The Untold Truth Of Noah's Sons

Even if you're not all that religious, there's probably a pretty good chance that you've heard the story of Noah's Ark. You know, the story of the Great Flood, sent by God to wipe out humanity — the one where two of each animal got shepherded onto a huge boat built by Noah so that they could ride out the waves. That one.

But there weren't only animals on that ark. There were people, too, and eight of them, to be exact: Noah (obviously), his three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), and all four of their wives. Now, with the exception of Noah, in the context of the Flood myth, there really isn't all that much left to say about all of these Biblical figures. Shem, Ham, and Japheth might have helped their father build the ark, per ICR — a single person building a gigantic wooden ship all on their own is just a little far-fetched — but beyond that, they aren't all that vital to the narrative of the Flood. That said, if you step just outside that particular story about the Great Flood, then there's actually a little more for you to sink your teeth into. Noah's sons have some claims to fame outside of just their father's glory.

If you were to look into Noah's sons, then the story you'd come upon the most would likely be the one involving Noah, some wine, and a little bit of nudity.

Basically, sometime after the events of the Great Flood, Noah and his family ended up settling down and owning a vineyard. Of course, given that this is a vineyard, wine was pretty readily available and, long story short, Noah got drunk. So drunk, in fact, that he ended up passing out in a tent, stark naked (via Thetorah.com). While Noah was unconscious, one of his sons, Ham, ended up walking in and seeing his father completely nude. That sort of situation doesn't exactly sound comfortable, and so Ham didn't really do much about it, aside from finding his two brothers and telling them what he'd seen.

Shem and Japheth didn't react in nearly the same way, being "sensitive and modest" (via Encyclopedia.com) while Ham was decidedly not. The two of them decided to rectify the situation by walking into the tent backwards — so as to not see their naked father — with some sort of garment slung over their shoulders, which they dropped to cover up Noah as he slept. Everything was dealt with, right? Well, not really. Noah eventually woke up from his nap knowing exactly what had happened, and each of his sons would get their comeuppance, whether good or bad.

Shem wasn't the only one of the brothers to go and cover up his naked father; Japheth was there, too, but he didn't receive the same blessing as his brother. And that's led to a bit of debate and confusion over just how Japheth's blessing really worked.

In a single breath, Shem was blessed with the glory of God, while Japheth was told this: "May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem" (via First Fruits of Zion). Or, more specifically: "May God enlarge Japheth's territory and numbers!" (via TheTorah.com). Basically, his blessing was exactly the way it sounds — Japheth was given a lot of land for his descendants to expand around the world. Oh, and those descendants were also given the privilege of being buried in Israel (though they were still markedly different from Shem's descendants who lived in Israel). Taking the whole story as a metaphor, Japheth's people can be seen as the countries who decide to ally themselves with Israel and the Jewish people.

But none of that really explains why Japheth's blessing was different at all. Even though he received a reward, why wasn't he also blessed by God? Unfortunately, there isn't really a good answer to that question. It just seems like Shem somehow put more effort into covering up Noah (how that works exactly is anyone's guess). In light of that, the two brothers were rewarded accordingly for their effort.

These stories about Noah's sons have been around for a decently long time, and so they've seen their fair share of readings and analyses over the years. One of those particularly prominent (and potentially problematic) readings has to do with Ham. More specifically, it's Ham's name that invites some uncomfortable questions, given that, according to The New York Times, it's been translated to mean "dark," "black," or "heat." From that translation came the assumption that Ham was dark-skinned.

On its own, that conclusion really isn't all that bad, but, per BYU Studies, the story of the Curse of Canaan had already been used throughout history to vilify various groups and promote racism. With the rise of the slave trade, this translation of Ham's name led to the use of this story as a justification for slavery. Ham was dark-skinned and committed sinful acts, so he and his descendants were to be punished with lives of servitude, as described by the curse laid on Canaan.

It's not exactly a great legacy, but it's also worth pointing out that the original story was never intended to be read as a religious justification for slavery. In fact, this popular translation of Ham's name was most likely a mistake — it's just that it was a mistake that happened to catch on. And the original text itself never makes any mention of skin color at any point, much less links it to any sort of racial hierarchy.

Most of the time, when you're talking about Noah's three sons, it's assumed that Shem is the oldest, Ham is the middle child, and Japheth is the youngest (via Jewish Encyclopedia). Pretty simple, right? Oh, if only.

There's actually a lot of debate out there about how Noah's family worked, and birth order is just the beginning. For one, the text of the Old Testament isn't even self-consistent. Britannica explains that the Old Testament actually has two separate sources, one of which calls Japheth the second son, while the other implies he's the youngest. Just to make things even more confusing, other points in the Bible will say that Japheth is two years older than Shem. And, while we're talking about Shem, he's usually considered to be the oldest, but that's just an assumption. Shem is often listed first; maybe that's because he's the oldest, or maybe that's because he was the most favored by God. In the latter case, he could even be the youngest — some rabbis actually believe just that, according to Encyclopedia.com (youth equating to wisdom and righteousness is a religious motif).

Oh, and don't worry, Ham hasn't been spared from the confusion. TheTorah.com argues that Ham might not have even been one of Noah's sons. Rather, Canaan might've been the youngest of the brothers instead — he's even directly referenced as such, making it seem like Shem, Japheth, and Canaan (in that order) were the sons of Noah.

With any good mythical or legendary story, the question of "What if this thing was real?" always hangs around in the air. Noah's sons have also undergone really similar treatment, and there's some research out there that might suggest that, yes, they were real people.

A 2017 study published by Nature Communications dives deep into the genomes of Egyptian mummies, ultimately reaching the conclusion that ancient Egyptians shared more genetic material with people from Near Eastern regions (unlike modern-day Egyptians, who tend to have more Sub-Saharan African ancestry). Now, what does that mean in terms of Noah's sons? Well, Patterns of Evidence took those findings and tied them to Biblical explanations, proposing that the movement of Ham's descendants from Mesopotamia (in the Near East) to Egypt could explain those genetic links. A report by the Philosophical Society of Great Britain also leans toward the same beliefs, using archaeological finds to link their descendants to the migration and relations of ancient civilizations.

But maybe some of this should be taken with a grain of salt. The National Center for Science Education explains just why the story of Noah's Ark is pretty impossible, but also adds that there's no way all of humanity can be descended from only Noah's sons. There's just not enough genetic diversity there to warrant the diversity that can be seen now. Even if you accounted for tons of genetic mutations in every generation, it sort of defies logic.