Editing Noah (section)

===Noah's drunkenness===
{{see also|Curse of Ham}}
[[File:Egerton Genesis Noahs Drunkeness.png|thumb|left|upright|Noah's drunkenness, Ham mocks Noah, Noah is covered, Canaan is cursed. Egerton Genesis.]]

After the flood, the Bible says that Noah became a [[farmer]] and he planted a [[vineyard]]. He drank [[wine]] made from this vineyard, and got [[Alcohol intoxication|drunk]]; and lay "uncovered" within his tent. Noah's son Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his brothers, which led to Ham's son [[Curse of Ham|Canaan being cursed]] by Noah.<ref name=JewishEnyc/>

As early as the [[Classical era]], commentators on Genesis 9:20–21<ref>{{Bibleverse||Genesis|9:20–21|HE}}</ref> have excused Noah's excessive drinking because he was considered to be the first wine drinker; the first person to discover the effects of wine.<ref>{{cite book | last=Rashkow | first=Ilona | chapter=Sexuality in the Hebrew Bible: Freud's Lens <!-- | pages=33-74 --> | editor-last=Ellens | editor-first=J. Harold | editor-last2=Rollins | editor-first2=Wayne G. | year=2004 | title=Psychology and the Bible: From Feud to Kohut | series=Psychology and the Bible: A New Way to Read the Scriptures <!--  Praeger Perspectives --> | volume=1 | publication-place=Westport, Connecticut | publisher=[[Praeger Publishers]] | isbn=978-0-275-98348-2 | page=52}}</ref> [[John Chrysostom]], [[Archbishop of Constantinople]], and a [[Church Father]], wrote in the 4th century that Noah's behavior is defensible: as the first human to taste wine, he would not know its effects: "Through ignorance and inexperience of the proper amount to drink, fell into a drunken stupor".{{sfn|Hamilton|1990|pp=202–203}} [[Philo]], a [[Hellenistic philosophy|Hellenistic]] Jewish philosopher, also excused Noah by noting that one can drink in two different manners: (1) to drink wine in excess, a peculiar sin to the vicious evil man or (2) to partake of wine as the wise man, Noah being the latter.<ref>''Philo'', 1971, p. 160.</ref> In [[Jewish tradition]] and [[Noah in rabbinic literature#His lapse|rabbinic literature on Noah]], rabbis blame [[Satan]] for the intoxicating properties of the wine.<ref>Gen. Rabbah 36:3.</ref><ref name=JewishEnyc>{{Cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11571-noah|title=NOAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref>

[[File:Noah-Curses-Ham.jpg|thumb|upright|''Noah curses Ham'' by [[Gustave Doré]]]]

In the context of Noah's drunkenness,<ref>{{Bibleverse||Genesis|9:18–27|HE}}.</ref> relates two facts: (1) Noah became drunken and "he was uncovered within his tent", and (2) [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] "saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without".{{sfn|Rashkow|2004|p=53}}<ref name="Bergsma/Hahn"/>

Because of its brevity and textual inconsistencies, it has been suggested that this narrative is a "splinter from a more substantial tale".{{sfn|Speiser|1964|p=62}}<ref>T. A. Bergren. ''Biblical Figures Outside the Bible'', 2002, ({{ISBN|1563384116}}, {{ISBN|978-1-56338-411-0}}), p. 136.</ref> A fuller account would explain what exactly Ham had done to his father, or why Noah directed a curse at [[Canaan (son of Ham)|Canaan]] for Ham's misdeed, or how Noah realised what had occurred. In the field of [[psychological biblical criticism]], [[J. Harold Ellens|J. H. Ellens]] and W. G. Rollins have analysed the unconventional behavior that occurs between Noah and Ham as revolving around sexuality and the exposure of genitalia as compared with other Hebrew Bible texts, such as Habakkuk 2:15<ref>{{Bibleverse|Habakkuk|2:15|HE}}</ref> and Lamentations 4:21.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Lamentations|4:21|HE}}</ref>{{sfn|Rashkow|2004|p=53}}

Other commentaries mention that "uncovering someone's nakedness" could mean having [[sexual intercourse]] with that person or that person's spouse, as quoted in Leviticus 18:7–8<ref>{{Bibleverse|Leviticus|18:7–8|HE}}</ref> and 20.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Leviticus|20:11|HE}}</ref> From this interpretation comes the speculation that Ham was guilty of engaging in incest and raping Noah{{sfn|Levenson|2004|p=26}} or his own mother. The latter interpretation would clarify why Canaan, as the product of this illicit union, was cursed by Noah.<ref name="Bergsma/Hahn">John Sietze Bergsma/Scott Walker Hahn. 2005. "Noah's Nakedness and the Curse on Canaan". ''Journal Biblical Literature'' 124/1 (2005), pp. 25–40.</ref> Alternatively, Canaan could be the perpetrator himself as the Bible describes the illicit deed being committed by Noah's "youngest son", with Ham being consistently described as the middle son in other verses.<ref name="Kugle_1998_223">{{harvnb|Kugel|1998|p=223}}.</ref>