Commentary - Genesis 9:20-27

Bird's-eye view

This brief and troubling account of Noah's drunkenness is a pivotal moment in redemptive history, setting the stage for the division of mankind and the outworking of God's covenantal purposes. Immediately after the glorious rainbow covenant, we are confronted with the stark reality that the flood washed away sinful men, but it did not wash away sin itself. Sin remains resident in the heart of man, even in the heart of a righteous man like Noah. The incident reveals a profound failure in Noah, a grievous sin in his son Ham, and a commendable piety in Shem and Japheth. The result is a prophetic utterance from Noah, functioning as the federal head of the new world, that outlines the future course of his descendants. This is not a petty, drunken curse; it is a divinely inspired prophecy that establishes the lines of conflict and blessing that will run throughout the rest of Scripture, culminating in the gospel. The curse falls upon Canaan, Ham's son, marking his descendants for servitude, while the blessing rests upon Shem, through whom the covenant line will continue, and extends to Japheth, who will be brought into Shem's spiritual blessings.

At its core, this passage is about honor and dishonor, blessing and cursing, and the establishment of a covenantal order in the post-flood world. It demonstrates that the fundamental problem of mankind is a heart problem, and it sets up the great biblical antithesis between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, now playing out through the sons of Noah. It is a story that reminds us of the frailty of the best of men and the absolute necessity of a better covenant head, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would one day bear the ultimate curse and nakedness on our behalf.

Outline

Context In Genesis

This episode occurs immediately after the Noahic Covenant (Gen 9:1-17), where God blesses Noah and his sons, gives them dominion over the new earth, and sets the rainbow as a sign of His promise never again to destroy the world by water. The contrast is jarring. We move from a scene of cosmic, covenantal grandeur to a scene of domestic shame and failure. This is a pattern we see throughout Genesis: a covenant is established, and it is immediately followed by a fall or failure. Adam's fall followed the creation covenant. Here, Noah's fall follows the re-creation covenant. This serves to underscore the persistent problem of human sin and the inability of man to keep his side of any arrangement with God. This incident also sets the stage for the Table of Nations in Genesis 10, which traces the descendants of Noah's three sons, and the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, where the rebellious spirit of Ham, through his descendants, reaches its architectural climax. The prophecy Noah gives here is a roadmap for understanding the subsequent history of Israel (descended from Shem) and their conflicts with the Canaanites (descended from Ham).

Key Issues

The Second Fall

In many ways, this story is a tragic replay of the fall in Genesis 3. Noah is a new Adam, the head of a renewed human race. Like Adam, he is a man of the soil, a tiller of the ground. He plants a vineyard, and its fruit becomes the occasion for his fall. He partakes of the fruit, and it leads to shame and nakedness. This nakedness is then observed, leading to a curse. The parallels are deliberate and instructive. The message is that a new world is not enough. A fresh start is not enough. Even a righteous patriarch is not enough to solve the problem of sin. The problem is deeper; it is in the heart. The flood cleansed the world of sinners, but it could not cleanse the human heart of sin. This second fall demonstrates, right at the dawn of the new world, that humanity is in desperate need of a better Adam, a true and final covenant head who would not fail. Noah's failure points forward to our need for Christ.

Verse by Verse Commentary

20 Then Noah began to be a man of the land and planted a vineyard.

Noah, the man who built the ark, now returns to the fundamental human task given to Adam: cultivating the earth. He is a "man of the land," or a husbandman. This is a noble and good calling. He plants a vineyard, which in Scripture is often a symbol of blessing, joy, and God's covenant people. Wine itself is a gift from God, given to gladden the heart of man (Ps 104:15). There is nothing inherently sinful in planting a vineyard or making wine. The problem is not with the created thing, but with the disordered desires of the human heart.

21 And he drank of the wine and became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent.

Here is the fall. The gift of wine is abused. Noah, the preacher of righteousness, drinks to the point of drunkenness. Drunkenness is a sin not because drinking is a sin, but because it is a deliberate surrender of self-control, a key fruit of the Spirit. It is a form of temporary insanity. In this state of stupor, he "uncovered himself." His nakedness, a symbol of shame and vulnerability since the first fall, is exposed. This happens "inside his tent," a private space, but a space that would soon be violated. This is a sad and undignified state for the great patriarch of the new world, a stark reminder that even the most righteous men can fall, and fall hard.

22 Then Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.

The sin of Ham is more than just an accidental glance. The text says he "saw" his father's nakedness. This implies a deliberate, voyeuristic, and disrespectful gaze. He did not avert his eyes in shame; he looked, and he lingered. His sin is compounded by what he does next. He goes out and "told his two brothers." This was not a sober report seeking help or counsel. This was gossip. This was mockery. He is publicizing his father's shame, delighting in it, and likely encouraging his brothers to join in his contempt. It is an act of profound dishonor, a violation of the fifth commandment in principle before it was ever written on stone. The text pointedly identifies Ham as "the father of Canaan," a crucial detail that anticipates the curse to come.

