And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said, “Canaan is cursed. He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.”
- BSB he said, “Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
- NKJV Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.”
- NASB So he said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.”
- NLT Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: “May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Noah pronounced a curse on Canaan, that he would be the lowest of servants to his brothers. Ham's dishonor bears consequences in his descendants.
Overview
Noah's words fall on Canaan, Ham's son, foreshadowing the later subjugation of the Canaanite peoples by Israel. The curse concerns the historical destiny of nations, not any racial group, and must never be twisted to justify mistreatment. It anticipates the just judgment that comes upon the wicked and the deliverance God provides through the line of blessing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 27:16Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- Josh 9:23Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.
- Judg 1:28–30And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.
- Josh 9:27And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.
- John 8:34Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
- 1 Kgs 9:20–21And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel,
- 2 Chr 8:7–8As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,
- Gen 9:22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
- Deut 28:18Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
- Gen 49:7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
- Matt 25:41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
- Gen 4:11And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
- Gen 3:14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 9:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.