Canaan lived a cursed life because he was conceived by incest. Thus the brief story twice reminds its ancient readers that Ham (not Noah) is the father of Canaan. So Noah's curse of Canaan was not misdirected anger, nor a hex nor an evil spell, but a simple recognition of cause and effect. His father Ham reaped what was sown.

The cursing of Ham has to do with the sin of Ham when his father Noah uncovered himself at his drunkenness. Though we are not told the exact sin of Ham, we do know that it was reprehensible enough for God to curse the line of his son Canaan. The judgment was not directed to Canaan personally but rather to his descendants.

In conclusion, if this interpretation is true, this means that Canaan was NOT punished for something Ham did (which come to think of it doesn’t make any sense), but was punished for his own sin. This explanation would also explain why the fact that Ham is Canaan’s father is emphasized twice in this account (verses 22 and 24).

This interpretation again also explains the severity of the curse of Canaan and COULD offer a logical and biblical reason WHY Canaan was cursed by Noah. Canaan was the result of the act of Ham with his mother. Whether this act was rape or consensual really is speculation as there simply is nothing that can be used to support either view. Canaan was the offspring of Ham …

The story is as follows: Ham finds his youngest son, Canaan in an illicit sexual act with his grandfather, who is so drunk that he could not defend himself; but not so drunk that he did not know who was guilty of this act. In Genesis 9:25-27 we read: “Then he said: ‘Cursed [be] Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.’

What is stated is that Canaan was cursed, and this must have been due to either the same sin committed by Canaan or a prophetic utterance of the sins that Canaan and his descendants would become notorious for over the coming centuries (Leviticus 18:3–29, Deuteronomy 20:17–18), or possibly both things.

Calling a grandson a “son” is not uncommon in Scripture (cp. Ezra 5:1 and Zechariah 1:1). This would mean that Canaan was somehow involved in the sordid incident, and that is why Noah specifically mentions him in the curse (verse 25). Ham saw his father’s condition and did nothing about it except to tell his brothers.

So why the curse on Canaan? Because in this situation, if we are interpreting correctly, meant that Canaan was the illegitimate son of Ham and his mother. He therefore could not have a place of leadership in the family of Noah since we would …

A new alternative interpretation of 4Q181, which is a Dead Sea scroll of Genesis, parallels the Book of Jubilees, suggesting that Canaan was cursed because he defied Noah’s division of the land. Jubilees. The Book of Jubilees also recounts the incident between Ham and Noah, and Noah's resulting curse against Canaan, in similar terms.

The Canaanite race was cursed probably because of the sin of Ham against his father, Noah (Genesis 9:25–26). The Bible does not specify the sin of Ham (in which Canaan may have been involved), but the act was disgraceful enough for God to pronounce judgment on Canaan’s descendants, the Canaanites.