Psalm 78:51

Psalm 78:51

The curse on Ham

After the flood had passed, Noah set about planting a vineyard to provide for this growing population Genesis 9:20. However, he ended up drunk and naked inside his tent Genesis 9:21. Ham saw his father in this dishonourable state, but rather than help his father, he compounded the shame by telling his two older brothers Genesis 9:22. Some scholars speculate that Ham actually castrated or raped Noah while he was in the tent, but that is not evidenced in the text of the Bible. Shem and Japheth quickly spread a cloak between the two of them, walked into Noah's tent backwards with their faces turned away, and covered their father's nakedness with the cloak Genesis 9:23. These older brothers covered their father's shame and restored his honour. When Noah awoke, he realised what each of his sons had done and he pronounced a curse over Ham’s son, Canaan, and blessings over Shem and Japheth. The curse was that Ham's descendants be "a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers". It is important to note that this curse was uttered by Noah and not pronounced by God Himself, who had pronounced curses in the garden of Eden after Adam and Eve's sin. Servitude and slavery have long been a part of human existence with Shem's descendants (Israelites) enslaved by Ham's descendants (Egyptians) but with God, of course, having the final say in this “ancestral” quarrel. “He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.”

As we all know, the enmity between Ham (the Arabs) and the Shemites (the Jews), continues to this day.

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