John Gill Commentary Genesis 9:24

"And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him." — Genesis 9:24 (ASV)

And Noah awoke from his wine
From his sleep, which his wine brought on him; when the force and strength of that was gone, and when not only he awoke, but came to himself, and was sober;

and knew what his younger son had done to him ;
either by revelation, as some, or prophecy, as Ben Gersom, or by the relation of his two sons, whom, upon finding himself covered with another's garment, he might question how it came about, and they told him the whole affair.

Some, as Aben Ezra, Ben Gersom, and Abendana, think that this was not Ham, the younger son of Noah, and whom some also maintain he was not the youngest, being always placed middlemost, but Canaan, the fourth and youngest son of Ham; and whom Noah indeed might call his younger, or "his son, the little one" ^F16 ; as it was usual for grandchildren to be called sons of their grandfather; see (Genesis 29:5). Noah might be informed how his little son, or rather grandson Canaan, had been in his tent, and seeing him in the posture he was, went very merrily and told his father Ham about it, who also made a jest of it. This seems the more reasonable, since Canaan was immediately cursed by Noah, as in the following verse; (See Gill on Genesis 9:22).

This affair must have happened many years after Noah's coming out of the ark, since at that time his sons had no children. However, Ham at this time had four sons, and Canaan was the youngest of them. He was grown up to an age sufficient to be concerned in this matter, treating his grandfather in an ill way so as to bring his curse upon him. Jarchi interprets "little" by abominable and contemptible, supposing it refers not to age, but character, and which was bad both in Ham and Canaan: (See Gill on Genesis 9:22).

---

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: Njqh wnb ) "filius suus parvus", Montanus; "filius ejus parvus", Cartwright.