Cursed Canaan

Introduction

Welcome to Torah Today Ministries and our continuing series The Hebrew Key, where we look at things that appear in the Hebrew and often don’t reveal themselves in the English language and the English translations. However, this episode of The Hebrew Key is something you actually can follow along in your English translation. But I thought this teaching was important enough to do and wasn’t quite sure which series to put it into, so I’m just including it here in The Hebrew Key series. So you’re not going to be learning much about Hebrew, but I think you’ll find the lesson to be a blessing. I hope it is, nevertheless.

In a recent Torah (תּוֹרָה) portion, we were looking at Torah (תּוֹרָה) portion Noach (נֹחַ), which has the story of Noah and the Flood and the Ark, but also has the story of the Tower of Babel and all the confusion that came from that. And in between the two stories, we have this episode where one of Noah’s sons — Ham (חָם), as you may know him, whose name means “heat” — and he operated off the heat of the flesh, it appears. He did something that isn’t spelled out for us in the Torah (תּוֹרָה), and maybe — I’m sure that must be for the best. But he did something that was pretty despicable. Whatever it was, it was despicable. And there’s a curse that comes because of what he did.

Genesis 9:18–25 – Noah’s Sons and the Curse

Let’s take a look. When you read in the Torah (תּוֹרָה), you find that Noah had three sons: Shem (שֵׁם), Ham (חָם), and Japheth (יֶפֶת). Shem (שֵׁם) was the father of the Semitic peoples, including the Jewish people. Japheth (יֶפֶת) — we think he was mostly the Eastern European people, but that’s speculation. And then there’s Ham (חָם), who settled there in the Middle East, North Africa, and so on.

And Ham (חָם) had four sons: Cush (כּוּשׁ), Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם) — which means Egypt — Put (פּוּט), and Canaan (כְּנָעַן). So Noah had a son named Ham (חָם). Ham’s youngest son was Canaan (כְּנָעַן).

So when we were reading this recently, for some reason I just started wondering about Canaan (כְּנָעַן) — who he was and why did Noah curse him? You’d think if Ham (חָם) was the one who did this despicable act, that Noah would curse him. Why did he curse his own grandson Canaan (כְּנָעַן) instead?

And so I just started following along the verses in Scripture that mentioned Canaan (כְּנָעַן) by name. So I invite you to follow this trail of breadcrumbs, and I think you’ll be blessed as you do, because there’s an amazing story that opens up for us here that might tie a lot of things together for you.

So the first place we find Canaan (כְּנָעַן) mentioned is in Genesis 9:18:

The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem (שֵׁם), Ham (חָם), and Japheth (יֶפֶת). Ham (חָם) was the father of Canaan (כְּנָעַן). — Genesis 9:18

Why do we need to know that? Why doesn’t it tell us one of the sons of Shem (שֵׁם) or one of the sons of Japheth (יֶפֶת)? Why is it singling out this fourth son of Ham (חָם)? It’s almost like the Bible, the Torah (תּוֹרָה), is holding up a flag saying, “Stop. Take a look at this. I want to draw your attention to something important.” So that’s what we’re doing in this study — we’re going to follow this trail.

So that’s the first mention of Canaan (כְּנָעַן). The second occurrence is just a few verses later:

And Ham (חָם), the father of Canaan (כְּנָעַן), saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.— Genesis 9:22

Again — why does it single out that he was the father of Canaan (כְּנָעַן)? What does that have to do with the story? Canaan’s not involved in the story. But nevertheless, Ham (חָם) is designated as the father of Canaan (כְּנָעַן).

So when Noah wakes up from his wine and realizes what this thing was that Ham (חָם) did — whatever it was — he says:

“Cursed be Canaan (כְּנָעַן). A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” — Genesis 9:25

Now why didn’t he say “cursed be Ham (חָם)”? Ham (חָם) is the one who did this thing. But instead, he curses Ham’s son. I’m not sure why Canaan (כְּנָעַן) was cursed, but it’s almost as if Noah decided: “Ham (חָם), since you mistreated your father in such a horrible way, my curse is that you have a son that treats you the same way.” So the curse was put on his son, and that he would be a slave to his brothers, and that he would be demoted among all of Noah’s descendants.

