Bar’chu
et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed! Baruch ata YHVH
Eloheinu
melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu eht Torah-to.
Baruch
atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH
the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are
you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among
all the peoples, and have given us your Torah. Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of
the Torah. Ameyn.)
Isa 49:5 And now said יהוה – who formed Me from the womb to be His
Servant, to bring Ya‛aqoḇ back to Him, though Yisra’ěl is not gathered to Him,
yet I am esteemed in the eyes of יהוה, and My Elohim has been My strength –
Isa 49:6 and He says, “Shall it be a small matter
for You to be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Ya‛aqoḇ, and to bring back
the preserved ones of Yisra’ěl? And I shall give You as a light to the nations,
to be My deliverance to the ends of the earth!”
Isa 49:7 Thus said יהוה, the Redeemer of Yisra’ěl, their Set-apart
One, to the despised , to the loathed One of the nation, to the Servant of
rulers, “Sovereigns shall see and arise, rulers also shall bow themselves,
because of יהוה who is steadfast, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ěl. And He has
chosen You!”
The Restoration of Yisrael
Isa 49:8 Thus said יהוה, “In a favourable time I shall answer You,
and in the day of deliverance I shall help You – and I guard You and give You
for a covenant of the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit
the ruined inheritances,
Gen 9:18 And the
sons of Noaḥ who went out of the ark were Shĕm and Ḥam and Yepheth. And Ḥam
was the father of Kenaʽan.
Gen 9:19 These
three were the sons of Noaḥ, and all the earth was overspread from them.
Our parashah begins with the three sons of Noach – Shem Cham and Yepeth who will father nations and repopulate the earth. Mention is
made of only one of their sons – Kenaan - in the opening verses because he will
be the subject of great shame and generational curses.
The name “Kenaan” S3667 comes from a Hebrew word which means
“humiliation”(S3665)
See generational chart - Sons of Shem: Part VII Charts for
P212A-212F (No. 212G)
The sons of Shem are Elam and Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
We know for
certain that the Elamites became the Persians, the sons of Asshur became the
Assyrians, the sons of Arphaxad became the Hebrews, and Aram became the Syrians
and the source of the name of the Aramaic language. They also later went north
into Armenia.
From Shem came
the Messianic line through Arphaxad.
Rom 3:1
What then is the advantage of the Yehuḏite, or what is the value of the
circumcision?
Rom 3:2 Much in
every way! Because firstly indeed, that they were entrusted with the Words of
Elohim.1 Footnote: 1See 2:20.
Rom 3:3 For what
if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief nullify the trustworthiness of
Elohim?
Rom 3:4 Let it not
be! But let Elohim be true, and every man a liar, as it has been written, “That
You should be declared right in Your words, and prevail in Your judging.”
Rom 9:1 I
speak the truth in Messiah, I do not lie, my conscience also bearing me witness
in the Set-apart Spirit,
Rom 9:2 that I
have great sadness and continual grief in my heart.
Rom 9:3 For I
myself could have wished to be banished from Messiah for the sake of my
brothers, my relatives according to the flesh,
Rom 9:4 who are Yisra’ĕlites, whose is the adoption,
and the esteem, and the covenants, and the giving of the Torah, and the worship,
and the promises,
Rom 9:5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the
Messiah according to the flesh, who is over all, Elohim-blessed forever. Amĕn.
Rom 9:6 However,
it is not as though the word of Elohim has failed. For they are not all
Yisra’ĕl who are of Yisra’ĕl,
Rom 9:7 neither
are they all children because they are the seed of Aḇraham, but, “In Yitsḥaq
your seed shall be called.”
Rom 9:8 That is,
those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of Elohim,
but the children of the promise are reckoned as the seed.
1Pe 1:23 having been
born again – not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible – through the living
Word of Elohim, which remains forever,
The most puzzling question of our time as believers is that
how come if we are born again of an incorruptible seed – the Word of Elohim –
there remains corruption and the ‘’yetzer ha ra’’ within the waiting bride of
Messiah? We believe this will not always be the case, there will be a
restoration of all things at the time Messiah returns – Acts 3:21
We see this
corruption begin immediately after Noach and his family leave the ark.
Gen 9:20 And
Noaḥ, a man of the soil, began and planted a vineyard.
Gen 9:21 And he
drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.
כא וַיֵּשְׁתְּ מִן-הַיַּיִן, וַיִּשְׁכָּר;
וַיִּתְגַּל, בְּתוֹךְ אָהֳלֹה.
