Komentaryo sa Genesis 9:24: Rashi, Chizkuni, Kli Yakar & Radak

בנו הקטן HIS YOUNGER SON — The unworthy and despicable one, as (Jeremiah 49:15) “For, behold, I make thee small (קטן) among the nations, and despised among men" (Genesis Rabbah 36:7).

אשר עשה לו בנו הקטן , “what his youngest son had done for him;” a reference to the kind deed done by Shem and his brother Yephet. This is why he gave Shem a greater blessing than the one he gave to Yephet his older brother. [a totally different interpretation from the commonly accepted one, including Rashi. Ed.]

And he knew what his youngest son had done to him. It is not written in the passage who told Noah what his son had done to him, and whether Noah saw this through prophecy. It seems to me [to be explained] according to what our Sages said (Sanhedrin 108b) that three [beings] engaged in relations in the ark: the raven, the dog, and Ham, etc. According to this, when Noah arose from his sleep, he contemplated within himself who could have done this thing to him. Surely it was one of his sons who was suspect of sexual impropriety who did this to him — who violated him. Through this contemplation, he remembered what had happened and knew what his youngest son had done to him in the ark, for he had defiled it through forbidden relations at a prohibited time. Noah said, “He who did this [in the ark] also did this [now],” and therefore cursed him. As for why he cursed Canaan his son and not Ham himself, there are multiple opinions on this. Some say that Canaan saw and told his father Ham. Others say that since the Holy One, blessed be He, had blessed Noah and his sons, it would not have been proper to curse one of his sons after God had already blessed them. And some say that Canaan engaged in sexual impropriety, and his father learned from his son to act like Canaan.