23 But Shem and Japheth took the garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned backward, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.

The response of Shem and Japheth is the polar opposite of Ham's. Their actions are a beautiful illustration of what it means to love and honor. They do not join in the mockery. Instead, they take deliberate, careful action to cover their father's shame. Notice the details: they take a garment, lay it on both their shoulders so they can work together, and they walk in backward. They refuse to participate in Ham's sin even accidentally. They refuse to look. This is not about prudishness; it is about piety. They understand that love covers a multitude of sins. They honor their father even in his moment of failure, and in so doing, they honor God.

24 Then Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his youngest son had done to him.

When Noah sobers up, he becomes aware of what happened. The text says he "knew what his youngest son had done." While Ham is listed second in the genealogies, he may have been the youngest. More likely, "youngest" here carries a sense of contempt, referring to his immature and wicked character. How did Noah know? Perhaps Shem and Japheth told him, or perhaps it was a matter of prophetic insight given by God's Spirit. Either way, he understands the spiritual significance of the actions that transpired.

25 So he said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.”

This is the central point of the passage. Noah, speaking as a prophet and patriarch, pronounces a curse. But the curse does not fall on Ham directly, but on his son, Canaan. Why? First, this is an example of federal headship. The consequences of a father's sin are visited upon his children. Ham, by his action, has set a trajectory for his lineage, and that trajectory is embodied in Canaan. Second, it is likely that Canaan was already exhibiting the same wicked character as his father, perhaps even participating in the mockery. Third, and most importantly, this is a prophetic curse aimed at a specific line of descendants who would become the inveterate enemies of God's covenant people. The Canaanites would later fill up the measure of their sin with idolatry and sexual depravity, and God would command Israel, the descendants of Shem, to dispossess them from the Promised Land. The curse is to be a "servant of servants," the lowest possible status, subject to his brothers.

26 And he said, “Blessed be Yahweh, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.

The blessing on Shem is striking. Noah does not bless Shem directly; he blesses Yahweh, the God of Shem. This is a profound theological statement. Shem's greatest blessing is his relationship with the one true God. This identifies the covenant line. It is through Shem that the knowledge of Yahweh will be preserved. It is from Shem that Abraham, Israel, and ultimately the Messiah will come. The blessing is God Himself. And as a corollary to this blessing, the curse on Canaan is reiterated: "let Canaan be his servant." The wicked will serve the purposes of the righteous, and the enemies of God will ultimately be subjugated by the people of God.

27 May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.”

Japheth also receives a blessing for his piety. The name "Japheth" sounds like the Hebrew word for "enlarge," and Noah makes a play on words. Japheth will be enlarged, meaning his descendants will be numerous and spread across the earth, which Genesis 10 confirms. But his greatest blessing is that he will "dwell in the tents of Shem." This is not a prophecy of conquest, but of inclusion. The Japhethites (the Gentiles) will find their ultimate spiritual home by being brought into the covenant blessings of Shem. This is a remarkable, proto-gospel promise. The salvation that is "of the Jews" would one day extend to the Gentiles, who would be grafted into the olive tree of God's covenant people through faith in the great Son of Shem, Jesus Christ. And once more, for emphasis, the curse is repeated: "And let Canaan be his servant." The new world order is established: Shem is the line of the covenant, Japheth is brought into that covenant, and Canaan is set in opposition to it.

Application

First, this passage is a potent warning against the abuse of God's good gifts. Wine is a gift, but drunkenness is a sin. Food is a gift, but gluttony is a sin. Sex is a gift, but lust is a sin. We are called to be self-controlled, sober-minded people who use the world without being enslaved by it. Noah's failure should be a caution to us all. If a man who walked with God so faithfully could fall so disgracefully, then we must not be high-minded, but fear.

Second, we must learn the difference between the spirit of Ham and the spirit of Shem and Japheth. The world, the flesh, and the devil delight in uncovering and mocking the sins of others. This is the spirit of gossip, slander, and cynicism. It is the spirit of the accuser. Christians, in contrast, are called to be restorers. We are to cover the shame of our brothers and sisters, not expose it. When a fellow believer falls, our first instinct must be to walk backward with a cloak of love, seeking their restoration, not to run outside with a camera phone, seeking their humiliation.

Finally, this passage shows us the gospel in miniature. We see the failure of the first Adam, and the failure of the "new Adam" in Noah. We see the division of humanity into a line of curse and a line of blessing. All of this points our eyes forward. We, like Noah, have sinned and been shamefully exposed. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Son of Shem, the true Son of God, refused to look on our shame with contempt. Instead, He walked backward from heaven to earth, and on the cross, He was stripped naked Himself. He bore our shame, He took our curse, so that we, whether Jew or Gentile, Shem or Japheth, could be covered in His righteousness and brought to dwell forever in the blessed tents of His Father's house.