Genesis 9:23

Then Shem and Japheth took a large cloth and placed it across their backs, and walked backwards into the tent. They covered their father’s naked body with the cloth. Their faces were turned away from their father, so they did not see him naked.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

In Context

22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father lying naked in the tent. So he went outside and told his two older brothers what he had seen.

24When Noah woke up and was sober again, he found out how wrongfully Ham, his youngest son, had behaved toward him.

Read all of Genesis 9

Cross References

Exodus 20:12Honor/Respect your fathers and your mothers, in order that you may live a long time in the land that I, Yahweh God, will give you.

Romans 13:7Give to all the officials what you are supposed to give to them! Pay taxes to those who require that you pay taxes. Pay duties on goods to those who require that you pay those duties. Respect those who ought to be respected. Honor those who ought to be honored.

1 Timothy 5:1Do not rebuke/scold older men. Instead, exhort/advise them respectfully as you would exhort/advise your father. Exhort/advise younger men gently as you would exhort/advise your brothers.

1 Timothy 5:19When some person accuses an elder about doing wrong, accept what he says only if there are at least two or three persons who ◄testify/say that► they saw him do that wrong.

1 Peter 4:8Most important of all, love each other earnestly/wholeheartedly, because if we love others [PRS], we will just ignore many of the sinful things that they do to us.

Matthew Henry on Genesis 9:19-24

Sin of Ham. ( b. c. 2347.) 18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. 20 And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment,… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Genesis 9:23