“Now the first incestuous act on the list is described in Leviticus 18:7: “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.” In other words, a man’s mother has a nakedness that is his father’s nakedness, that is, a nakedness that belongs to his father alone. He (the son) is not to “uncover her nakedness,” i.e., have sexual intercourse with her, because her sexuality, her nakedness, is to be reserved only for his father. This sheds an entirely fresh light on Genesis 9:22, for it reveals that Cham’s sin is not that he leered at Noach but that he had sex with Noach’s wife, his own mother, while Noach was passed out on the couch. He “saw the nakedness of his father,” that is, the nakedness that properly belonged only to Noach.
Shem and Japheth backed into the room so they themselves would not be tempted to commit the same sin, and laid a blanket over the exposed body of their mother. This also explains an otherwise odd thing. In Genesis 9:22 Cham is identified not just as Cham but as “Cham, the father of Canaan.” This is incongruous, unless of course, Canaan is the son who was born of this incestuous union between Cham and his mother and became the father of the Canaanite people. This explains why the curse of Genesis 9:25 fell, not upon Cham, as one might expect, but upon Canaan. Noach does not say, “Cursed be Cham,” but “Cursed be Canaan.” (Now Cham certainly experienced the effect of this curse himself, as his legacy would forever be tainted.)
In the larger narrative of the Pentateuch, this story is included to lay the foundation for YHVH’s decision to use Yisrael as a means of judgment on the Canaanites. They were a people conceived in incest, a people who began their history under the curse of sexual depravity, and were a people characterized by sexual perversity for their entire history, as events in Sodom and Gomorrah illustrate. In time, the unrepentant sexual deviancy of Canaan caused them to forfeit their moral right to exercise sovereignty over their native land and they were destroyed. The land “vomited them out” (Lev. 18:25), as if their depravity had made their homeland physically sick. In time, when the “iniquity of the Amorites...(was) complete” (Genesis 15:16), YHVH’s patience was exhausted and Canaan was judged by the armies of Yisrael.
It is suggestive that the consonantal form הלהא appears to have the feminine possessive suffix (see Cohen, Drunkenness,8, and Gen. Rab. 36:7; although the MT points the word according to the qĕrêʾ ולהא , “his tent”). Cohen, Kikawada and Quinn (Before Abraham Was, 102), and the rabbinic sages suggest it is the tent of Noach’s wife. The feminine form הלהא also occurs, for example, in Gen 24:67, where Isaac (Yitschak) brings Rebekahm (Rivkah) into the tent of his mother to consummate their marriage.
- "Uncover Nakedness" is used in Leviticus to describe heterosexual incest
- the "nakedness of the father" is identified with the "nakedness of your mother" (Lev 18:7-8)
- If this is about Cham's incestuous sex with his mother, the emphasis on Canaan (Kana'an in Hebrew) comes clear. Canaan would have been the product of the incestuous union. That is why Canaan is cursed, and why the text consistently identifies Cham as the "father of Canaan." It is suggested that the narrative has been compressed, and that the curse was actually pronounced at Canaan's birth rather that immediately after the incest.
- This view highlights better the connection of Genesis 9 with Genesis 6, 19, Leviticus 18, 20 and Dueteronomy 23:1, 27:30, and the maternal incest of Reuben. It shows that the chief enemies of Yisrael - Canaan, Moab and Ammon - are all of questionable heritage.
- It preserves the idea that has been brought forth that this was an attempted seizure of Noach's authority, quoting a 1971 article from FW Basset: "A son who has sexual relations with his mother or step-mother commits a rebellious act against his father, since the possession of a man's wife is seen also as an effort to supplant the man himself." Note the connection with Absalom, Reuben, David's taking of Saul's wives, and Adonijah's attempt to have Abishag.
- It was noted by Bergsma & Hahn that "the tent" in v.21 "appears to have the feminine possessive suffix" though "the MT points the word according to the qere," i.e., as "his tent". "Thus, one might read the text as saying that Noah entered "her tent," the tent of Mrs Noah – end quote.
See also 1Cor 5; 2Cor 2:7-6; Gal 6:1 Brothers, if a man is overtaken in some
trespass, you the spiritual ones, set such a one straight in a spirit of
meekness, looking at yourself lest you be tried too. Gal 6:2 Bear
one another’s burdens, and so complete the Torah of Messiah.
Gen 9:22 And Ḥam,
the father of Kenaʽan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two
brothers outside.
Gen 9:23 So Shĕm
and Yepheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward
and covered the nakedness of their father, but their faces were turned away,
and they did not see their father’s nakedness. (They not only saw “ra ah” what Cham had done they “perceived” (also ra
ah) what he had done – S7200)
Gen 9:24 And Noaḥ
awoke from his wine, and he knew what his younger son had done to him,
Gen 9:25 and he
said, “Cursed is Kenaʽan, let him become a servant of servants to his
brothers.”
Gen 9:26 And he
said, “Blessed be יהוה, the
Elohim of Shĕm, and let Kenaʽan become his servant.
