Genesis 9:19 - 27

These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 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. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Apocryphal gospels attributes Noah’s drunkenness as a result of a wine-making venture with Satan himself, who poured the blood of slaughtered animals on the bases of the grapevine, a symbolic gesture alluding to the loss of innocence of those who consumes the wine made from the vine.

Why did Noah curse Canaan when it was Ham who saw him exposed? Moreover, why was Noah so indignant that Ham saw him exposed? Some suggest that Ham basically did something to Noah as well as seeing him exposed. The passage alludes that Noah was annoyed when he discovered out, "what his youngest child had done to him." Homosexuality and rape immediately comes to mind. However, the subsequent passages provides no other indication that Ham did anything more to Noah. Any inference to what actually transpired is purely a matter of conjecture.

An alternative theory is put forth, specifically based on a passage from Leviticus 20:11, “The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them”.

Taking this passage under consideration, one would immediate conclude that Ham had sexual intercourse with Noah’s wife, his own mother. While the figurative expression of
“uncovering his father’s nakedness” fits perfectly context wise, this theory is again laid bare when attempting to explain Japheth and Shem’s action of “went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father”.

Notwithstanding that, why did Noah curse Ham's child Canaan, when Canaan is not even a part of the incident and unlikely to have done anything? The debate rages on here. However, looking at the passages literally, one will almost certainly always arrive at a single conclusion.