Genesis 9:18

Noah's Descendants

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were ¹Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)

Genesis 9:18 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 9:18

And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were
Shem, and Ham, and Japheth
These were born before the flood, and went into the ark with Noah, and came out with him; see ( Genesis 5:32 ) ( 6:10 ) and Ham [is the] father of Canaan;
this is observed for the sake of the following history, concerning the behaviour of the one to Noah, and of the curse of the other by him, which would not have been so well understood if this remark had not been made: the father and the son, as they were, related in nature, they were much alike in manners and behaviour. Cush, the firstborn of Ham, is not mentioned, but Canaan, his youngest son, because he was cursed, as Aben Ezra observes; and who remarks that the paragraph is written to show that the Canaanites were accursed, the father of whom this Canaan was; and who is the same Sanchoniatho ^F25 calls Cna, and says he was the first that was called a Phoenician.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Apud. Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 1. p. 39.

Genesis 9:18 In-Context

16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

17 God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)

19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 5:32; Genesis 10:1