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Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Noach 4

These verses, Bereshis 9:5–29, finish the story of Noach. It covers Hashem's fifth promise after the flood and the laws of murder that come with it, the command to have children, the rainbow as the sign of the covenant, Noach's vineyard and drunkenness, Chom's sin, the curse of Canaan, the blessings of Shem and Yefes, and Noach's death in Avraham's lifetime. One theme keeps coming back: how much a human life is worth. That theme runs through the laws of murder, suicide and danger, and through the command to fill the world again. The second theme is measure for measure, which shapes the fate of Noach's three sons.

The pesukim

Bereshis 9:5–6

וְאַ֨ךְ אֶת־דִּמְכֶ֤ם לְנַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶם֙ אֶדְרֹ֔שׁ מִיַּ֥ד כׇּל־חַיָּ֖ה אֶדְרְשֶׁ֑נּוּ וּמִיַּ֣ד הָֽאָדָ֗ם מִיַּד֙ אִ֣ישׁ אָחִ֔יו אֶדְרֹ֖שׁ אֶת־נֶ֥פֶשׁ הָֽאָדָֽם׃

"Only of the blood of your own lives will I demand an account. I will demand [such] an account from the hand of every wild beast. From the hand of man-[even] from the hand of a man's own brother-! will demand an account of [every] human life.

שֹׁפֵךְ֙ דַּ֣ם הָֽאָדָ֔ם בָּֽאָדָ֖ם דָּמ֣וֹ יִשָּׁפֵ֑ךְ כִּ֚י בְּצֶ֣לֶם אֱלֹהִ֔ים עָשָׂ֖ה אֶת־הָאָדָֽם׃

He who spills human blood shall have his own blood spilled by man, for God made man with His own image.

Hashem says He will demand an account for human blood from every wild beast, from man, and even from a man's own brother. Whoever spills human blood will have his own blood spilled, because man was made in God's image. This is the fifth promise to Noach. Before the flood, neither man nor animal had done anything for the other, so neither could rule over the other. Now that people had kept the animals alive through the year in the ark, the animals owed them something, and people were allowed to eat them. But it does not work the other way: Hashem commands the animals never to harm a human, and any animal that does will be punished.
Bereshis 9:7

וְאַתֶּ֖ם פְּר֣וּ וּרְב֑וּ שִׁרְצ֥וּ בָאָ֖רֶץ וּרְבוּ־בָֽהּ׃

"Now be fruitful and multiply, swarm all over the earth and become populous on it."

Hashem tells them to be fruitful and multiply, to swarm over the earth and fill it. The survivors came out to a ruined, empty world. They had lost every friend and relative and were afraid of what lay ahead, so they decided it was too dangerous to bring children into it. Hashem tells them to have children, and the blessing would grow from there. Once they were busy with children they would start to forget the past, and those children would be better people than the ones lost in the flood.
Bereshis 9:8–17

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־נֹ֔חַ וְאֶל־בָּנָ֥יו אִתּ֖וֹ לֵאמֹֽר׃

God said to Noah and his sons with him,

וַאֲנִ֕י הִנְנִ֥י מֵקִ֛ים אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י אִתְּכֶ֑ם וְאֶֽת־זַרְעֲכֶ֖ם אַֽחֲרֵיכֶֽם׃

"I Myself am making a covenant with you and with your offspring after you.

וְאֵ֨ת כׇּל־נֶ֤פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֔ם בָּע֧וֹף בַּבְּהֵמָ֛ה וּֽבְכׇל־חַיַּ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ אִתְּכֶ֑ם מִכֹּל֙ יֹצְאֵ֣י הַתֵּבָ֔ה לְכֹ֖ל חַיַּ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

[It will also include] every living creature that is with you among the birds, the livestock, and all the beasts of the earth with you—all who left the ark, including every animal on earth.

וַהֲקִמֹתִ֤י אֶת־בְּרִיתִי֙ אִתְּכֶ֔ם וְלֹֽא־יִכָּרֵ֧ת כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֛ר ע֖וֹד מִמֵּ֣י הַמַּבּ֑וּל וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֥ה ע֛וֹד מַבּ֖וּל לְשַׁחֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

I will make My covenant with you, and all life will never be cut short by the waters of a flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth."

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים זֹ֤את אֽוֹת־הַבְּרִית֙ אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֣י נֹתֵ֗ן בֵּינִי֙ וּבֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם וּבֵ֛ין כׇּל־נֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֑ם לְדֹרֹ֖ת עוֹלָֽם׃

God said, "This is the sign that I am providing for the covenant between Me, you, and every living creature that is with you, for everlasting generations:

אֶת־קַשְׁתִּ֕י נָתַ֖תִּי בֶּֽעָנָ֑ן וְהָֽיְתָה֙ לְא֣וֹת בְּרִ֔ית בֵּינִ֖י וּבֵ֥ין הָאָֽרֶץ׃

I have placed My rainbow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

וְהָיָ֕ה בְּעַֽנְנִ֥י עָנָ֖ן עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְנִרְאֲתָ֥ה הַקֶּ֖שֶׁת בֶּעָנָֽן׃

When I bring clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen among the clouds.

וְזָכַרְתִּ֣י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֗י אֲשֶׁ֤ר בֵּינִי֙ וּבֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם וּבֵ֛ין כׇּל־נֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּ֖ה בְּכׇל־בָּשָׂ֑ר וְלֹֽא־יִֽהְיֶ֨ה ע֤וֹד הַמַּ֙יִם֙ לְמַבּ֔וּל לְשַׁחֵ֖ת כׇּל־בָּשָֽׂר׃

I will then recall the covenant that exists between Me, you and every living soul in all flesh.

וְהָיְתָ֥ה הַקֶּ֖שֶׁת בֶּֽעָנָ֑ן וּרְאִיתִ֗יהָ לִזְכֹּר֙ בְּרִ֣ית עוֹלָ֔ם בֵּ֣ין אֱלֹהִ֔ים וּבֵין֙ כׇּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֔ה בְּכׇל־בָּשָׂ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

The rainbow will be in the clouds, and I will see it to recall the eternal covenant between God and every living soul in all flesh that is on the earth."

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־נֹ֑חַ זֹ֤את אֽוֹת־הַבְּרִית֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֲקִמֹ֔תִי בֵּינִ֕י וּבֵ֥ין כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have made between Me and all flesh on the earth."

Hashem speaks to Noach and his sons and makes a covenant with them, with their children and with every living creature: there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth, and the rainbow in the clouds is the sign. Hashem had already sworn not to bring another flood, so this is not a new promise but a sign for the one already made. Rashi explains when the sign appears. When the attribute of justice argues that people are wicked and the world should be destroyed, dark clouds cover the world and a rainbow appears. The rainbow reminds justice of the oath Hashem made, so the world stands even when it deserves destruction.
Bereshis 9:18–19

וַיִּֽהְי֣וּ בְנֵי־נֹ֗חַ הַיֹּֽצְאִים֙ מִן־הַתֵּבָ֔ה שֵׁ֖ם וְחָ֣ם וָיָ֑פֶת וְחָ֕ם ה֖וּא אֲבִ֥י כְנָֽעַן׃

The sons of Noah who emerged from the ark were Shem, Ham and Yefeth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

שְׁלֹשָׁ֥ה אֵ֖לֶּה בְּנֵי־נֹ֑חַ וּמֵאֵ֖לֶּה נָֽפְצָ֥ה כׇל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

These three were Noah's sons, and from them, the whole world was repopulated.

The sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Chom and Yefes, Chom was the father of Canaan, and the whole world was populated from these three. We already know they left the ark, so why does the verse stress that these are the ones who came out? As the Zohar brings, it is to teach that they came out whole and healthy. For twelve months they had been zookeepers for every species on earth, feeding and cleaning day and night with no sleep, and still they left the ark in peace and went on to fill the world.
Bereshis 9:20–23

וַיָּ֥חֶל נֹ֖חַ אִ֣ישׁ הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וַיִּטַּ֖ע כָּֽרֶם׃

Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.

וַיֵּ֥שְׁתְּ מִן־הַיַּ֖יִן וַיִּשְׁכָּ֑ר וַיִּתְגַּ֖ל בְּת֥וֹךְ אׇהֳלֹֽה׃

He drank some of the wine, making himself drunk, and uncovered himself in the tent.

וַיַּ֗רְא חָ֚ם אֲבִ֣י כְנַ֔עַן אֵ֖ת עֶרְוַ֣ת אָבִ֑יו וַיַּגֵּ֥ד לִשְׁנֵֽי־אֶחָ֖יו בַּחֽוּץ׃

Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked, and he told it to his two brothers outside.

וַיִּקַּח֩ שֵׁ֨ם וָיֶ֜פֶת אֶת־הַשִּׂמְלָ֗ה וַיָּשִׂ֙ימוּ֙ עַל־שְׁכֶ֣ם שְׁנֵיהֶ֔ם וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙ אֲחֹ֣רַנִּ֔ית וַיְכַסּ֕וּ אֵ֖ת עֶרְוַ֣ת אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וּפְנֵיהֶם֙ אֲחֹ֣רַנִּ֔ית וְעֶרְוַ֥ת אֲבִיהֶ֖ם לֹ֥א רָאֽוּ׃

Shem and Yefeth took a cloak and placed it on both their shoulders. Walking backwards, they then covered their father's nakedness. They faced away from him and did not see their father naked.

Noach began to be a man of the soil and planted a vineyard. He drank the wine, became drunk, and was uncovered in his tent. Chom saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside, and Shem and Yefes walked in backward with a cloak on their shoulders and covered him without seeing him. The word for 'began', vayachel, also comes from chulin, something unholy, so it hints that Noach profaned himself. With the whole world to rebuild, the first thing he planted was a vineyard, not food for the world, and then he got drunk from it. The Torah once called him an ish tzaddik, a righteous man. Now he is called an ish ha'adamah, a man of the soil.
Bereshis 9:24–25

וַיִּ֥יקֶץ נֹ֖חַ מִיֵּינ֑וֹ וַיֵּ֕דַע אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָ֥שָׂה ל֖וֹ בְּנ֥וֹ הַקָּטָֽן׃

Noah awoke from his wine-induced sleep, and he realized what his youngest son had done to him.

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אָר֣וּר כְּנָ֑עַן עֶ֥בֶד עֲבָדִ֖ים יִֽהְיֶ֥ה לְאֶחָֽיו׃

He said, "Cursed is Canaan! He shall be a slave's slave to his brothers!"

Noach wakes from his wine, realizes what his youngest son did to him, and says: cursed is Canaan, he shall be a slave of slaves to his brothers. Why does he curse Canaan and not Chom? Hashem had already blessed Noach's sons when they left the ark, so Noach had no authority to curse Chom himself. He cursed Chom's line instead. Chom had four sons, and Canaan was the one cursed because the whole thing started with him: Canaan saw his grandfather naked first and went and told his father, and then Chom went in and did what he did.
Bereshis 9:26–27

וַיֹּ֕אמֶר בָּר֥וּךְ יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹ֣הֵי שֵׁ֑ם וִיהִ֥י כְנַ֖עַן עֶ֥בֶד לָֽמוֹ׃

He then said, "Blessed be God, the Lord of Shem! Canaan shall be his slave!

יַ֤פְתְּ אֱלֹהִים֙ לְיֶ֔פֶת וְיִשְׁכֹּ֖ן בְּאׇֽהֳלֵי־שֵׁ֑ם וִיהִ֥י כְנַ֖עַן עֶ֥בֶד לָֽמוֹ׃

May God expand Yefeth, but may He dwell in the tents of Shem. Let Canaan be their slave!"

Noach says: blessed be Hashem, the God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his slave. May God expand Yefes, may He dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be their slave. Rashi explains that 'He will dwell' refers to Hashem, not Yefes. Hashem's presence would rest in the tents of Shem: in the First Temple, built by Shlomo HaMelech, a descendant of Shem, the Shechinah (Hashem's presence, the source of prophecy) rested fully. Yefes was 'expanded' through Koresh, who came from Yefes and allowed the Second Temple to be built, but the Second Temple never had the level of Shechinah that the first one had.
Bereshis 9:28–29

וַֽיְחִי־נֹ֖חַ אַחַ֣ר הַמַּבּ֑וּל שְׁלֹ֤שׁ מֵאוֹת֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וַֽחֲמִשִּׁ֖ים שָׁנָֽה׃

Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

וַיִּֽהְיוּ֙*(בספרי ספרד ואשכנז וַֽיְהִי֙) כׇּל־יְמֵי־נֹ֔חַ תְּשַׁ֤ע מֵאוֹת֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וַחֲמִשִּׁ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה וַיָּמֹֽת׃

All of Noah's days were 950 years, and he died.

Noach lived 350 years after the flood, and his whole life came to 950 years before he died. He saw a new world and many generations of descendants. He was born in the year 1056 and died in 2006. Avraham was born in 1948, so he was 58 years old when Noach died, and the two of them lived in the world together.

English from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, used with the permission of the Kaplan family. Hebrew: Miqra according to the Masorah (CC BY-SA).

Takeaways

  • Bringing new life into the world is a sacred job, and choosing not to is likened to shedding blood.
  • Stay away from what is truly dangerous: even being saved by a miracle costs a person his merits.
  • As long as a person is alive there is hope, and teshuvah comes from turning to Hashem, never from harming yourself.
  • When you see a rainbow, look briefly, say the blessing, and do not stare.
  • Covering a parent's shame and honoring them earns a reward that lasts for generations.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

How an animal can be punished when it has no free will

  • The Torah punishes an ox that gores a person: the ox is stoned. The Ramban brings this here on verse 5.
  • The Ramban asks a question. An animal acts on instinct and has no free will, so how can Hashem say He will 'demand an account' from a wild beast?
  • The Ramban answers that this is a decree of the King. Hashem decreed that animals may not harm humans, and whether or not they have a choice, an animal that does will be punished.

A murder with no witnesses is not forgotten

  • A Jewish court can only execute a murderer if there were witnesses and a warning. Without witnesses, even security-camera footage cannot convict him.
  • Even a confession does not convict him. A man might falsely confess to murder because his life is unbearable and he wants a way out, so the court cannot rely on it.
  • As Rashi teaches, this murderer does not get away. Hashem says 'I will demand an account,' and He has many ways to collect it.
  • If the punctuation of the verse is moved, it reads this way: for your blood I will demand an account, from the hand of every wild beast and from the hand of man. Hashem may send a wild animal or another person to bring about the justice the court could not.

The survivors' three fears, and how Hashem answered each one

  • The first fear was wild animals. There were only eight people in the world, nine with Og, against every species of animal, so humanity could be wiped out quickly. Hashem answered by putting the fear of humans back into the animals and forbidding them to harm people.
  • The second fear was hunger. The world was bare, and the seeds Noach brought would take time to grow. Hashem answered by allowing them to slaughter and eat meat, as long as the animal is no longer alive.
  • The third fear was that the brothers would kill each other, as Kayin killed Hevel, and there was no government or police to stop it. Hashem answered that there is an authority, and it is Him: He Himself will punish a murderer, and no one can save him from His hand.
  • When Noach heard all this, his fear left him and his mind was at ease.

Why the command to have children sits right next to the laws of murder

  • Placed next to each other, the two passages show how much a life is worth in Hashem's eyes. Do not decrease life in the world; increase it. That is the job, and these are the stakes.
  • Rashi teaches that they are next to each other because someone who decides not to have children is like someone who sheds blood.
  • It is not actually murder. But a conscious, active choice not to bring life into the world is treated with that seriousness, which shows the value of having children and not putting it off.

