Read Genesis 9:18-10:32 at Bible Gateway.
The teaching tools of scripture
Gen 1:1-2:3 and the teaching tools of scripture part one and part two
Gen 1:1-6:8 and finding the topic themes of scripture
Hebrew paragraph divisions
9:18-29 {p} Shem and Japheth blessed/ Canaan cursed
10:1-14 {s} The sons of Japheth and Ham
10:15-20 {s} The sons of Canaan
10:21-32 {p} The sons of Shem
Strong themes of the parashah
9:18-29 {p} Shem and Japheth blessed/ Canaan cursed
10:1-32 {s+s+p} The seventy descendants of Noah who became the fathers of the nations
Gen 9:18-10:32 Chiastic Structure
Download the fully expanded Gen 9:18-10:32 triennial Vayikyu ben Noach chiasm pdf (Coming …).
Theme of the parashah
The whole earth was populated from the sons of Noah.
Finding Messiah in Triennial Vayikyu ben Noach
The paragraph divisions have separated the sons of Canaan into their own paragraph. We cannot even say that God divided the paragraphs by each of the three sons of Noah, for Japheth and Ham share a paragraph. The paragraph divisions are a teaching tool that shines a spotlight on irregularities like this—irregularities to human logic, that is.
“Canaan” is derived from כנע kana, Strong’s H3665, kaph + nun + ayin, a verbal root.
Hebrew is a concrete language. Its letters began as pictographs, symbols for concrete objects which anyone can look out of their window and see and experience and understand, even five-year-olds. Its letters stand in for things like houses, families, water, sons, baskets, heads, oxen, seeds. Almost all Hebrew words come from three-letter verbal roots that contain their essential meaning. Three letters to provide a single essential meaning: even the nature of the Hebrew language reveals theological truths. The three-letter roots tell a parable through its ancient pictographs which define that word.
Back to Canaan. In the ancient Hebrew pictographs, the kaph is the open palm, the hand used to bless others rather than to work or fight. The nun is the seed, so also, son, generation, continuation. The ayin is the eye, so also, to watch, look, see, know, or understand.
kaph כ ך = open palm, thus bend, open, allow, tame
nun ן נ = seed, thus continue, heir, son
ayin ע = eye, thus watch, know, shade
The kaph + nun combination paints the picture of the opening (kaph) of the seed (nun), that is, the going down of the root of the plant to provide a firm foundation for it above the ground. When we add the ayin, the eye, on to that picture, we get the going down (kaph + nun) of the eye (ayin); i.e. to bow the head, to humble oneself, to be humbled, or to be brought into subjection. The name “Canaan” actually means “lowland.” So what does this have to do with Messiah? Remember that Noah said of Canaan,
And he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” Gen 9:25
Of Yeshua the Word says,
“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I AM meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls.” Mat 11:29
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Messiah Yeshua; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Phi 2:5-8
Messiah has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, ‘Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.’ Gal 3:13
The curse on Canaan is a prophecy of the means by which Messiah would redeem mankind. He brought Himself down, He humbled Himself and made Himself the Servant of servants to His brethren. In so doing, He became a curse for us, when the sin of the world was laid upon Him, and brought about His death.
The next time Canaan plays a prominent role in the Old Testament, we find that the sin of the Canaanites has grown so great, that God executes judgment on them by causing their death as a nation. This is another prophecy in the same manner. The wages of sin is death, but the one who died, is the Servant of servants to the brethren, “canaan,” the One who caused His eye to go down.
Additional readings for Vayikyu ben Noach
Psa 8 (my notes) | Isa 49 (my notes) | Rev 5 (my notes)
Studies in Triennial Vayikyu ben Noach
Genesis 9, Bible for Beginners
Genesis 10, Bible for Beginners
Gen 9:18-29, The power of a parent’s words
Gen 9:18-29, The curse on Canaan
Gen 9:18-10:32, Chiastic structure
Gen 9 and 10, Nakedness in Genesis and the sons of Noah
Gen 10:1-32, The table of nations chiastic structure
For further study off site
The Sixteen Grandsons of Noah by Harold Hunt
The Table of Nations by Bill Cooper
After the Flood: the early post-Flood history of Europe traced back to Noah by Bill Cooper / in print
The Forgotten History of the Western People, from the earliest origins by Mike Gascoigne
SCRIPTURE REVEALED SERIES by CHRISTINE MILLER:
THE LAW of LOVE | FINDING MESSIAH in TORAH | GENESIS in CHIASTIC STRUCTURE
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