Genesis 9:25-26

9:25 So he said,

“Cursed ¹  be Canaan! ² 

The lowest of slaves ³ 

he will be to his brothers.”

9:26 He also said,

“Worthy of praise is ⁴  the Lord, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem! ⁵ 

Leviticus 27:28-29

Things Permanently Dedicated to the Lord

27:28 “‘Surely anything which a man permanently dedicates to the Lord ⁶  from all that belongs to him, whether from people, animals, or his landed property, must be neither sold nor redeemed; anything permanently dedicated is most holy to the Lord. 27:29 Any human being who is permanently dedicated ⁷  must not be ransomed; such a person must be put to death.

[9:25]  ¹ sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.

[9:25]  ² sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).

[9:25]  ³ tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.

[9:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “blessed be.”

[9:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “Surely, any permanently dedicated [thing] which a man shall permanently dedicate to the Lord.” The Hebrew term חֵרֶם (kherem) refers to things that are devoted permanently to the Lord (see the note on v. 21 above).

[27:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “permanently dedicated from among men.”