His Father’s Nakedness: The Curse of Ham Finally Explained

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Old Testament Noah Ncovered By His Sons Shem And Japheth Noah Curses The Family Of His Younger Son Ham Who Had Seen NoahS Nakedness (Genesis 9 22-25) Wood Engraving After Gustave Dor

 

HAM had sex with his father’s wife. There it is. Hopefully, you weren’t drinking from a cup of coffee or chewing on an overpriced blueberry scone while reading that, as I would have either choked or spit up all over the computer screen. At any rate, you have scoured The Matrix for an answer, and now you’ve found it. Everyone else either beats around the bush, outright denies it, or simply devotes their entire life to keeping you in the dark. It is the very job of gatekeepers to over-populate the halls of academia and drown out the competition with the loudest speaking voice. Diplomas are printed and framed in such a way that you haven’t the faintest clue that the sons of Cain still rule the world. But if you do, they won’t grant you one. And no, I’m not bitter. Time is short and the whispered things need brought out into the open. Everybody may want to rule the world, like the Tears for Fears song, but the Puppet Masters belong to a singular family.

You probably noticed that I said his father’s wife rather than mother, and that is because we’re being technical rather than figurative. Noah’s wife may have been Shem and Jepheth’s biological mother, but there was no relation to Ham whatsoever. Don’t take my word for it. For now, you’ll just have to make a mental note of my conclusions, as another paper will require devotion to Ham’s genealogy. One detail at a time. Something which you are likely aware of is the story concerning Noah’s drunkenness as it comes down to us in the Hebrew Masoretic Text. But here it is again anyways. We’ll start the present narrative from this template and then move forward accordingly.

20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

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Genesis 9:20-27

I took the red marker out on two fundamental details. The first thing we see is that Ham, “the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father.” It’s the little details. Really, I never noticed it until now. This very moment. Ham being the “father of Canaan” is directly associated to his seeing “the nakedness of his father.” And there you have it. Canaan is a result of Noah’s nakedness. Confused how that works? No, I’m not changing the rules of sex education. We’re getting to it.

Ham immediately leaves his father’s tent, after fathering Canaan, and tells his two brothers about the committed deed. That would have been his way of saying, “I’m the Big Boy. I’m in charge now. Patriarch of humanity am I, so from now on, you’ll have to do what I say,” or something or other. Way to go, kicking Noah while he’s down, Ham. Shem and Japheth respond to Ham’s cock-a-doodle proclamation by respectfully covering their father’s nakedness—the shame that has come upon him, that is—whatever the outcome. While their father and mother are still passed out upon the bed, both brothers lay a garment upon their shoulders and walked in backwards, so as not to see her.

The same account can be found in Jubilees.

6 And he rejoiced and drank of this wine, he and his children with joy.

7 And it was evening, and he went into his tent, and being drunken he lay down and slept, and was uncovered in his tent as he slept.

8 And Ham saw Noah his father naked, and went forth and told his two brethren without.

9 And Shem took his garment and arose, he and Japheth, and they placed the garment on their shoulders and went backward and covered the shame of their father, and their faces were backward.

10 And Noah awoke from his sleep and knew all that his younger son had done unto him, and he cursed his son and said: ‘Cursed be Canaan; an enslaved servant shall he be unto his brethren.’

11 And he blessed Shem, and said: ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.

12 God shall enlarge Japheth, and God shall dwell in the dwelling of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.’

13 And Ham knew that his father had cursed his younger son, and he was displeased that he had cursed his son. And he parted from his father, he and his sons with him, Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.

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Jubilees 7:6-13

 

If you think I have it all wrong concerning Ham’s sin, and there was no possible way that he slept with Noah’s wife, then try to explain the curse to follow. Should one of my sons see my plonker in the bedroom and then snicker about it in the hallway among his brothers, cursing that child and all the generations which would spring forth from that child seems wildly over-reactive. Perhaps Noah was immorally loose behind the canon, being drunk, and Ham simply saw him masturbating. Still over-reactive. Truth is, Noah did no wrong here. He had a perfect right to be naked in his own tent. Contrarily, if my son were to rape my wife while we were incapacitated in bed, and now she were to be found pregnant with a child—his child—that would be fair reason for cursing, don’t you think? It’s what I think. My wife’s own child would now be my grandchild. Excuse my post-Babel German, but that’s some seriously twisted fubar, right there.

It’s not like I’m misrepresenting the language picture being presented to us, either. All we need to do is flip over so many pages to Leviticus to see precisely what is being described. Same author. Moshe highlighted the story of Noah’s nakedness in order to give visual content to the Law of Yahuah. Uncovering one’s nakedness is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. Take that one step further, and uncovering the nakedness of a married woman is uncovering the nakedness of her husband. That is, having sex with another man’s wife is akin to having sex with the husband. But not even the father’s wife goes unnoticed here. I’ve taken out the red marker again, just to make that point known.

None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am Yahuah.

The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.

