창세기 9:25 해설: Rashi, Chizkuni, Da'at Zekenim & Sforno

ארור כנען CURSED BE CANAAN — You have brought it about that I cannot beget a fourth son to serve me; cursed, therefore, be your fourth son (see Chap. 10:6) to serve under the descendants of these elder ones upon whom the duty of serving me will devolve from now on. Why did Ham maltreat him in this manner? He said to his brothers, “Adam Harishon had two sons and one killed the other in order that he might possess the whole world(Genesis Rabbah 36:7): our father already has three sons, and he wishes to have yet another “.

ויאמר ארור כנען, He said: “cursed be Canaan, etc.” Concerning Canaan, the prophet Yoel said (Yoel, 4,8) “and they will sell them to the people of Sh’va, to a far distant nation.” The slaves will in turn sell the Canaanites to an even more degrading status.

ויאמר (נח) ארור כנען, “Noach said: “Canaan be cursed and become a lowly slave to his brothers" Our sages in B’reshit Rabbah 36,7 state that already when Noach entered the ark, he had been upset that he did not have a young son who could perform for him many chores that it had now become his task to perform personally. He therefore had resolved that when he would sire more children after leaving the ark, he would train some as his servants. Upon hearing him say something of that nature, his grandson Canaan went ahead and castrated him to prevent him from having more children. Noach therefore decided to treat Canaan as if he had been his fourth son and decreed that he should become a servant to his brothers. If you were to ask why he cursed Canaan more than anyone of Cham’s other children, a question which is justified according to the opinion that it had been Canaan who had castrated him, [Canaan could not have been even one year old when Noach left the ark, so that Noach must have failed to impregnate with wife until he had grown up, Ed.] how do we answer the problem according to the opinion that it was his son Cham, and not his grandson who had castrated him? A sage by the name of Rabbi Aaron, found a Midrash that Cham had discovered his father in a state of nudity, and told his brothers about it in a derogatory manner, and he had been overheard by Canaan, who had decided to castrate his grandfather. This is the meaning of the puzzling words: את אשר עשה לו בנו הקטן, “what his son the minor had done to him” (9,24) Grandchildren are often referred to in the Torah as if they were children, not grandchildren. Actually, the line could not have referred to Cham, as he was not Noach’s youngest son, as the Torah lists him as his middle son. (10,1) The Torah, in referring to Canaan as Noach’s youngest son, meant his grandson. [At that time he only had one grandson, so that he did not have to be named. Ed.] We find proof that grandsons may be called younger sons in Ovadiah: 1,2: הנה קטון נתתיך בגוים, “here I will make you the least among the nations;”Furthermore, according to Pirkey de rabbi Eliezer, chapter 23, the line in Malachi 1,6: בן יכבד אב ועבד אדוניו, “a son is expected to honour his father, and a servant his master,” is interpreted as follows: when a son honours his father, all is well; if not, he will wind up as a servant to his master. [not found in my edition of the Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer. Ed.] An alternate interpretation. The reason why Noach chose as punishment that the person who witnessed his disgrace become a slave was that seeing he was the one who saw his state of nudity first, it was his duty to do what any servant would to, i.e. to cover his nudity. Seeing that he had neglected to perform the duty of a servant, he was now condemned to remain a servant all the time. This is also why he used the expression עבד עבדים, “a servant of servants,” instead of simply עבד “servant.” Both Cham and his son Canaan were condemned to be servants to Cham’s brothers.