06/03/2026
During this season of Ordinary Time, Monday through Saturday we meet the people in the Bible. On Sundays we will look at a few of the important places the action occurred.
Today: Ham
Genesis 9
We believe that Ham was the youngest of Noah’s sons and that Ham and his family were on the ark with Noah. Ham had several sons including Canaan, Cush, Mizraim, and Phut.
After the flood receded, Noah and his family settled, and Noah built a vineyard. The vineyard flourished and Noah made wine with its grapes, drank far too much wine, and fell asleep where he could be seen naked.
Ham saw his father naked and did nothing to protect his father‘s dignity. When Noah wakes and learns that his son Ham had left him in his public nakedness, Noah curses, Ham, by cursing Ham’s, son, Canaan. Canaan must now live in servitude to his uncles.
It is an odd little story. Clearly, it explained something that was important to ancient Israel. But its meaning has been largely lost to us. There has been much conjecture over the centuries about what the curse of Ham is, and why the curse of Ham, pronounced by Noah ,was so severe. We simply don’t know all that happened.
What we do know is that In the 1600s and forward for centuries, people have interpreted Noah’s curse of Ham as justification for the enslavement of African and African-American people
The notion that Black/African people are descended from Ham is untrue. The Bible tells us absolutely nothing about Black/African people being descended from Ham. Noah’s curse upon Ham’s son does not mention race, ethnicity, or justify slavery as an institution.
This careful selection of scripture, often called “cherry picking,” is often used to justify particular actions. This interpretation, that the curse of Ham justifies the enslavement of Africans in America, does illustrate the horrific damage that can be done by isolating scripture from its context and assigning questionable meaning.
It raises the question, how do we interpret scripture, as a people, and as individuals?
Have you seen scripture used to harm individuals or groups of people? Do you see the interpretation of the curse of him differently today?
How do we decide if our own or other people’s interpretation of scripture is appropriate?
