Genesis 9:24

And Noah awoke from his wine,.... From his sleep, which his wine brought on him; when the force and strength of that was gone, and when not only he awaked, but came to himself, and was sober; and

And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And knew what his younger son had done unto him , [Hebrew, haqaaTaan (H6996)] - the little, small (son).

Noah awoke from his wine, from his drunkenness, or from his sleep, the effect of it, and knew, either by the information of his sons, or by Divine inspiration, what his younger son had done unto him; or, his little son, either Ham, mentioned , or Canaan, mentioned in ; by comparing of which places it may be gathered that Canaan first saw it, and told his father Ham of it, and he told it to his brethren. The latter seems here principally intended, 1. Because the curse following is appropriated to him. 2. Because of the title of younger or little son, which seems not to be so properly added if Ham was meant; both because it doth not appear that he was the youngest, for wheresoever these three brethren are mentioned he is always put in the middle place, and because that addition seems to be unnecessary and impertinent to the present business, which if Canaan be intended, is proper and pertinent, by way of distinction, to show that he spake of his grandson, or his son’ s son. Object. He calleth him his son. Answ. Grandchildren are frequently called their grandfather’ s sons in Scripture, as .

Genesis 9:24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.Ver. 24. And Noah awoke from his wine.] And returned no more to it. Once was enough; "the time past may well suffice, to have walked in excess of wine". We will buy repentance so dear no more. It is expressly noted of Judah, that "he knew Tamar again no more". And we may be well assured, that Noah was never drunk again. Solomon’ s drunkard cries, "when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again". As swine break their bellies, so do such men their heads, with filthy quaffing; yea, "whoredom and wine, and new wine, take away the heart," saith the prophet. They beset and infatuate, yea, rob a man of himself, and lay a beast in his room. Our drunkards say, as the vine in Jotham’ s parable; Non possum relinquere vinum meum ." Take away my liquor, you take away my life." How often, saith a grave divine, have I seen vermin sucking the drunkard’ s blood, as fast as he that of the grape and malt, yet would he not leave his hold, or lose his draught! Some are soaked with drink, and then laid out to be sunned and scorned. And knew what his younger son had done unto him.] It is probable, that finding himself covered with a cloak, he asked his wife and children how he came covered; and that then Shem and Japhet told him all the matter; which moved him to bless them. It is our wisest way, to do what good we can to others. And though they, for present, being drunk with malice, or rash anger, know it not, yet a waking time may come, when they may see the good, and bless us for it, as David did Abigail. When he had slept out his drunken passion, he saw cause to bless God, to bless her, and to bless her counsel. Mr Gilpin’ s plain dealing with the Bishop of Durham, how well it succeeded. See his life written by Bishop Carleton, p. 58. Malle se vitam quam vinum eripi . - August. De Temp. Serm. 131. Mr Harris’ s Drunkard’ s Cup.

(24) Noah . . . knew what his younger son had done unto him.—Heb., his son, the little one. This can only mean his youngest son. So it is applied to Benjamin in Genesis 42:34; Genesis 43:29, and to David in 1 Samuel 16:11, where the words literally are, there re- maineth yet the little one. Now Ham was not the youngest son, but Japheth; and it is not Ham who is cursed, but Canaan. So far from Ham being accursed, his descendants were building mighty cities, such as Egyptian Thebes, Nineveh, and Babylon, were rearing palaces, digging canals, organising governments, and founding empires at a time when the descendants of Japheth were wandering over Europe with no better weapons than implements of flint and bone. The application of the curse to Ham seems to have been suggested to commentators by the degradation of the African race in modern times, and especially by the prevalence of negro slavery: but anciently the converse was the case, and for centuries the Egyptians, a Hamite race, made the Israelites serve them. We must not extend, therefore, to Ham the curse pronounced upon Canaan. But what had Canaan done to deserve it? As the son, the little one, was not Ham, so certainly it was not Japheth, but probably it was Canaan. He was the youngest son of Ham, and in Hebrew “son” is occasionally used for grandson (Genesis 29:5; Genesis 31:55), and so he might be described as Noah’s youngest son, being the youngest member of his family. Origen quotes a tradition that Canaan was the first who saw Noah’s exposure, and that he told it to his father. Aben Ezra says that Canaan had done worse than mock, though the Scripture does not in words reveal his crime. With some such surmise we must be content; and the meaning seems to be, “Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what (Canaan) his youngest son (or grandson) had done unto him; and it was a deed so shameless that he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan.’”

Verse 24. See Clarke on Genesis 9:22

24. his youngest son] The rendering of the R.V. marg. and of the A.V., younger (so LXX ὁνεώτερος, Lat. minor), is not permissible. The Hebrew word, where there is a comparison between more than two persons, means “the youngest,” as in the story of David (1 Samuel 16:11; 1 Samuel 17:14). The difficulty, which has led to the rendering of the R.V. marg. and the A.V., arises from the fact that in the order of Noah’s sons given by J in Genesis 9:18, and by P in Genesis 5:32, Genesis 6:10, Genesis 7:13, and Genesis 10:1, Japheth is mentioned third, and was therefore considered to be the youngest. If, however, as seems probable, we are here dealing with a distinct tradition, in which the third and youngest son was Canaan, the difficulty caused by the words, “his youngest son,” taken in conjunction with the curse pronounced upon Canaan (Ham not being mentioned), will disappear. Origen, in order to escape the difficulty, suggested that Canaan, the youngest son of Ham (Genesis 10:6), saw his grandfather, Noah, lying exposed, and reported it to his father, Ham; and this theory has found favour with many. But, at the best, it is an ingenious gloss; it is not in the text, but an addition to it. had done] Nothing is told of the youngest son’s misconduct. So far as our text goes, he had merely reported to his brothers their father’s shameful condition. These words, however, suggest that the narrative in Genesis 9:22 has for good reasons been abbreviated or modified.

24. Awoke… and knew — His stupor was not so deep as to prevent his being conscious of Ham’s shameful conduct.