The sons of Noah: that Noah had three sons by the names given here is affirmed in 5.32; 6.10; 7.13. Who went forth from the ark means “who left the boat” or “who came out of the boat.” Their coming out of the boat was after the flood ended.

Ham was the father of Canaan breaks the rhythm of verse 18. This information seems to be introduced at this point in anticipation of the cursing of Canaan in verses 25-27. Some scholars believe this identification was inserted at a later time, or that the writer of this section is working from a different tradition than that which is behind the previous paragraph. Note that Good News Translation places this information between parentheses. Languages have different ways to handle parenthetical information, and translators should follow ways that are natural in narrative discourse rather than presenting the reader with marks that may be unfamiliar. In any event the words are to be translated. We may need to say in translation “Ham had a son named Canaan” or “Ham’s son was Canaan.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .