Note that both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, like most other modern versions, print verses 25-27 in indented lines. This is to show the somewhat poetic form of these lines. The lines are short and the thoughts tightly compressed. Verse 25 begins with a curse on Canaan that is balanced in 26-27 with blessings for Shem and Japheth. Each of the verses ends with a refrain concerning the slave status of Canaan in relation to his brothers. The content of this short passage can be more effectively read if it is printed in lines that reveal its poetic structure.

If we take the story as a simple narrative, it seems very strange that Noah’s curse is against Canaan rather than against Ham. One explanation of this is that the words for “Ham the father of” in verse 22 should be dropped, so that it was in fact Canaan who saw the naked Noah. This of course conflicts with other details in the text of chapters 9 and 10.

Others suggest that the purpose of these verses is to lay the groundwork for the later conflict between the descendants of Shem (Israelites) and the descendants of Canaan (Canaanites) in the taking of the promised land. Thus Cursed be Canaan is thought to be a curse that really relates to the subjugation of the Canaanites to Israel. Furthermore, the association of the curse of Canaan with sexual misbehavior is interpreted as being related to Canaanite sexual practices in their religious life. In this regard Lev 18.24-30 is often cited.

Another school of thought attaches to the names of Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan a bewildering array of nations, but with little or no historical evidence. However, it is also possible that these names are the names of individuals, and that they should not be associated with anyone but themselves.

Also to be considered is the suffering of children for the sins of the fathers, a theme that is put forward and later opposed in the Old Testament.

While there may be some truth in these explanations, they do not solve for translators the problems associated with the use of the name Canaan in the text that they have to translate. As the text stands there seem to be two possibilities open to translators.
(1) The first is to understand that the curse is really against Ham, but that it is directed against his son Canaan because the effect of the curse is for future generations. But if this is the case, there is a problem in the use of the term his brothers at the end of the verse, since that reference must be to Shem and Japheth. There are, however, other places in Genesis where the Hebrew ʾach, which normally means “brother,” is used of other close male relatives; Revised Standard Version translates the term “kinsman” or “kinsmen” in 13.8; 14.14, 16; 29.12, 15. One recent translation, for instance, has a footnote which says that the Hebrew term for “brothers” can also mean “uncles” (literally “relatives on the father’s side”). This approach is recommended for translators in situations where an explanation like this about kinship terms is meaningful.
(2) The second possibility is to take the name Canaan as being used as a substitute for the name of the person who is really intended, Ham. In some cultures and languages where the avoidance of personal names is normal, the name of the son of a person is automatically substituted for the person’s own name; and the text as it stands is naturally taken that way in these language situations. Where this is not the case, a note can give this explanation to readers; and this is recommended for translators who are not able to follow (1) above.

Cursed translates a form of the same verb used in 3.14 and also in 3.17; 4.11; 5.29. See 3.14 for discussion. In languages that do not use the passive, it will often be necessary to restructure Cursed be to say, for example, “I curse Canaan,” “Canaan, I curse you,” or as Good News Translation “A curse on Canaan.” In languages that have a regular formula for cursing, that formula will usually be appropriate in this context.

A slave of slaves translates what is literally “slave slaves,” which is a kind of superlative meaning “the lowest of slaves,” “the most miserable slave.” Speiser says “The phrase points evidently to the inferior social and political status of Canaanites.” He goes on to ask “Was this an accomplished fact at the time of composition, or is the allusion no more than a wishful projection into the future, as the context would seem to suggest?” Slave translates the Hebrew word for a male slave or servant. The reference here is to someone who is fully under the authority and control of a master.

In some languages there is no term for slave but only something akin to “worker” or “employee.” In these cases it may be necessary to say, for example, “You will be the poorest of all your brothers’ workers,” “You will work for your brothers harder than any other worker,” or “Your brothers will force you to work more than any other worker.” Translators should consider providing a footnote, if the term for “slave” is not suitable.

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 .