Genesis 10:7

And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.

1. Noah's great grandsons through Ham and his son Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabtecha.
2. Noah's great great grandsons through Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

Genesis 10:6

And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

1. Ham had 4 sons: Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan.

Genesis 10:5

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

1. The "isles of the Gentiles" were apparently populated by either the sons of Javan, or all the posterity of Japheth - it isn't very clear.
2. These people were regarded as Gentiles. Obviously, they weren't descendants of Shem, so they were not semitic.
3. Although the origin of the naming of the island of Java is unclear, I can't help believing that it may have been among the islands populated by the sons of Javan. Just speculation, though.

Genesis 10:4

And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

1. Noah's great grandsons through Japheth's son, Javan, were: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

Genesis 10:3

And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.

1. Noah's great grandsons through Gomer, son of Japheth, were Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
2. It is good to keep track of one's posterity.

Genesis 10:2

The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

1. Japheth had 7 sons following the flood. They were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

Genesis 10:1

Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

1. The record now turns to the male descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
2. I wonder if there is any significance to the order of Noah's sons listed here. It is the same order they are listed in Genesis 5:32 and Genesis 6:10.

Genesis 9:29

And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

1. Noah lived for 950 years.

Genesis 9:28

And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

1. Noah lived for 350 years after the flood.
2. Noah may have survived to or nearly to the time Abram (Abraham) was born. Most scholars, however, hesitate to rely solely upon the genealogical information in the Old Testament for accurate dating.

Genesis 9:27

God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

1. Like the previous verse, this appears to be a prophecy concerning the future of Noah's posterity.
2. The posterity of Japheth will be numerous.
3. Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem, suggesting a close relationship of some kind between their posterity, some type of sheltering or supporting of Japheth's descendants by the descendants of Shem - that is, actual or spiritual Israel.
4. The descendants of Canaan shall be servants to the posterity of Japheth.
5. God may bless groups of people to grow numerous. In a broader sense God may exercise or neglect to exercise power or influence over factors affecting population growth.

Genesis 9:26

And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

1. Noah said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Shem."
2. Shem was apparently a worshipper of the LORD God.
3. If the LORD God was blessed, who blessed Him, and why did Noah say this?
4. Canaan was to be Shem's servant. To me, this actually reads as if Noah said that Canaan would be the LORD God's servant, but in context with the following verse it appears it is the way I have stated it.
5. Actually, there was and is nothing about being occupied as a servant that prevents a person from being a servant of God, especially to someone like Shem. So, I wonder if this isn't one of those curses that is a blessing in disguise. Many people in looking back over their lives recognize that what appeared to be a curse at the time was actually a great blessing to them.
6. In context with the following verse it seems fairly certain that Noah was prophecying concerning the future of his posterity.
7. The descendants of Shem would worship the LORD God (I don't believe this necessarily means always or perfectly).
8. The descendants of Canaan would be servants to the posterity of Shem. (There are all sorts of interpretations of this, but I don't see anything here supporting further conjecture.)

Genesis 9:25

And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

1. Noah pronounced a curse upon Canaan, one of Ham's four sons.
2. Canaan would be a servant to the servants of his brethren.
3. There appears to be no biblical explanation as to the reason why Canaan rather than Ham was targeted with this curse.
4. Noah, as a prophet, apparently had the right and power to pronounce a curse upon Canaan.

Genesis 9:24

And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

1. After waking Noah knew what Ham had done to him (which is more, I think, than we know from this account - has Paul Harvey done a "rest of the story" segment on this?).
2. How did Noah know what Ham had done? Was there evidence of some sort, or did the Lord tell him?
3. I think it's interesting that there's no mention of Noah feeling any accountability for what happened, which further suggests there is more to this story. Certainly if it were just a matter of Noah collapsing drunk and naked in his tent with the tent flap open so anyone could see, and it was just Ham's luck that he was the first to come by, then it seems to me it was Noah's problem, not Ham's. I doubt if that's the correct story. Many people have tried to figure this out. There's a lot of speculation. I'm just going to leave it alone.
4. If this story leaves out important details so as to cause confusion and misinterpretations, what guarantee do we have that this sort of thing does not occur in other parts of the Bible? Each student of the Bible, it seems to me, must come to grips with this issue. Fortunately, most Biblical teachings are repeated many times, so comparison can help resolve some confusing issues. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have other scriptural texts from the past, plus writings of living prophets, to which I can refer for a possible explanation, but those who believe the Bible to be the one and only source of revelation must deal with it as it stands here.

Genesis 9:23

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.

1. Shem and Japheth cleverly covered their father, Noah, without seeing him naked.
2. Shem and Japheth were either afraid or just didn't want to see their father naked.
3. In either case I wonder why it wasn't Ham and one of the others who did this. After all, Ham had already seen Noah. Why not minimize the risk of another seeing him?
4. Why didn't the brothers just wait for Noah to awaken and cover himself?
5. One's uncovered body is apparently not something for others to see, with the exception of one's spouse, as taught in the Adam and Eve story.

Genesis 9:22

And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

1. Ham saw his father lying naked in his tent, and he told his two brothers about it.
2. Ham had a son named Canaan.
3. How did Ham see his father? Was Noah's tent door open, or was Ham in Noah's tent for some reason? Where was Noah's wife? Why hadn't she covered her husband when he passed out? Was she dead by this time? Did she sleep in a separate tent?

Genesis 9:21

And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

1. Noah's efforts to grow a vineyard were successful.
2. Noah made wine from grapes he grew.
3. Noah's wine fermented. This was not just new, unfermented wine.
4. Noah drank enough to become intoxicated on at least one occasion.
5. On this one occasion he lay drunk and uncovered in his tent.
6. Noah still lived in a tent quite a while after leaving the ark. It was most likely more than a year after planting his vineyard before he would have been able to harvest grapes and make wine.

Genesis 9:20

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

1. Noah began to farm.
2. Noah started a vineyard.
3. Noah was still quite vigorous for a man over 500 years old.

Genesis 9:19

These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

1. All people on the earth are descendants of Japheth, Shem or Ham.
2. If so, from which sons did each of the races descend? Was one of the sons black or oriental, etc. in appearance? Did these racial characteristics develop later?

Genesis 9:18

And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.

1. Once again, Noah had three sons on the ark with him - Shem, Ham and Japheth.
2. Ham had a son named Canaan.

Genesis 9:17

And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

1. God told Noah that the rainbow was the token of the covenant between Him and all creatures upon the earth.
2. God tells prophets about covenants He makes with the people of the earth.

Genesis 9:16

And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

1. God made it crystal clear that He would always remember His covenant with all creatures on the earth whenever He looks at a rainbow.
2. God promised to keep a continual watch on the earth's weather, noticing the rainbows. Presumably, He is still doing so today.

Genesis 9:15

And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

1. Seeing the rainbow reminds the Lord of His covenant with us to no more destroy all living creatures on the earth with a flood.
2. The tokens of covenants are useful reminders of our obligations.

Genesis 9:14

And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

1. The token of God's covenant to no longer destroy the earth by flood is the rainbow that appears in clouds.

Genesis 9:13

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

1. The Lord's token of His covenant to never again destroy the earth by flood is the rainbow.
2. This suggests that rainbows may not have occurred prior to this time, but I have no proof nor explanation for this.

Genesis 9:12

And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

1. When God makes a covenant with mankind He may provide a token (sign or symbol) of it as well.
2. God included a token with this covenant.
3. This covenant applied to all subsequent generations of all living creatures that were then on the earth.