Curse of Canaan
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The Curse of Canaan, is found in the Biblical Old Testament at: Genesis 9:20–27. In the story, Canaan is cursed by his grandfather Noah, due to an act committed by his father Ham (a son of Noah).
The story states that while drunken with wine, Noah fell asleep "uncovered", and that his son Ham "saw his father's nakedness". Ham subsequently told his two brothers (Shem and Japeth), who "went backward" and covered Noah with a cloak. When Noah awoke he knew what his son Ham had done to him.
Noah pronounced a curse, not on Ham, but on Ham's son Canaan. In the curse, Canaan was condemned to be a "servant of servants" to his brethren.
The account also contains Noah's granting of a blessing upon his sons Shem and Japeth. Noah proclaims: "...Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant". God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
Ham's transgression: And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. (Genesis 9:22) Genesis 9:24-27
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son [Ham] 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.
(--Authorized King James Version)
This curse has been used to justify slavery.[1][2]
[edit] References
- ^ Benjamin Braude, "The Sons of Noah and the Construction of Ethnic and Geographical Identities in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods," William and Mary Quarterly LIV (January 1997): 103–142.
- ^ William McKee Evans, "From the Land of Canaan to the Land of Guinea: The Strange Odyssey of the Sons of Ham,"American Historical Review 85 (February 1980): 15–43