Now, some people carry this so far to say — oh, Canaan, he’s the father of — back in the Civil War, this was the case — Ham (חָם) was the father of the black African tribes, and this is why slavery’s okay. Well, that’s really not right. Canaan (כְּנָעַן) was not the father of any black African tribes. That is utter nonsense to tie those two together.

Genesis 10:6, 15–20 – The Descendants of Canaan (כְּנָעַן)

But let’s keep following this trail of Canaan (כְּנָעַן). So in the next chapter, in Genesis chapter 10, it gives us the sons of Ham (חָם):

The sons of Ham (חָם): Cush (כּוּשׁ), Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם), Put (פּוּט), and Canaan (כְּנָעַן). — Genesis 10:6

Which we saw earlier. And now we get the descendants of Canaan (כְּנָעַן) himself, in Genesis 10, verses 15 to 20:

Canaan (כְּנָעַן) fathered Sidon (צִידוֹן), his firstborn, and Heth (חֵת) — who is the father of the Hittites — and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, and so on… And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon (צִידוֹן) in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and so on and so forth. — Genesis 10:15–19

And all of this is basically to point out a couple of things. First of all, the Canaanite nations lived in the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן). And what is the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן)? Present-day Israel.

Now let this sink in for a moment. Out of all the human beings on earth, the most cursed is Canaan (כְּנָעַן) and his descendants. So Canaan (כְּנָעַן) and his descendants moved into this land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and that’s where they settled. It’s called the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן) — or we could say, the land of the most cursed human being on the planet.

And when you read about the Canaanite nations, you see these names listed. Now, there’s one name missing, and that’s the Perizzites. And whether the Perizzites descended from one of these groups that are mentioned, I don’t know. But we know that the Perizzites settled in the area of Shechem (שְׁכֶם). And when Abram (אַבְרָם) later traveled from Ur of the Chaldeans and crossed the Jordan, his first stopping point was in Shechem (שְׁכֶם), and that’s where he built an altar. So he was in the area of the Perizzites.

Genesis 11:31; 12:5–6 – God Leads Abram to Canaan (כְּנָעַן)

Now let’s take this all a bit further. So we understand now who the Canaanites are — they’re the descendants of Canaan (כְּנָעַן), the grandson of Noah, the one whom Noah cursed because of some despicable — probably sexual — sin that his son Ham (חָם) committed.

In Genesis 11:31, it says:

Terah (תֶּרַח) took Abram (אַבְרָם) his son, and Lot the son of Haran his grandson, and Sarai (שָׂרַי) his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן), but when they came to Haran (חָרָן), they settled there. — Genesis 11:31

Let’s think for a moment. God calls Abram (אַבְרָם), and he says, “I want you to leave your land, leave your family, leave everything that’s familiar, and come into a land that I’m going to show you.” And Abram (אַבְרָם) would have known this story of Noah and Ham (חָם) and Canaan (כְּנָעַן). He would have known about the curse that Noah placed on Canaan (כְּנָעַן). He would have known who the Canaanites were — the descendants of this cursed people. And yet God’s calling him to follow him. And then, when he decides to follow him — “Okay, Lord, where are we going?” — “Well, we’re going to Canaan (כְּנָעַן). The place that is the home of the most cursed people on the planet.” Hmm.

And then we go to the next chapter, Genesis 12, verses 5 and 6:

And Abram (אַבְרָם) took Sarai (שָׂרַי) his wife and Lot his brother’s son and all the possessions that they had gathered and the people that they had acquired in Haran (חָרָן), and they set out to go to the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן). When they came to the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן), Abram (אַבְרָם) passed through the land to the place at Shechem (שְׁכֶם), to the Oak of Moreh. At the time, the Canaanites were in the land. — Genesis 12:5–6

Three times in these two verses, Canaan (כְּנָעַן) is mentioned. It’s once again as if the scripture is trying to drive home a point. Abraham followed God. God led him to the most cursed place on the earth — Canaan (כְּנָעַן). You’d think God would lead him to a blessed place. He says, “I’m going to bless you. I’m going to bless those who bless you. You’re going to be a blessing.” Let’s go — let’s go to the most cursed place on earth. Something to take in and think about.

It also gives us a look at just how much faith Abram (אַבְרָם) truly had.

