Midrash su Ezechiele 31:11

(Gen. 9:25:) AND HE SAID: CURSED BE CANAAN. Ham looked; is Canaan cursed?⁸³Gen. R. 36:7. R. Judah said: The curse does not coexist with a blessing. < Ham could not be cursed > because it is stated (in Gen. 9:1): THEN GOD BLESSED [NOAH AND HIS CHILDREN. R. Nehemiah said:] Canaan had looked and told his father; so the curse had returned to its source. For that reason it is stated (in Gen. 9:25): CURSED BE CANAAN. Our masters have said: When Noah was in the ark, he said: Oh, that my children had slaves so that, while they were seated, those < slaves > would go forth before them. When, however, I go out from the ark, whomever I beget I shall make into slaves for them. He said to him (Ham): You did not allow me to beget a fourth son who would be a slave for his brothers.⁸⁴See Sanh. 70a, according to which Rav maintained that Ham had castrated his father. By your life, I am making your fourth son a slave. Thus it stated (in Gen. 9:25): AND HE SAID: CURSED BE CANAAN; [A SLAVE OF SLAVES SHALL HE BE TO HIS BROTHERS]. Resh Laqish said: Behold, those from Ham are slaves forever, but the children of Shem go forth into the world free. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 15:12, 17): IF THERE IS SOLD TO YOU < A FELLOW HEBREW, MAN OR WOMAN … IN THE SEVENTH YEAR YOU SHALL SET HIM FREE >…. THEN YOU SHALL TAKE AN AWL < AND PUT IT THROUGH HIS EAR INTO THE DOOR >. What is written there (in vs. 17)? AND HE SHALL BE YOUR SLAVE FOREVER. Here, however, is a slave of slaves, < i.e., > a slave who does not take his freedom and never goes away. What caused this curse for him? < It came about > because he had treated his father with contempt. So also the Holy One is going to exact punishment from the children of Ham and humiliate them at the hands of the king of Assyria, as stated (in Is. 20:4): SO SHALL THE KING OF ASSYRIA DRIVE OFF < THE CAPTIVES OF EGYPT AND THE EXILES OF NUBIA > … [NAKED AND BAREFOOT]. What is the meaning of NAKED AND BAREFOOT? That he would humiliate them and parade them naked. Now, in regard to Japheth, who honored his father, how does the Holy One repay him? When Gog (Japheth's descendant) comes, the Holy One will overshadow him and cover him over, as stated (in Ezek. 39:11): AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY THAT I WILL GIVE UNTO GOG A BURIAL PLACE THERE IN ISRAEL. And how did he reward Shem? When the sons of Aaron came in to offer sacrifice, their bodies (according to Lev. 10:2) were burned but their clothes were not burned.⁸⁵Cf. Shab. 113b; Sanh. 52a, according to which their bodies were not burned. Why? Because they were children of Shem. That is how it is with the righteous. But where is it shown about the wicked? When Sennacherib went up to Jerusalem, and all his soldiers with him, their bodies were burned and their clothes were not burned. Why? Because they were children of Shem, as stated (in Gen. 10:22): THE SONS OF SHEM ARE ELAM, ASSHUR, ARPACHSHAD, LUD, AND ARAM.