Reading the Bible for Myself: Wait... What Happened to Canaan?

I'm not super religious, not even really sure what I believe in, to be completely honest.

I have family who are Baptist, Catholic, and Jehovah's Witnesses. So, naturally, as a child, I wanted to actually read the Bible because I was curious about what it actually said, and not just bits and pieces.

I could not make it past the 2nd or 3rd day of the world's creation in Genesis—or Genesis 1:5—before I would fall asleep or get bored.

But I'm really picky about which version I read.

The only copy I had on hand was the one from the Kingdom Hall. I wanted a copy of the Bible in English that was as close to the original Bible as I could possibly get.

My research on which one was the closest version led me to the NRSVUE - New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition 2021. I wanted a free copy because I don't have a physical copy of that version, which led me to an app called the YouVersion Bible app.

I started reading, and I was able to actually stay awake this time, and I am currently on Genesis 14:1.

During my reading, I found some verses that I liked. For example:

Genesis 1:14-18

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

I really liked this part because of the way it describes the lights in the sky, the separation of day and night, and the stars. I really like the stars and the constellations and astronomy, so to see them written in the Bible made my heart happy. There are certain passages that, even without knowing exactly what I believe, I can appreciate simply because I find them interesting or beautiful.

And then there were some that really puzzled me.

Genesis 9:20-26

20Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent. 22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said,

“Cursed be Canaan;

lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

“Blessed by the LORD my God be Shem,

and let Canaan be his slave.

My Thoughts

I truly do not understand this. Canaan was the son of Ham and wasn't even mentioned until after Noah and his family disembarked from the ark. Based on the sequence of events and the information given in the NRSVUE, Canaan appears to have been very young—possibly an infant or toddler.

I estimated Canaan's age because the NRSVUE says that the flood started when Noah was 600 years old, and Canaan wasn't mentioned when everyone was boarding the Ark.

Genesis 7:6-9

6Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. 7And Noah with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8Of clean animals and of animals that are not clean and of birds and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.

Canaan was first mentioned when Noah and his family got off of the Ark.

Genesis 8:13-16

13 In the six hundred first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked and saw that the face of the ground was drying. 14In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. 15Then God said to Noah, 16“Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.

Genesis 9:18

18 The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

Based on the above passages, I estimated that Canaan was somewhere between a day old and 2 years old.

Canaan also wasn't even part of Noah's sons covering him up with a blanket. He had nothing to do with it. How could Noah curse a baby to be a slave over something he had nothing to do with? Makes no sense to me.

It clearly said that Ham saw his father, Noah, asleep and naked. Ham then told his brothers, and his brothers covered their father with a blanket.

So, why did Noah curse Canaan to be a slave because Ham told his brothers that Noah was asleep naked? Or because Shem and Japheth covered their father up and Ham didn't? Or was there something else going on that I'm completely missing?

I genuinely don't know.

To me, the act of covering Noah with a blanket is an act of kindness and caring.

So I am very confused by this and do not understand why Noah would do that.

And that's one of the reasons I wanted to read the Bible for myself in the first place.

I've heard explanations of Bible stories my entire life, but there's a big difference between hearing someone summarize a story and actually sitting down and reading the words yourself.

Noah and The Ark

Growing up, I often heard the story of Noah and the ark, and I always considered Noah to be a kind, nurturing father who cared about his family and those around him.

So, actually reading the story in the Bible and reading what happened after...I don't know. It just rubbed me the wrong way. Canaan had nothing to do with what happened in the first place.

So why is this baby being punished?

It really made me think of Noah differently. And not in a good way.

I would very much appreciate it if someone could explain this to me, because I truly do not understand this.

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.