Genesis 9 · Verse 22

Genesis 9:22

And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
Genesis 9:22, King James Version

Genesis 9:22 in other translations

BSBAnd Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside.
WEBHam, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
ASVAnd Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
YLTAnd Ham, father of Canaan, seeth the nakedness of his father, and declareth to his two brethren without.
DARBYAnd Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren outside.
BBEAnd Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father unclothed, and gave news of it to his two brothers outside.
WebsterAnd Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

What does Genesis 9:22 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, etc. - There is no occasion to enter into any detail here; the sacred text is circumstantial enough. Ham, and very probably his son Canaan, had treated their father on this occasion with contempt or reprehensible levity. Had Noah not been innocent, as my exposition supposes him, God would not have endued him with the spirit of prophecy on this occasion, and testified such marked disapprobation of their conduct. The conduct of Shem and Japheth was such as became pious and affectionate children, who appear to have been in the habit of treating their father with decency, reverence, and obedient respect. On the one the spirit of prophecy (not the incensed father) pronounces a curse: on the others the same spirit (not parental tenderness) pronounces a blessing. These things had been just as they afterwards occurred had Noah never spoken. God had wise and powerful reasons to induce him to sentence the one to perpetual servitude, and to allot to the others prosperity and dominion. Besides, the curse pronounced on Canaan neither fell immediately upon himself nor on his worthless father, but upon the Canaanites; and from the history we have of this people, in Lev 18:6, Lev 18:7, Lev 18:24, Lev 18:29, Lev 18:30, Lev 20:9, Lev 20:22-24, Lev 20:26; and Deu 9:4; Deu 12:31, we may ask, Could the curse of God fall more deservedly on any people than on these? Their profligacy was great, but it was not the effect of the curse; but, being foreseen by the Lord, the curse was the effect of their conduct. But even this curse does not exclude them from the possibility of obtaining salvation; it extends not to the soul and to eternity, but merely to their bodies and to time; though, if they continued to abuse their liberty, resist the Holy Ghost, and refuse to be saved on God's terms, then the wrath of Divine justice must come upon them to the uttermost. How many, even of these, repented, we cannot tell.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 9:18-23

The drunkenness of Noah is recorded in the Bible, with that fairness which is found only in the Scripture, as a case and proof of human weakness and imperfection, even though he may have been surprised into the sin; and to show that the best of men cannot stand upright, unless they depend upon Divine grace, and are upheld thereby. Ham appears to have been a bad man, and probably rejoiced to find his father in an…

Read the full comment on Genesis 9:18-23 →

Genesis 9:22 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיַּ֗רְאvai.Yar'and he sawH7200
חָ֚םchamHamH2526
אֲבִ֣י'a.Vi[the] father ofH1
כְנַ֔עַןkhe.Na.'anCanaanH3667
אֵ֖ת'et<obj.>H853
עֶרְוַ֣ת'er.Vat[the] nakedness ofH6172
אָבִ֑יו'a.Vivfather hisH1
וַיַּגֵּ֥דvai.ya.Gedand he toldH5046
לִשְׁנֵֽי\־lish.nei-to [the] twoH8147
אֶחָ֖יו'e.Chavbrothers hisH251
בַּחֽוּץ\׃ba.Chutzon the outsideH2351

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 9:22

  • Proverbs 30:17

    The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.

  • Galatians 6:1

    Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

  • Matthew 18:15

    Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

  • 1 Corinthians 13:6

    Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

  • Psalms 40:15

    Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.

  • Obadiah 1:12-13

    But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;

  • Genesis 10:15-19

    And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. …

  • Psalms 70:3

    Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.

  • Genesis 10:6

    And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

  • Genesis 9:25

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

  • 1 Chronicles 1:8

    The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

  • Proverbs 25:9

    Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ham.
25; 10:6,15-19; 1Ch 1:8,13-16
told.
2Sa 1:19,20; Ps 35:20,21; 40:15; 70:3; Pr 25:9; 30:17; Ob 1:12,13
Mt 18:15; 1Co 13:6; Ga 6:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 9:21

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

  • Genesis 9:22

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

  • Genesis 9:23

    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.

Read all of Genesis 9

Genesis 9:22 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y Châm, padre de Canaán, vió la desnudez de su padre, y díjolo á sus dos hermanos á la parte de afuera.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Cham, père de Canaan, vit la nudité de son père, et le rapporta à ses deux frères, dehors.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Ham, der Vater Kanaans, sah die Blöße seines Vaters und berichtete es seinen beiden Brüdern draußen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quod cum vidisset Cham, pater Chanaan, verenda scilicet patris sui esse nudata, nuntiavit duobus fratribus suis foras.