Shabbat Parashat Noach 5784

Parashat Hashavua: Who is Older? Who is Younger? What Did Cham Want?

In the Torah’s mention of genealogy, in the first ten generations, only one descendant per generation is listed. All three of Noach’s sons are listed because of the centrality to the Torah of Noach’s family.

Time after time, the Torah presents the sons as Shem, Cham, and Yefet, in that order. However, there is significant complexity on their age order. In Bereishit 10:21, in describing Shem, the pasuk calls him “the brother of Yefet, the gadol (bigger?).” It can be read that Shem is older or that Yefet is. According to the latter possibility, the regular order is inaccurate, if it refers to age. Also, when the Torah details the descendants of these sons (Bereishit, ch. 10), Yefet’s descendants are presented first, followed by Cham’s; Shem’s descendants are presented last.

A lot may depend on what “gadol” means. Rashi posits that it means the oldest and that it refers to Yefet, like the detailed lineage section implies. In this, he follows Targum Onkelos and is followed by Ibn Ezra. If so, the five times the order is different are stressing that it is not the age that interests us but the spiritual significance, which is why Shem is mentioned first. The question then begs why Cham, the cursed son, comes before Yefet. Therefore, the Ramban posits that “the gadol” actually refers back to Shem, who was indeed the oldest son.

All agree that Cham was not the oldest. Indeed, in the aftermath of Cham’s sin against Noach, it says that Noach knew that which his katan (little) son did (ibid. 9:24). Rashi, who posits that Cham was not the youngest, explains that it means that he was a lowly person. (Ibn Ezra explains differently.)

This discussion brings us to a central theme in Sefer Bereishit – the struggle over firstborn rights. We find this matter regarding: Yishmael and Yitzchak, which prompted Sarah to send away Yishmael; Eisav and Yaakov, in which Eisav was unwilling to give up his claims, even though he sold his status to Yaakov; the firstborns of Leah and of Rachel, an episode that has a great impact on the second half of the sefer.

Unfortunately, throughout human history, one with claims to the throne would try to enhance his status by taking, including by force, a wife from an important family. We find this with the “bnei haelohim” (ibid. 6:2) and by Shechem the son of Chamor in regard to Yaakov’s daughter, Dina (ibid. 34:2). This is also related to Reuven’s action of “tampering with Yaakov’s bed” (ibid. 35:22).

If so, we can present the following explanation of Cham’s terrible sin against Noach, with the help of Cham’s son C’na’an. This was his way of asserting Cham’s claim to the leadership of mankind, when his father would die. The result was that for his sin, he received the opposite, not leadership but slavery, putting his descendants under the dominion of the children of his more principled brothers (see ibid. 9:25-27). Despite Noach’s curse, Cham (as expressed by the actions of descendants) still tried to assert himself. The first emperor in the world was his descendant, Nimrod. Cham’s descendants took control of the most important land, Eretz Yisrael. At the end, though, the one who ultimately received that land by divine decree is Avraham, the choice descendant of Shem.  

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