What does Genesis 9:25 Mean?

Study Notes

Cursed
See note subdiv. 5-7, .

and said unto them

The Noahic Covenant. The elements are:

(1) The relation of man to the earth under the Adamic Covenant is confirmed (See Scofield " Genesis 8:21 ")

(2) The order of nature is confirmed ( Genesis 8:22 )

(3) Human government is established ( Genesis 9:1-6 )

(4) Earth is secured against another universal judgment by water Genesis 8:21 ; Genesis 9:11

(5) A prophetic declaration is made that from Ham will descend an inferior and servile posterity Genesis 9:24 ; Genesis 9:25 .

(6) A prophetic declaration is made that Shem will have a peculiar relation to Jehovah Genesis 9:26 ; Genesis 9:27 . All divine revelation is through Semitic men, and Christ, after the flesh, descends from Shem.

(7) A prophetic declaration is made that from Japheth will descend the "enlarged" races Genesis 9:27 . Government, science, and art, speaking broadly, are and have been Japhetic, so that history is the indisputable record of the exact fulfilment of these declarations. (See Scofield " Genesis 8:21 ") for the other seven covenants:

EDENIC Genesis 1:28 ADAMIC Genesis 3:15 ABRAHAMIC Genesis 15:18 MOSAIC Exodus 19:25 PALESTINIAN Deuteronomy 30:3 DAVIDIC 2 Samuel 7:16 NEW Hebrews 8:8

Context Summary

Noah's sin reminds us how weak are the best of men; liable to fall, even after the most marvelous deliverances. The love of strong drink will drag a preacher of righteousness into the dust. But if our brethren sin, let us not parade or tell their faults, but cover them with the mantle of divine love. We may abhor the sin, but let us restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, remembering that we also may be tempted. See Galatians 6:1-18 :l-4. The Semitic races have been the source of religious light and teaching to the world. God has been known in their tents. The Japhetic races are the great colonizers and populators of the world, overflowing their own boundaries, and participating in the religious privileges of the Shemites. The progressive ideas of the race of Japheth, which, of course, includes the Indo-European race, have also pervaded the world. The Hamitic races, of which Canaan was one, have always gravitated downward. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 9

¹  God blesses Noah and his sons, and grants them flesh for food
⁴  Blood and murder are forbidden
⁸  God's covenant, of which the rainbow was constituted a pledge
¹⁸  Noah's family replenishes the world
²⁰  Noah plants a vineyard,
²¹  Is drunken, and mocked by his son;
²⁵  Curses Canaan;
²⁶  Blesses Shem;
²⁷  Prays for Japheth, and dies