Solving the Noah Puzzle
If there is a man who sleeps with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death, they have brought their own deaths upon themselves. Leviticus 20:11 NASB
His father’s nakedness – Remember that very strange story about Noah getting drunk? It’s in Genesis 9:22-23.[1] If we don’t understand the Hebrew idiom, we’ll think that this story is about Noah being naked, but the phrase er•vat aviv va•ya•ged (nakedness of the father) doesn’t describe Noah (who might have been naked). Rather, it is an idiom for Noah’s wife, as we can clearly see in this passage in Leviticus. To uncover the father’s nakedness is to have sexual relations with the father’s wife. When Ham finds Noah intoxicated, and most likely passed out, he has sex with his mother. Why? Well, all we need to uncover his motive is to remember Rueben and Jacob. Rueben beds one of Jacob’s “wives” in an act that is intended to establish his authority as chief of the clan. In other words, he uses sex to assert that he now has the power over his father’s household. As you will recall, Absalom does the same thing in his attempted coup over his father, David, only he does it in public so that everyone will see that he takes his father’s place. We should have recognized our mistake about thinking this story is about Noah without clothes when we read that Noah curses Ham’s offspring, not Ham. Why does Noah curse a yet-unborn innocent child? Because Ham’s offspring is the result of incest with Noah’s wife, Ham’s mother. You might not like this interpretation, but it’s difficult to avoid if you look at the uses of er•vat aviv va•ya•ged. Power in the ancient world often involved sexual prowess. Women were pawns in the political game of dominance. The Bible doesn’t whitewash the immorality of the act. It just uses an idiom so that it doesn’t have to say it directly.
Now you’re asking, “Okay, we solved an exegetical issue. So what? We know men can be evil. We know they want power, sometimes by any means. What else can we learn here?” Well, you could read this (https://margmowczko.com/davids-ten-concubines/), an analysis of Absalom’s attempted coup. You’ll learn a few things about power in the ancient world, but Absalom’s treasonous act isn’t anything new, as you now know. You’ll also get some insight into the abuse of women in the ancient world, including Israel. But perhaps the lesson for us isn’t about some Hebrew idiom. Perhaps it’s about the extent of corruption even in biblical families. Are things really any different today? Isn’t power still the most addictive of all vices, willing to sacrifice even family bonds to get what it wants? These biblical stories demonstrate two important values: (1) power corrupts and the desire for power is just as bad as having power itself, (2) women are often caught in power ploys regardless of their relational status. A society that allows such actions is anathema to God.
You probably aren’t personally involved in anything like these prohibited acts (thankfully) but, just like ancient Israel, you live in a society that is whether you know it or not. The name of the game is still “power by any means,” and those that have it will do anything to keep it. This little slice of the world of ancient Hebrew is just a reminder to be very careful. We pay for our sins and for allowing the sins of others to go unchecked.
For further reading about the biblical prohibition and the impact on women, see https://www.thetorah.com/article/why-does-the-bible-prohibit-marrying-a-fathers-wife
Topical Index: power, incest, father’s nakedness, ervat aviv voyaged, Genesis 9:22-23, Leviticus 20:11
[1] Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
