Bereshis 9:21

21 And he drank of the yayin, and became shikker (intoxicated); and he lay uncovered inside his ohel.

Bereshis 9:21 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 9:21

And he drank of the wine, and was drunken
Either not being acquainted with the strength of it, as is thought by many; or having been used to weaker liquor, as water; or through the infirmity of his age; however, he was overtaken with it, and which is recorded, not to disgrace him, but to caution men against the evil of intemperance, as well as to encourage repenting sinners to expect pardon: and this shows that the best of men are not exempted from sin, nor secure from falling; and that though Noah was a perfect man, yet not as to be without sin; and that whereas he was a righteous man, he was not so by the righteousness of works, but by the righteousness of faith:

and he was uncovered within his tent;
being in liquor when he laid down, he was either negligent of his long and loose garments, such as the eastern people wore without breeches, and did not take care to wrap them about him; or in his sleep, through the heat of the weather, or of the wine, or both, threw them off.

Bereshis 9:21 In-Context

19 Shloshah (Three) are the bnei Noach; and of them was the kol ha’aretz populated.

20 And Noach began to be an ish ha’adamah (a man of the soil), and he planted a kerem (vineyard);

21 And he drank of the yayin, and became shikker (intoxicated); and he lay uncovered inside his ohel.

22 And Cham, the av of Kena’an, saw the erom (nakedness) of his av, and told his two achim on the outside.

23 And Shem and Yephet took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward, and covered the erom of their av; and their faces were turned the other way, and they saw not the erom of their av.