In The Curse of Ham, scholar David M. Goldenberg argues that “the single greatest justification for Black slavery for more than a thousand years” came from the pages of the Bible itself. Strikingly, he’s not thinking of New Testament passages that command enslaved people to obey their masters. Nor does he talk about allowances for slavery buried deep in biblical law. What Goldenberg has in mind is the Bible’s last story about Noah.
It’s an oddball of a story. The supposedly righteous Noah plants a vineyard, drinks way too much, and ends up naked and passed out in his tent (Gen. 9:20–21). Mount Ararat, it appears, isn’t too far from Tipsy Town. Many interpreters have wondered if Noah, more than a little traumatized from the floating bodies and worldwide destruction, needs something to ease the pain of survivor’s guilt.
What happens next has confused readers for centuries. The text reads, “Ham, Canaan’s father, saw his father naked and told his two brothers who were outside. Shem and Japheth took a robe, threw it over their shoulders, walked backward, and covered their naked father without looking at him because they turned away” (Gen. 9:22–23, CEB). Once Noah wakes up, he curses Ham’s son Canaan to slavery, blesses the Lord, and speaks of Japheth dwelling in Shem’s tents. Then Noah dies (Gen. 9:24–29).