The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

10 The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.

11 The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.

13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.

14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.

15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.

17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.

18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor’s wife, to defile thyself with her.

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Leviticus 8:6-20

Moshe comes across as repetitive, but only to mark off every box possible. No, you may not uncover the nakedness of your mother, your mother’s sister, your father’s sister, your brother’s wife, or your wife’s sister. Kapeesh? There are of course more references to uncovering a woman’s nakedness in the Law—specifically thy father’s nakedness. Consider the following passages.

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s wife; it is they father’s nakedness.

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Leviticus 18:8

11 And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

19 And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of they father’s sister, or of the sister of they mother; for that man has uncovered the nakedness of one near akin: they shall bear their iniquity.

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Leviticus 20:11,19

Now that we have established the fact that Canaan was a rather obvious result of Ham’s incest, we will have to hold off on the greater prophetic connotations, saving them for another paper. Mainly, that the Canaanites possessed the very plot of land which Shem had inherited, and had been appropriated for the children of Abraham, aptly calling it Canaan. Oh, the chutzpah.

The present implication is that Noah could no longer lay with his wife. Before the flood, Noah was polygamous. Oh yes he was. Afterwards, a plurality of wives not only became an impossibility, but as you will see for yourself, he was no longer capable of fulfilling Yahuah’s command and bringing forth more children upon the earth. Emzara was most likely put away for the remainder of their lives. It’s not like there were other women to marry. Every living being with the ruach of life had been destroyed in the floodwaters, save for the animals in the ark, the wives of his sons, and their children. Noah continued another 350 years after the deluge, living 950 years in total. During this time he became a wine maker. That means he lived a third of his life drinking wine but with nobody to have sex with. You’d have to hate sex to disagree when I say that totally sucks.

I base my assumption upon another account some twenty chapters later. It involves Reuben and Bilhah, and reads:

And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

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Genesis 35:22

That’s all we are given in the Hebrew Masoretic. Reuben simply lay with Jacob’s concubine. There is a pregnant pause, and then the story simply continues on, leaving you to gasp and wonder at the implications. No wonder why so very few people know about it. A somewhat fuller account can be found in Jubilees. As you shall see, it explains the repercussions. Or rather, precisely how Noah would have dealt with the same situation.

33 2 And Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved her. 3 And he hid himself at night, and he entered the house of Bilhah [at night], and he found her sleeping alone on a bed in her house. 4 And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and behold Reuben was lying with her in the bed, and she uncovered the border of her covering and seized him, and cried out, and discovered that it was Reuben. 5 And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him, and he fled. 6 And she lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to any one. 7 And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said unto him: ‘I am not clean for thee, for I have been defiled as regards thee; for Reuben has defiled me, and has lain with me in the night, and I was asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.’ 8 And Jacob was exceedingly wroth with Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had uncovered his father’s skirt. 9 And Jacob did not approach her again because Reuben had defiled her. And as for any man who uncovers his father’s skirt his deed is wicked exceedingly, for he is abominable before Yahuah. 10 For this reason it is written and ordained on the heavenly tablets that a man should not lie with his father’s wife, and should not uncover his father’s skirt, for this is unclean: they shall surely die together, the man who lies with his father’s wife and the woman also, for they have wrought uncleanness on the earth. 11 And there shall be nothing unclean before our Elohim in the nation which He has chosen for Himself as a possession. 12 And again, it is written a second time: ‘Cursed be he who lieth with the wife of his father, for he hath uncovered his father’s shame’; and all the holy ones of Yahuah said ‘So be it; so be it.’

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Jubilees 33:2-12

You see? Reuben also uncovered his father’s nakedness. His shame. His skirt. It has already been established here at Cosmology that the Law of Yahuah is eternal, and more importantly, that it predated Moshe—even creation. Therefore, you cannot tell me a father’s nakedness does not apply to Ham, nor that the specific law written down for us in Leviticus has been done away with. If so, then you are choosing not to live according to the prayer: “On Earth as it is in heaven.” Jubilees clarifies that adultery is “written and ordained on the heavenly tablets” above, telling us that the Law delivered below on Sinai is practiced in the divine court, whether we agree to that justice system or not. In other words, having sex with your father’s wife is still uncovering his nakedness. And anyways, it says right there in verse 9: “And Jacob did not approach her again because Reuben had defiled her.”

That’s the immediate consequence. Like Noah with Emzara, Jacob no longer enjoyed the company of Bilhah. Still need another example? Fine. After Absalom slept with “his father’s concubines in plain sight of Israel (2 Samuel 16:22),” David put them away as well. He never slept with them again. I would imagine if we’re to live by anyone’s example (save for the Messiah, obviously), then these three men, Noah, Jacob, and David, will do just fine. Forgive me for not waiting while somebody disagrees.

