Ham cursed; Shem and Japheth blessed; Gentile calling foreshadowed
But one of them fell under the stroke of curses; the other two inherited the blessing because of their works. For the younger of them, called Ham, mocked his father; and because of the insult and contempt shown to his father he was condemned for a sin of impiety and cursed, and he made the curses fall back upon all who were born of him: so it came about that all his race after him was cursed, grew, and multiplied in sin. (cursed be Canaan)
On the contrary, Shem and Japheth, his brothers, because of their filial piety toward their father, were loaded with blessings. Now the curse of Ham, launched against him by his father Noah, was this: ‘Cursed be the child of Ham; let him be the servant of his brothers!’ (Gen 9:25) His children had a numerous posterity upon the earth; for fourteen generations it developed in their land, until the day when it was harvested by God, who made it undergo his judgment.
And just as the curse passed on, so also the blessing passed on to the race of him who was blessed, each in his order. For first Shem was blessed in these words: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and Ham shall be his servant.’ (Gen 9:26) The power of the blessing lies in this — that the God and Lord of all should be to Shem a peculiar possession of worship. And the blessing extended and reached unto Abraham, who was reckoned as descended in the tenth generation from the race of Shem. (genealogy Shem to Abram)
Now the blessing of Japheth is on this wise: ‘God shall enlarge unto Japheth, and he shall dwell in the house of Shem, and Ham shall be his servant.’ (Gen 9:27) That is: at the end of the ages he blossomed forth, at the appearing of the Lord, through the calling of the Gentiles, when God enlarged unto them the calling; and their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (Rom 10:18; Ps 19:4) The enlarging, then, is the calling from among the Gentiles — that is, the Church — and Japheth’s dwelling in the house of Shem signifies dwelling in the inheritance of the fathers, having received in Jesus Christ the rights of the firstborn. (; firstborn among many brothers)
Greek
20. — Mais Tun d'eux tomba sous le coup des maledictions; les deux autres heriterent de la benediction a cause de leurs ceuvres. En efl'et, le plus jeune d'entre eux, appele Cham, se moqua de son pere; et ä cause de l'insulte et du mepris temoigne ä son pere, il fut condamne pour peche d'impiete, et maudit, et il fit retomber les maledictions sur tous ceux qui naquirent de lui : il arriva donc que toute sa race apres lui fut maudite, s'aecrut et se multiplia dans le peche. Au contraire, Sem et Japhet, ses freres, ä cause de leur piete filiale envers leur pere, furent combles de benedictions. Or, la malediction de Cham, lancee contre lui par son pere Noe, etait celle-ci : « Maudit soitlefils de Cham, qu'il soit le serviteur de ses freres 3 ! » Ses enfants eurent une nom- breuse posterite sur la terre; durant quatorze siecles, eile se developpa dans leur pays, jusqu'au jour uü eile fut moissonnee par Dieu, qui lui fit subir sa 1. Cette explication de Genese, vi, 2-4, etait courante au temps d'Irenee et se retrouve dans beaueoup d'anciens ecrivains. Elle remonte aux apoeryphes juifs. T.) 2. Ceci — est encore une tradition juive. Ce sont les anges prevaricateurs qui ont fait connaitre, aux femmes auxquelles ils se sont unis, tous les secrets de la coquetterie feminine, le fard, lesartiflces detoilette, lesphiltres et les incantations d'amour. Cf. Tehtulliex, De eultu feminarum, 1, 2; II, 10; S. Cypbien, De habitu virginum, 14-17; el le Livre d'Re- noch, eh. viii. l-'.i(edit. F. Martin , auquel renvoie Teftullien. T. —3. Gen., ix, 25. PATR. OH. - T. XII. — F. 5. •' 1 766 SAINT IRRNER. [11/,] eondamnation. Car lcs Chananeens, et les Cetheens, et les Pherezeens, et les Heveens, et les Amorrheens, et les Jebuseens, et les Gergeseens, et les habi- tants de Sodome, de l'Arabie et de la Phenicie, tous les Egyptiens et les Libyens ' sont de la race de Cham : sur eux tomberent les maledictions qui frappent longtemps les impies. 21. -- De meine que la maledietion suivit son cours, ainsi la benediction alla s'etendant sur la posterite benie, a l'egard de chacun selon son rang. Sem, le premier d'entre eux, fut beni en ces termes : « Berti soit le Seigneur, le Dien de Sem! Et Cham sera sqn'serviteur 3 : » L'eflicacite de cette benediction se manifesta en ce que Dieu, le Seigneur de tous, devint la possession privi- legiee de la piete de Sem. Cette benediction, en se developpant, arriva ä Abraham, liumble rejeton de la posterite de
About this text
Irenaeus’s short handbook of the apostolic preaching (Epideixis), preserved in Armenian. English here is a densified reading translation for study. Prior English exists (Robinson / Wilson) — this is not an Original English Translation.
English follows the Armenian of Patrologia Orientalis XII.5. Barthoulot’s French was used as a sense-check only. Robinson (1920) and Wilson’s prior English exist and were checked for independence — this page is densified English, not Original English Translation / no-previous-English.
Witnesses
- Copy-text PO XII.5 Epideixis (Armenian, Matenadaran M3710) (Armenian · §§1–10)
- Checked print Barthoulot French (PD) (French · §§1–10)
- Prior English Check Robinson 1920 / Wilson English (English · full work (prior complete English exists))
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.