Ham Facts for 9-13 Year Olds

Categories: Noah

• Scholars do not agree what Ham’s name means.
• Some relate it to a Hebrew word meaning “burnt,” “black, or “hot.”
• Others relate it to an Egyptian word meaning either “servant” or “majesty.”
• Scholars believe Ham is the youngest of Noah’s three sons.
• No one knows exactly when he is born, just that he’s the youngest.
• Ham has four sons: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
• The Hamitic people have a bad reputation. They are considered to be godless and worldly.
• Genesis 9:20-27 describes an incident involving Ham.
• After the flood Noah plants a vineyard.
• Noah also drinks of the wine and gets drunk.
• At some point he is “uncovered” in his tent.
• Ham sees the “nakedness” of his father.
• He tells his two older brothers about it.
• They take a garment, walk in backwards, and cover their father.
• When Noah wakes up, he knows what has happened with Ham.
• He says, “Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”
• He also blesses Shem and says that Canaan “shall be his servant.”
• He blesses Japheth, who will dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan “shall be his servant.”
• It is noteworthy that Noah does not curse Ham, only his son, Canaan.
• God has already blessed Noah’s sons in an earlier passage (See Genesis 9:1). Noah cannot curse that which God has already blessed.
• But scholars have attempted in various ways to explain why Canaan is cursed because the punishment appears to exceed the crime, especially since it is his father who does the wrongdoing.
• It is possible that the “crime” is that Ham enters the tent without reservations, does not honor his father by assisting him in any way, and probably tells everyone about it.
• The bottom line is that he dishonors his father.
• Yet, in the genealogy that follows in chapter 10, nothing is said to discredit Ham or his descendants.
• God commands Noah and his sons to “be fruitful and multiply, and to fill the earth,” which they do.
• According to the Book of Jubilees, Ham leaves his father’s house after the curse and sets up a city on the south side of the mountain.
• His allotment of land includes everything west of the Nile and south of Gadir.
• When it is time to leave, Canaan remains behind, settling in the territory of Shem. He is cursed a second time because he defies his father’s wishes.
• It explains why God promised his land to Abraham.
• It is believed that Ham is buried in a tomb in the area of Pakistan.
• According to a plaque on the tomb, he is revered as a prophet who lived for 536 years.