Gen
9:27 “Let Elohim enlarge Yepheth, and
let him dwell in the tents of Shĕm. And let Kenaʽan become his servant.”
Vs 27 is an
often overlooked prophecy in the Torah. The implication is that although there
may be three groups of believers in YHVH and His Messiah – there is only one
“tent” or one place where YHVH chooses to meet with those who call on His Name
– Shem’s tent. (Ez 23)
Gen
9:28 And Noaḥ lived after the flood
three hundred and fifty years.
Gen
9:29 So all the days of Noaḥ were nine
hundred and fifty years, and he died.
Gen 10:1
And this is the genealogy of the sons of Noaḥ: Shĕm, Ḥam, and Yepheth.
And sons were born to them after the flood.
Gen 10:2 The sons
of Yepheth: Gomer, and Maḡoḡ, and Maḏai, and Yawan, and Tuḇal, and Mesheḵ,
and Tiras.
Gen 10:3 And the
sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Toḡarmah.
Gen 10:4 And the
sons of Yawan: Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Doḏanim.
Gen 10:5 From
these the coastland peoples of the nations were separated into their lands,
everyone according to his language, according to their clans, into their
nations.
Gen 10:6 And the
sons of Ḥam: Kush, and Mitsrayim, and Put, and Kenaʽan.
Gen 10:7 And the
sons of Kush: Seḇa, and Ḥawilah, and Saḇtah, and Raʽmah, and Saḇteḵa. And
the sons of Raʽmah: Sheḇa and Deḏan.
Gen 10:8 And Kush
brought forth Nimroḏ, he began to be a mighty one on the earth.
Gen 10:9 He was a
mighty hunter before יהוה,
therefore it is said, “Like Nimroḏ the mighty hunter before יהוה.”
Gen
10:10 And the beginning of his reign was
Baḇel, and Ereḵ, and Akkaḏ, and Kalnĕh, in the land of Shinʽar.
Gen
10:11 From that land he went to Ashshur
and built Ninewĕh, and Reḥoḇoth Ir, and Kelaḥ,
Gen
10:12 and Resen between Ninewĕh and
Kelaḥ, the great city.
Gen
10:13 And Mitsrayim brought forth
Luḏim, and Anamim, and Lehaḇim, and Naphtuḥim,
Gen
10:14 and Pathrusim, and Kasluḥim, from
whom came the Philistines and Kaphtorim.
Gen
10:15 And Kenaʽan brought forth Tsiḏon
his first-born, and Ḥĕth,
Gen
10:16 and the Yeḇusite, and the
Amorite, and the Girgashite,
Gen
10:17 and the Ḥiwwite, and the Arqite,
and the Sinite,
Gen
10:18 and the Arwaḏite, and the
Tsemarite, and the Ḥamathite. And afterward the clans of the Kenaʽanites were
spread abroad.
Gen
10:19 And the border of the Kenaʽanites
was from Tsiḏon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Azzah, as you go toward
Seḏom, and Amorah, and Aḏmah, and Tseḇoyim, as far as Lasha.
Gen
10:20 These were the sons of Ḥam,
according to their clans, according to their languages, in their lands, in
their nations.
Gen
10:21 And also to Shĕm, the father of
all the children of Ěḇer, the brother of Yepheth the elder, children
were born.
Gen
10:22 The sons of Shĕm: Ěylam, and
Asshur, and Arpaḵshaḏ, and Luḏ, and Aram.
Gen
10:23 And the sons of Aram: Uts, and
Ḥul, and Gether, and Mash.
Gen
10:24 And Arpaḵshaḏ brought forth
Shelaḥ, and Shelaḥ brought forth Ěḇer.
Gen
10:25 And to Ěḇer were born two sons,
the name of one was Peleḡ, for in his days the earth was divided, and his
brother’s name was Yoqtan.
Gen
10:26 And Yoqtan brought forth
Almoḏaḏ, and Sheleph, and Ḥatsarmaweth, and Yeraḥ,
Gen
10:27 and Haḏoram, and Uzal, and
Diqlah,
Gen
10:28 and Oḇal, and Aḇima’ĕl, and
Sheḇa,
Gen
10:29 and Ophir, and Ḥawilah, and
Yoḇaḇ. All these were sons of Yoqtan.
Gen 10:30 And their dwelling place was from Mĕysha as
you go toward Sephar, a mountain of the east.
Gen
10:31 These were the sons of Shĕm,
according to their clans, according to their languages, in their lands,
according to their nations.
Gen
10:32 These were the clans of the sons
of Noaḥ, according to their generations, in their nations. And from these the
nations were divided on the earth after the flood.
Bar’chu
et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed! Baruch ata YHVH
Eloheinu
melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu eht Torah-to.
Baruch
atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH,
the blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of
the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given
us your Torah. Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