Genesis 17:8 – An Everlasting Possession

Now we go on down a few more chapters to Genesis 17, verse 8. Now, this is after God establishes a blood covenant with Abram (אַבְרָם). Now you have to understand something about blood covenants. Blood covenants were always formed between two men who considered themselves equals. But in Genesis 15, God establishes a blood covenant with Abraham — a mere human being — which speaks very highly of God’s humility and just how much he revered Abraham, to make a blood covenant with him.

And part of that covenant was to give him land. And so two chapters later, in chapter 17, verse 8, God says:

“And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן), for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” — Genesis 17:8

So — “I’m going to give you a land that right now is inhabited by the most cursed people in the world. But I’m going to take their land and give it to you.”

Genesis 28:1 – Do Not Marry Canaanite Women

Now, Abram (אַבְרָם) lives out his life in Canaan (כְּנָעַן). His son Isaac comes along and he lives out his life in Canaan (כְּנָעַן). And then Isaac has two sons — Jacob (יַעֲקֹב) and Esau (עֵשָׂו). And Esau — he intermarries with Canaanite women. And this very, very much displeased Isaac and his wife Rebecca. And you can understand why now — why this was so displeasing to them.

But when it comes to Jacob (יַעֲקֹב), it says:

Then Isaac called Jacob (יַעֲקֹב) and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women.” — Genesis 28:1

Why? This is a cursed people. Don’t intermarry with them. And so he sends him back to his hometown, back over on the east side of the Jordan, and that’s where he meets his uncle Laban (לָבָן). And you know the whole story.

Psalm 78:54–55 – His Holy Land

Now we go a bit further. As you go through the whole story of the Jewish people — in the Torah (תּוֹרָה), and then Joshua, and then the prophets — and then in Psalm 78 — Psalm 78 is like a review of Jewish history — you come to verses 54 and 55. And look what it says:

And he brought them — the Jewish people — to his holy land. — Psalm 78:54

This is incredible. The land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן). The land of the Canaanites. The most cursed people — I know, I’ve said that a million times already — the most cursed people in the world. The land they lived on is what God called his holy land. His set-apart land.

The Pattern: Faith, the Cursed Place, and Holy Ground

You know, as I look at these passages and I think of this story, something rings familiar about it. And maybe it does to you too — in your own life, or at least in the history of God’s redeemed people.

And that is that we follow God in faith. He makes promises to us, but he doesn’t give us details. We follow him in faith because he’s called us, and we trust him, we believe in him, we love him. And so we’re going to follow him. And he often leads us to a place that we would not choose — because all we can see is the downside. Like the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן) — the problem with it is it’s filled with Canaanites, people who have been cursed, who are cursed.

But then what did God do? They were lights to these people. They lived in their midst. And they lived successfully in their midst. Look at Abraham and Isaac and Jacob — they lived in the midst of the Canaanites, and they flourished. They thrived. Because as long as you’re in the center of God’s will, it doesn’t make any difference whether you’re in the middle of the Canaanites or not. If you’re in the middle of his will, you’re in the best place you could possibly be, regardless of the people around you.

The Sword of the Spirit

And then, after Israel goes into Egypt, spends quite a long time there, and then under Moses they come out of Egypt, then under Joshua they go back into the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן). They go in as conquerors, and God instructs them to wipe out the Canaanites.

Now, if you follow God, he’s not going to say, “Okay, take up your sword and start killing all your neighbors and the people around you who are immoral.” What he is going to do — he’s going to tell you to take up your sword, the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and deal death to the enemies in your own soul. The squatters who are there in your soul — a soul that is now his holy soul. And we have to be merciless against the enemies of our souls — those things in us, those drives and inclinations, those sins that would want to gain a stronghold over us. And we must put them to death by God’s word of truth. We must do it without mercy. Because this is now God’s holy land.

So I’m going to leave it right there with you. We followed a trail of breadcrumbs, just taking the appearances of the word Canaan (כְּנָעַן) and “Canaanites.” And to me, it makes kind of an amazing picture — it’s an amazing journey that’s outlined for us as we connect these dots.

So I’m going to leave it with you — I don’t want to do all your thinking for you. I always like to leave it with you so you have something to think about and ponder. And don’t hesitate to drop an email with an insight to share or a question.

So I hope that as we looked at cursed Canaan (כְּנָעַן), you’ll find in the middle of this a blessing for yourself. So until next time, I wish you shalom (שָׁלוֹם) and may God bless.

