Genesis 9:20-23 “20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.” (NKJV)What was the ‘nakedness of Noah’ and what was Ham’s sin?
On an initial reading Genesis 9:20-23 is a very simple narrative. Ham discovered his father ‘exposed’ in his tent. There have been many attempts to find some deeper or extra meaning in the text. In his commentary on Genesis, John Walton cites many of the differing theories about just what the “nakedness of Noah’ was. Walton writes; “The results have been incredible, insofar as Ham has been accused of incest with his mother, homosexual activity with his father, or even the castration of his father.”[1] While ‘nakedness’ is used as a metaphor for sexual acts elsewhere in the bible, Shem and Japheth’s act of walking backwards to cover their father leads me to believe that it was Noah lying exposed and unconscious. Walton also points out that since in Leviticus 18, the nakedness of the wife, is the nakedness of the husband; “is it possible that both Noah and his wife became drunk and falling into unconsciousness after intercourse, lie exposed in the tent?”[2] I believe that the nakedness of Noah was just that, he and his wife or Noah by himself was lying in their tent naked and exposed.
Which leads us to the second part of the question; what was Ham’s sin? Gordon Talbot thinks; “The discovery of Noah’s nakedness was not the offense, but Ham’s disrespect for his father.”[3] Ham discovered his father and ran and told his brothers, we are not told what this motivation was but it was almost certainly not respectful or edifying to his father. The disrespect is even greater if both Noah and his wife were exposed. Ham’s behavior and actions were what was reprehensible not his discovery.
I personally try not to read too much into the narratives in the Bible. God has given us all the information we need and the Holy Spirit to interpret it. When we try too hard to find secret or hidden meanings we often look like fools and can destroy the meaning that is there.
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