The prohibition of taking one's own life

  • The words 'your blood, for your own lives, I will demand' also refer to a person's own life. The Gemara in Bava Kama, the Rambam and Rashi learn from them that a person may not take his own life.
  • In halacha, suicide in the full sense means a person in his right mind who announces in anger that he will kill himself, then climbs somewhere high and jumps. If he said it beforehand and was then found on the ground, it is treated as suicide even though no one saw him fall.
  • The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De'ah 345) rules that someone who acted under duress is not considered a suicide. The Aruch HaShulchan adds: who can know whether this person lost his mind or acted out of fear?
  • Today most cases involve people who are not in their right state of mind, suffering from abuse, anxiety, depression and the like. So in practice we treat it as duress, and the person gets a proper funeral, a eulogy and the full honor of someone who died naturally. Where exactly to draw the line is a question for the great poskim (halachic authorities).
  • Someone who takes his life in his right mind loses three things. He loses this world: as long as a person is alive there is another day and more hope, and Hashem can change things. He loses his share in the world to come. And he is not mourned or eulogized.
  • Even someone who believes he deserves death for a sin that no court can punish may not kill himself to atone. Teshuvah (repentance) comes from begging Hashem for forgiveness and resolving never to do it again.

Do not put yourself in danger

  • Because Hashem demands an account for a person's blood, a person also may not put himself in danger. Many people feel most alive living on the edge, but a person must be careful and avoid danger.
  • How dangerous does something have to be? Measure it realistically, by the real statistics, not by how it feels: if something is statistically dangerous, stay away from it.
  • Someone who puts himself in a dangerous situation and gets hurt is considered to have hurt himself, and Hashem holds him to account for it.
  • The Gemara (Shabbos 32a) teaches that if someone puts himself in danger and is saved by a miracle, the miracle is deducted from his merits.

Noach's sons became prophets

  • Until now, Hashem had spoken to only a few people, among them Adam, Kayin and Noach.
  • Here the verse says that Hashem spoke 'to Noach and his sons with him.' All three sons heard Hashem's voice, which means they had reached the level of prophecy.

The name Elohim, the word 'this', and generations that never needed a rainbow

  • In verse 17 Hashem is called Elohim, the name for His attribute of justice. This fits the idea that the rainbow appears exactly when justice is claiming that the world deserves destruction.
  • The word zos ('this is the sign') usually means Hashem was pointing to something. Noach had never seen a rainbow, so Hashem showed it to him and said: when you see this, know that the world deserves destruction, but I swore not to destroy it.
  • The word l'doros ('for generations') is written in its short spelling, missing a letter. Rashi explains that some generations were so righteous they never needed the sign: the generation of King Chizkiyahu and the generation of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

The blessing on a rainbow, and why we do not stare at it

  • Learning from 'I will remember My covenant', the Gemara teaches, and the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 229) rules, that a person who sees a rainbow says a blessing: Baruch Atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech ha'olam, zocher habris, ne'eman bivriso, vekayam bema'amaro. It means 'Blessed are You... who remembers the covenant, is faithful to His covenant, and keeps His word.'
  • The Gemara in Chagigah (16a) teaches that one should look at the rainbow only long enough to say the blessing, and not stare at it.
  • The reason is that the prophet Yechezkel compares the glory of Hashem to the appearance of a rainbow, and one does not gaze at Hashem's glory. The elders at Sinai stared at the glory of Hashem and were punished.
  • There is another lesson here. The rainbow protects us, but it also means the world deserved judgment. Instead of fixing our eyes on that one sign, we can see Hashem's glory in the sunlight and everything else around us.

Noach came out hurt, and why Canaan is named so early

  • The sons came out of the ark whole, but Noach himself did not. He came out crippled, and some say he was coughing up blood.
  • Rashi explains why the verse already calls Chom 'the father of Canaan': the next story is about Canaan being cursed.