 

Teaching Material

Hebrew Word Studies

• Canaan / K’na’an (כְּנָעַן) — The grandson of Noah through Ham (חָם), and the most cursed man in Scripture. His descendants — the Canaanite nations — settled in the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, which God later called “his holy land” (Psalm 78:54) and gave to Abraham as an everlasting possession. The trail of his name through Scripture reveals God’s pattern: leading his people by faith into cursed places and transforming them into holy ground. — Strong’s H3667
• Ham / Cham (חָם) — “Heat”; Noah’s son who “operated off the heat of the flesh.” He committed a despicable act against his father, yet the curse fell not on him but on his youngest son Canaan (כְּנָעַן) — possibly so that Ham (חָם) would experience a son who treated him as he had treated his own father. — Strong’s H2526
• Shem (שֵׁם) — “Name”; Noah’s son and father of the Semitic peoples, including the Jewish people. Through Shem’s line came Abraham, and ultimately the promise that the cursed land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן) would become holy ground. — Strong’s H8035
• Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם) — “Egypt”; one of Ham’s four sons, whose name became the Hebrew word for Egypt. Canaan’s brother — both sons of Ham (חָם), yet their descendants occupied different lands and different roles in God’s redemptive story. — Strong’s H4714
• Shechem (שְׁכֶם) — “Shoulder”; the first place Abram (אַבְרָם) stopped in Canaan (כְּנָעַן), in the territory of the Perizzites. There he built an altar — consecrating cursed ground with worship. — Strong’s H7927
• Abram / Avram (אַבְרָם) — “Exalted father”; the man whose faith was great enough to follow God into the most cursed land on earth. He knew the story of Noah and Ham (חָם) and Canaan (כְּנָעַן), yet obeyed when God said, “We’re going to Canaan (כְּנָעַן).” — Strong’s H87
• Noach (נֹחַ) — “Rest, comfort”; the Torah (תּוֹרָה) portion bearing his name contains both the Flood narrative and the curse on Canaan (כְּנָעַן). The man of “rest” pronounced a curse that would unfold across all of Scripture. — Strong’s H5146 · Sefaria: Parashat Noach
• Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) — “Peace, wholeness, completeness.” — Strong’s H7965

Scripture References

Open All Scripture in Bible Gateway

• Genesis 9:18–27 — Noah’s sons after the Flood; Ham’s (חָם) despicable act; “Cursed be Canaan (כְּנָעַן), a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers” — the first three mentions of Canaan (כְּנָעַן), each flagging his significance
• Genesis 10:6 — The four sons of Ham (חָם): Cush (כּוּשׁ), Mitzrayim (מִצְרַיִם), Put (פּוּט), and Canaan (כְּנָעַן)
• Genesis 10:15–20 — The descendants of Canaan (כְּנָעַן): the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites — the Canaanite nations who settled in present-day Israel
• Genesis 11:31 — Terah (תֶּרַח) takes Abram (אַבְרָם) “to go into the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן)” — God’s destination for his chosen man is the most cursed land on earth
• Genesis 12:5–6 — Three mentions of Canaan (כְּנָעַן) in two verses: Abram arrives at Shechem (שְׁכֶם) and builds an altar — “at the time, the Canaanites were in the land”
• Genesis 15:18 — God’s blood covenant with Abram (אַבְרָם), promising the land — a covenant between equals, speaking to God’s humility
• Genesis 17:8 — “I will give to you… all the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן), for an everlasting possession” — the cursed land becomes the promised land
• Genesis 28:1 — Isaac directs Jacob (יַעֲקֹב): “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women” — don’t intermarry with the cursed people
• Psalm 78:54–55 — “He brought them to his holy land” — the stunning conclusion: the land of the most cursed people is God’s holy, set-apart land
• Ephesians 6:17 — “The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” — the weapon for driving out the Canaanites of our souls

External References & Further Study

• Psalm 78— Sefaria — The psalm that calls the land of cursed Canaan (כְּנָעַן) God’s “holy land”
• The Abrahamic Covenant — Hebrew4Christians — God’s blood covenant with Abraham and the promise of the land of Canaan (כְּנָעַן) as an everlasting possession
• Torah Today Ministries — Home of The Hebrew Key and other Torah-centered teachings