The Meaning of Genesis 9:23 Explained

Genesis 9:23

KJV: 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.

YLT: And Shem taketh -- Japheth also -- the garment, and they place on the shoulder of them both, and go backward, and cover the nakedness of their father; and their faces are backward, and their father's nakedness they have not seen.

Darby: And Shem and Japheth took the upper garment and both laid it upon their shoulders, and went backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were turned away, that they saw not their father's nakedness.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Genesis 9:23 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 9:18-29 - Noah's Three Sons
Noah's sin reminds us how weak are the best of men; liable to fall, even after the most marvelous deliverances. The love of strong drink will drag a preacher of righteousness into the dust. But if our brethren sin, let us not parade or tell their faults, but cover them with the mantle of divine love. We may abhor the sin, but let us restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, remembering that we also may be tempted. See Galatians 6:1-18 :l-4. The Semitic races have been the source of religious light and teaching to the world. God has been known in their tents. The Japhetic races are the great colonizers and populators of the world, overflowing their own boundaries, and participating in the religious privileges of the Shemites. The progressive ideas of the race of Japheth, which, of course, includes the Indo-European race, have also pervaded the world. The Hamitic races, of which Canaan was one, have always gravitated downward. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 9

1  God blesses Noah and his sons, and grants them flesh for food
4  Blood and murder are forbidden
8  God's covenant, of which the rainbow was constituted a pledge
18  Noah's family replenishes the world
20  Noah plants a vineyard,
21  Is drunken, and mocked by his son;
25  Curses Canaan;
26  Blesses Shem;
27  Prays for Japheth, and dies

What do the individual words in Genesis 9:23 mean?

But took Shem and Japheth - a garment and laid [it] on the shoulders of the two of them and went backward and covered - the nakedness of their father and their faces [were] backward and the nakedness of their father not they saw
וַיִּקַּח֩ שֵׁ֨ם וָיֶ֜פֶת אֶת־ הַשִּׂמְלָ֗ה וַיָּשִׂ֙ימוּ֙ עַל־ שְׁכֶ֣ם שְׁנֵיהֶ֔ם וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙ אֲחֹ֣רַנִּ֔ית וַיְכַסּ֕וּ אֵ֖ת עֶרְוַ֣ת אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וּפְנֵיהֶם֙ אֲחֹ֣רַנִּ֔ית וְעֶרְוַ֥ת אֲבִיהֶ֖ם לֹ֥א רָאֽוּ

וַיִּקַּח֩  But  took 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
שֵׁ֨ם  Shem 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: the eldest son of Noah and progenitor of the Semitic tribes.
וָיֶ֜פֶת  and  Japheth 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יֶפֶת  
Sense: the 3rd son of Noah whose descendants after the flood settled on the coastal lands of the Mediterranean spreading north into Europe and parts of Asia.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הַשִּׂמְלָ֗ה  a  garment 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: שִׂמְלָה  
Sense: wrapper, mantle, covering garment, garments, clothes, raiment, a cloth.
וַיָּשִׂ֙ימוּ֙  and  laid  [it] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
שְׁכֶ֣ם  the  shoulders 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שְׁכֶם  
Sense: shoulder, back.
שְׁנֵיהֶ֔ם  of  the  two  of  them 
Parse: Number, mdc, third person masculine plural
Root: שְׁנַיִם  
Sense: two.
וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙  and  went 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אֲחֹ֣רַנִּ֔ית  backward 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אֲחֹרַנִּית  
Sense: backwards, back part, the rear.
וַיְכַסּ֕וּ  and  covered 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: כָּסָה  
Sense: to cover, conceal, hide.
אