What follows next is a sequence of three related events. But it is not really clear what the time relation of these events is to what we are told in verse 20. The Revised Standard Version punctuation, and use of the connective word and to link Noah’s drinking with the previous statement, suggest that this is the story of what happened when the first grapes of the vineyard were ripe. Many other versions also read this way. But the Hebrew does not require such a close link; and it may be just as realistic to set this story at an indefinite later time. In other words Noah may not have got drunk every time he drank some wine; and he may not have taken his clothes off in his tent every time he got drunk. A number of translations take this indefinite approach; for example, one has “One time, when Noah drank some wine, he got drunk and he….”
He drank of the wine means “he drank some wine [fermented from the grapes he raised].” Wine translates one of a number of words used in the Hebrew Old Testament meaning alcoholic fermented grape juice. Some have interpreted Noah’s drunkenness as the result of his not knowing what wine would do to his senses.
Many societies have fermented drinks such as “beer,” and wine that is made from a variety of fruits as well as from plants and from some varieties of the palm tree. A term for an intoxicating drink made from grain such as “beer” may be the only local equivalent. However, since wine is made by fermenting grape juice, it may be better to avoid a term that involves grain. Distilled alcoholic beverages were not known in ancient times. In some cases wine may be translated by a descriptive phrase such as “fermented fruit juice.” Because the growing of grapes was a vital part of Middle East agricultural life, translators should consider providing the reader with a note. For example, in some languages unfamiliar with vineyards, we may say “In ancient Israel large gardens were planted with grapevines on which grew clusters of grapes. Grapes were pressed to make juice, which was allowed to ferment into wine, a drink that could make a person drunk.”
The effect of drinking the wine is he became drunk. Nearly all societies understand or practice drinking to the point of intoxication. Even where drunkenness is extremely rare, it seems to be universally known. Many languages have terms for degrees of drunkenness. Here the drunkenness is extreme, since it caused Noah to fall asleep. Revised English Bible emphasizes this element with “He drank so much of the wine that….”
At some point in his drunkenness, the story suggests, Noah removed his clothing. Thus the third and most significant event is he lay uncovered in his tent. It should be noted that the text nowhere criticizes Noah for his drinking or becoming drunk, but dire consequences result from the disgrace of his being seen naked. Uncovered translates the reflexive form of a verb meaning to expose oneself. In its causative form it is used in Exo 20.26, in which God prohibits the construction of steps on the altar, “that your nakedness be not exposed on it.” See also 2 Sam 6.20; 10.4. The shame is for a man to have his genitals seen. Some interpreters take the expression “uncover the nakedness” in Lev 18.6-20 to refer to seeing the relative naked, but there the context makes clear that the expression refers to incest or having sexual relations with the person.
In translation it is important to make the text read as naturally as possible in the description of what Noah did. Noah’s condition is that of total nakedness, with his private parts exposed. Translators need to be sensitive to the needs for public reading when selecting expressions that describe this state. In many cultures stories about people getting drunk, and what they do when they are drunk, are generally told in informal situations and in a rather colloquial way. And it is hard not to see the humorous side of this narrative. Examples of different ways of expressing this part of the story are “… he got drunk, then he took off all his clothes, and he was sleeping naked in his tent” and “Well, one day he drank some wine and got drunk. All his clothes were off and he was sleeping in nothing in his tent.”
Tent: see 4.20.
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 .