Genesis 9:23

23 at vero Sem et Iafeth pallium inposuerunt umeris suis et incedentes retrorsum operuerunt verecunda patris sui faciesque eorum aversae erant et patris virilia non viderunt

Genesis 9:23 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 9:23

And Shem and Japheth took a garment
Who were the two brothers Ham told what he had seen, and who, no doubt, reproved him for his ill behaviour, and then took a garment, a coat of their own, very probably, some large garment fit for the purpose;

and laid it upon both their shoulders;
one part of it on the right shoulder of the one, and the other on the left shoulder of the other:

and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father;
going backward when they came into the tent, and to the place where their father lay, they threw the garment off from their shoulders over him, and so covered him:

and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's
nakedness:
which they purposely shunned, for which reason they went backwards, and their faces were backwards to their father; which showed their modesty, and their filial piety and duty, and thus by their actions reproved Ham, as well as doubtless they did by words.

Genesis 9:23 In-Context

21 bibensque vinum inebriatus est et nudatus in tabernaculo suo

22 quod cum vidisset Ham pater Chanaan verenda scilicet patris sui esse nuda nuntiavit duobus fratribus suis foras

23 at vero Sem et Iafeth pallium inposuerunt umeris suis et incedentes retrorsum operuerunt verecunda patris sui faciesque eorum aversae erant et patris virilia non viderunt

24 evigilans autem Noe ex vino cum didicisset quae fecerat ei filius suus minor

25 ait maledictus Chanaan servus servorum erit fratribus suis