (Hebrew: kâçâh, H3680) implies not just a physical covering but an act of concealment and protection, shielding their father from further dishonor and upholding his dignity.
"and their faces [were] backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness."
This final clause explicitly reinforces the brothers' unwavering commitment to modesty and honor. The repetition of "backward" and the explicit statement that they "saw not" their father's nakedness underscore their active refusal to exploit or even witness his compromised state. This detail highlights their moral integrity and their determination to preserve Noah's dignity by avoiding any participation in the shame associated with his exposure.
Literary Devices
The narrative of Genesis 9:23 employs several potent literary devices. Contrast is paramount, as the actions of Shem and Japheth are set in stark opposition to Ham's disrespectful behavior in the preceding verse, highlighting the moral choice between honoring and shaming. Repetition of the word "backward" (Hebrew: ʼăchôrannîyth) and "nakedness" (Hebrew: ʻervâh) serves to emphasize the deliberate nature of the brothers' actions and the gravity of the situation. The garment itself functions as symbolism, representing not just a physical covering but an act of grace, protection, and the restoration of dignity. The entire episode serves as a type or foreshadowing of later biblical principles regarding modesty, the covering of sin, and the importance of discretion in dealing with others' weaknesses.
Theological and Thematic Connections
The actions of Shem and Japheth in Genesis 9:23 provide a foundational biblical example of filial piety and the virtue of covering shame. Their deliberate choice to honor their father, even in his vulnerable and undignified state, establishes a profound ethical precedent. Theologically, this narrative underscores the importance of discretion, compassion, and the preservation of dignity within human relationships, particularly within the family. It teaches that true love and respect seek to conceal weakness and restore honor, rather than expose or exploit it. This principle resonates deeply with the divine character, where God, in His grace, provides covering for human sin and shame.
Reflection and Application
Genesis 9:23 offers timeless and challenging lessons for believers on how to respond to the weaknesses, failures, and vulnerabilities of others, especially those in positions of authority or trust. It calls us to cultivate a spirit of honor, grace, and discretion, choosing intentionally to cover rather than expose the shame of others. This requires a profound level of self-control and humility, as demonstrated by Shem and Japheth's deliberate actions of going backward and refusing to look. In a world often quick to criticize, gossip, and revel in the downfall of others, this passage serves as a powerful counter-cultural mandate. It urges us to act with compassion, seeking to restore dignity and protect reputation, understanding that our actions have spiritual and relational consequences, just as Shem and Japheth's actions ultimately led to blessing for their descendants. Our response to others' failings should mirror God's grace towards us, seeking to uplift and cover, rather than condemn and expose.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did Shem and Japheth go backward into the tent?
Shem and Japheth went backward into the tent as a deliberate and profound act of modesty and respect. By doing so, they ensured they would not gaze upon their father's nakedness, thereby actively avoiding participation in or witnessing his shame. This action preserved Noah's dignity and demonstrated their own purity and reverence in the face of his vulnerability. It was a conscious choice to honor their father's privacy and reputation, even in his compromised state.
What is the significance of "nakedness" in this context?
The Hebrew word for "nakedness" here, ‘ervâh (H6172), signifies more than mere physical nudity. It carries strong connotations of shame, disgrace, or vulnerability, particularly within a familial or societal context. Therefore, Shem and Japheth were not simply covering a body; they were actively covering their father's dishonor and protecting his reputation. This concept of "nakedness" as shame is prevalent throughout the Old Testament, often associated with exposure, humiliation, or moral transgression, as seen in passages like Leviticus 18.
How does this story relate to honoring parents today?
This story provides a timeless lesson on honoring parents, even when they are flawed, make mistakes, or are in a vulnerable state. It teaches that true honor involves protecting their dignity and reputation, choosing to cover their weaknesses with grace and discretion rather than exposing, mocking, or gossiping about them. It reflects the biblical principle of unconditional honor, which is a cornerstone of the Fifth Commandment. By covering Noah's shame, Shem and Japheth exemplified a profound respect that transcends circumstances, calling us to extend similar grace to those we are called to honor.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
While Shem and Japheth physically covered their earthly father's nakedness and shame, their act powerfully foreshadows the ultimate covering provided by Jesus Christ. Humanity's spiritual nakedness is our sin, rebellion against God, and inherent fallenness, which brings profound shame, guilt, and separation from a holy God. Just as Shem and Japheth acted out of love and respect to cover Noah's physical dishonor, Christ, out of perfect love and obedience to the Father, bore our spiritual shame and covered our sin through His sacrificial death on the cross. He is the one who truly "went backward" from the world's ways, humbling Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). Through His shed blood, He provides a complete and eternal covering for our spiritual nakedness, clothing us in His own righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). By faith in Him, we are no longer exposed in our shame but are presented blameless before God, covered by the perfect garment of His atoning work (Colossians 1:22).