Why planting a vineyard was a mistake

  • Hashem wanted Noach to rebuild the world and plant good food, and instead the first thing he planted was a vineyard.
  • The Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer, and the Gemara in Sanhedrin 70a, teach that Hashem said to him: why did you not learn from Adam? This follows the view of Rabbi Meir in the Gemara that the Tree of Knowledge was a grapevine, and Adam brought death into the world by eating from it.
  • He should have started with something more constructive, like a fig tree or an olive tree.

Another reading: 'man of the soil' as praise

  • After the flood the ground was so dry that nothing could grow, with no moisture for about three handbreadths down. Noach cleared the ground, and in his merit a gentle rain fell and softened it, so he could plant.
  • The ground had been under a curse until Noach was born. His father Lamech named him Noach because 'he will console us from our work and from the ground that Hashem cursed.' In this sense, being a man of the soil is his praise.
  • Even so, in this story he lowered himself by making the vineyard.

Where the vines came from, and why Noach drank

  • The Targum Yonasan says he planted twigs with roots from Gan Eden. They grew very quickly and the wine fermented fast.
  • Rashi says the vines were not from Gan Eden. Noach had brought grapevines and fig shoots into the ark from before the flood and planted those.
  • Some say he drank because he was worn out from twelve months of work in the ark and deeply depressed, alone in the world among wild animals. He had a little wine, and it made him drunk.

'His tent' is spelled 'her tent'

  • At the end of verse 21, the word for 'his tent' should be spelled with a vav at the end. Instead it ends with a heh. The vowels make us read it 'ohaloh', his tent, but without vowels the letters spell 'ohalah', her tent.
  • The spelling tells us what really happened. The wine aroused Noach, and he went to his wife's tent, but before he reached her he had a premature emission.
  • This was one of the sins of the generation before the flood, and it is why the flood came as water over the earth. Here Noach fell into it because of the wine.
  • From here the Shulchan Aruch rules that a husband and wife may not be together when either of them is drunk.

What Chom did, and how carefully Shem and Yefes covered their father

  • Chom found his father lying drunk and naked. He thought: Adam had only two sons and one killed the other, and my father already has three, so who knows what another son would bring? He did not want more competition.
  • So, as the Gemara in Sanhedrin 70a brings, he castrated his father so he could have no more children. Then he went out and told his brothers, mocking, that their father was lying naked.
  • The verse repeats itself to show how careful Shem and Yefes were. They walked in backward with the cloak, turned their faces away, and even covered their faces with their hands so they would not see their father by accident.

Chom's punishments, measure for measure

  • He looked at his father, so his eyes became red.
  • He told his brothers mockingly, so his lips became twisted (akum), as the Tanchuma says. The Me'am Loez says they became thick.
  • He turned his head to look, so his hair and beard were singed. The Me'am Loez says his hair became kinky.
  • He did not cover his father, so his descendants would always go naked, as the slaves in Egypt later did. And he would be a slave to his brothers, as Noach's curse goes on to say.
  • Earlier, in the ark, he had been intimate with his wife when no one, not even the animals, was doing so, and his skin turned black.

Shem's and Yefes' rewards, measure for measure

  • Shem is named before Yefes because he took the lead, and Yefes followed him.
  • Shem covered his father, so his descendants were rewarded through clothing. The first reward is the mitzvos of tallis and tefillin. It is a reward because more mitzvos mean more to earn in the world to come.
  • Chananya, Mishael and Azarya were thrown into the furnace in their clothes, as the book of Daniel tells, and came out alive with their clothes unburned. Had they gone in without clothes, or come out with their clothes burned off, they would have been shamed.
  • When Aharon's sons Nadav and Avihu were burned, their clothes were not. And Sancheriv's soldiers, who also descended from Shem, were burned while their clothes stayed whole.
  • Yefes's reward comes in the war of Gog and Magog at the end of days. Magog descends from Yefes, and Yechezkel says its many dead in Eretz Yisrael will all receive burial.

