Genesis 9:25

9:25 So he said,

“Cursed ¹  be Canaan! ² 

The lowest of slaves ³ 

he will be to his brothers.”

Genesis 47:25

47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, ⁴  and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ⁵ 

Genesis 44:16

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ⁶  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ⁷  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ⁸  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

Genesis 47:19

47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become ⁹  Pharaoh’s slaves. ¹⁰  Give us seed that we may live ¹¹  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ¹² 

[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.

[47:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “we find favor in the eyes of my lord.” Some interpret this as a request, “may we find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

[47:25]  ⁵ sn Slaves. See the note on this word in v. 21.

[44:16]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.

[44:16]  ⁸ tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”

[44:16]  ⁹ sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.

[47:19]  ¹⁰ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates consequence.

[47:19]  ¹¹ sn Pharaoh’s slaves. The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If the people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh’s responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine.

[47:19]  ¹² tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav here indicates purpose or result.

[47:19]  ¹³ tn The disjunctive clause structure (vav [ו] + subject + negated verb) highlights the statement and brings their argument to a conclusion.