The longer consequence to Reuben’s actions is that he lost the birthright. At a far earlier date, Cain was the first born and yet was never offered the birthright. If you’ve been reading my serpent seed papers, then you already know why. Canaan was cursed with servitude, whereas Ham’s other children (still serpent seed) labored to snatch the kingdoms of the world from Shem and Japheth. Reuben simply lost his birthright to Yahudah. We can see the exact same theme being played out in Isaiah 47.

47 1 Descend and sit in the dust, kingdom of the congregation of Babylon ; sit on the ground, there is no throne of glory, kingdom of the Chaldeans ; for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

2 Receive this calamity and go into servitude; put away the glory of thy kingdom, thy princes are overthrown, the people of thy armies are scattered, they have vanished away like waters of the river.

3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, thy shame shall be seen; I will take full vengeance on thee and I will change thy judgment from the children of men.

4 As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel.

5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O glory of the kingdom of Chaldeans ; thou shalt no more be called, The mighty one of the kingdoms.

6 I was angry with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand : thou hast not had compassion upon them, thou didst make thy dominion over the ancient very cruel.

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Isaiah 47:1-6 [Targum]

Nakedness shall be uncovered. Going into servitude. Polluting the inheritance, and so on. Interesting correlations. And anyhow, Reuben personally attests to the fact that Jacob never had sex with his concubine again in The Testament of Reuben.

We read:

9 And now, my children, love the truth, and it will preserve you: hear ye the words of Reuben your father. 10 Pay no heed to the face of a woman, Nor associate with another man’s wife, Nor meddle with affairs of womankind. 11 For had I not seen Bilhah bathing in a covered place, I had not fallen into this great iniquity. 12 For my mind taking in the thought of the woman’s nakedness, suffered me not to sleep until I had 13 wrought the abominable thing. For while Jacob our father had gone to Isaac his father, when we were in Eder, near to Ephrath in Bethlehem, Bilhah became drunk and was asleep uncovered in her 14 chamber. Having therefore gone in and beheld nakedness, I wrought the impiety without her 15 perceiving it, and leaving her sleeping I departed. And forthwith an angel of Elohim revealed to my father concerning my impiety, and he came and mourned over me, and touched her no more.

The Testament of Reuben 3:9-14

Someone will surely tell me that these texts, Jubilees and Reuben, do not agree with the other, as Jacob is informed in two separate ways. Perhaps so. That is not to say however that an angel could not tell him about it while he was occupied elsewhere, before Bilhah came to consciousness. Bilhah could still very well confess to Reuben’s actions afterwards, once he finally got around to approaching her. You tell me. Scripture is often written from different perspectives, Jubilees belonging to Bilhah and Reuben Jacob.

That still begs the question. How was Noah knowledgeable of the fact that Ham was raping his wife but remained incapable of doing anything about it? Sleep paralysis. Noah knew what was happening in his sleep but remained bound to the bed. The encounter likely involved demons, as they most often do. As a refresher, demons are the disembodied spirits of the ancient giants. Their fleshly vehicles were destroyed during the flood, but the unclean spirits remained to torment and wander. Jubilees 7:27 records that the demons had begun their seduction of humanity all over again, nearly as soon as they stepped foot off the ark. The Writings of Abraham says Noah knew of Ham’s sin while it was happening through a dream. Same difference. Unless another text can prove otherwise. Ham invited unclean spirits into Noah’s tent, and held his father hostage to them while he gazed upon Emzara, un-skirted, and followed through with his desire.

We started out with a reading from the Masoretic Hebrew. Genesis 9:20-27. Now let us revisit with fresh eyes the same passage, as given to us in the Targum. Are you ready? I am. Then let’s dive in to the deep end of the pool. So refreshing, to know the Truth.

20 And Noah began to be a man working in the earth. And he found a vine which the river had brought away from the garden of Eden; and he planted it in a vineyard, and it flourished in a day; and its grapes became ripe, and he pressed them out.

21 And he drank of the wine and was drunken; and he made himself naked in the midst of his tent.

22 And Cham, the father of Kenaan, beheld the nakedness of his father, and showed to his brethren without.:23 And Shem and Japhet took a mantle, and bare it upon the shoulders of each, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned back, and the nakedness of their father they did not behold.

24 And Noach awoke from his wine, and knew, by the relation of a dream, what had been done to him by Cham his son, who was inferior in worth, on the account that he had not begotten a fourth son.

25 And he said, Accursed is Kenaan who is his fourth son, a serving servant shall he be to his brethren.

26 And he said, Blessed be Yahuah, the Elohim of Shem, whose work is righteous; and therefore shall Kenaan be servant unto him.

27 The Lord shall beautify the borders of Japhet, and his sons shall be proselyted and dwell in the schools of Shem, and Kenaan shall be a servant to them.

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Genesis 9:20-27 [Targum]

Up until this point, you have only eaten cake, as I have withheld the icing. But that is also because I chose to save the best for last. But no longer. The Genesis Targum says that Noah had not begotten a fourth son, and yet a fourth child was born. You know the names of his first three sons. Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The other was Canaan.

 

Noel