'His youngest son', and a slave of slaves

  • The verse calls Chom b'no hakatan, his youngest or smallest son. He may not have been the youngest, but he was certainly the smallest, not in size but in character.
  • Noach knew right away who did it. He knew how Chom had acted in the ark, and no one but Chom would have done such a thing.
  • A second reason for the curse: the youngest son usually serves his father, and Noach hoped for another son to care for him in old age. Chom took that away, so now Shem and Yefes would have to care for Noach, and Chom's line was cursed to serve his brothers as a slave of slaves.

Another view: Canaan was Chom's only son

  • Some say Chom was Noach's youngest son, and Canaan was Chom's firstborn and, at the time, his only child; that is why the verse calls him "Chom, the father of Canaan" (Ramban on 9:18).
  • Had Noach cursed Chom alone, it would have reached only children born later, and Chom might have had no more. So he cursed Canaan, so the curse would reach Chom's line forever.
  • Canaan is listed fourth among Chom's sons (10:6) though he was the firstborn: the curse made him the least.

More from Noach's blessings

  • Noach blesses Shem in front of Chom to show him the contrast: you could have been blessed like your brothers, but because of what you did you are cursed. That is why he keeps repeating that Canaan will be their slave.
  • Rashi brings that even in exile, the Jewish people would have servants from Canaan.
  • Yaft can also come from yofi, beauty. Yefes's son Yavan is Greece, and the Greek language has a beauty to it. A Torah scroll may not be written in any other language, but it may be written in Greek, and the sages translated the Torah into Greek for King Ptolemy.
  • The rewards here show how great the reward is for honoring one's parents.

From a righteous man to a man of the ground

  • Noach began as an ish tzaddik, a righteous man, and ended as an ish ha'adamah, a man of the ground. Two things brought him down: he planted a vineyard without learning from Adam's sin, and he got drunk.
  • From that night, the history of his three sons played out. Chom was cursed. Shem was blessed with Hashem dwelling in his tents, and Avraham and the Jewish people come from him. Yefes received beauty, the beauty of the Greek language, and his line had a part in the Second Temple.
Review questions
  1. How can an animal be punished for killing a person if it has no free will, according to the Ramban?
  2. What three fears did Noach's family have when they left the ark, and how did Hashem answer each one?
  3. Why is the command to be fruitful placed right next to the laws of murder?
  4. What does the spelling of the word 'his tent' in Bereshis 9:21 reveal about what happened to Noach?
  5. Why did Noach curse Canaan and not Chom?
  6. How old was Avraham when Noach died?
Sources
  • Rashi — the murderer with no witnesses, children next to murder, the rainbow and the attribute of justice, the short spelling of l'doros, why Canaan is named, the vines from before the flood, the reasons for Canaan's curse, and Hashem dwelling in Shem's tents
  • Ramban — how an animal can be punished without free will: a decree of the King
  • Gemara Bava Kama and the Rambam — the prohibition of taking one's own life, learned from verse 5
  • Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 345 — someone who acted under duress is not considered a suicide
  • Aruch HaShulchan — the person may have lost his mind or acted out of fear
  • Gemara Shabbos 32a — a miracle that saves someone who put himself in danger is deducted from his merits
  • Gemara Chagigah 16a and Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 229 — the blessing on a rainbow and not staring at it
  • Zohar — Noach's sons came out of the ark whole and healthy
  • Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer and Gemara Sanhedrin 70a — Hashem asked Noach why he did not learn from Adam
  • Gemara, view of Rabbi Meir — the Tree of Knowledge was a grapevine
  • Targum Yonasan — Noach's vines came from Gan Eden and grew quickly
  • Gemara Sanhedrin 70a — Chom castrated Noach
  • Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 13 — Chom's punishments, measure for measure
  • Me'am Loez — the wording of Chom's punishments
  • Yechezkel — the rainbow compared to Hashem's glory, and the burial of Gog and Magog's dead
  • Gemara Sanhedrin 108b — Chom in the ark, and his skin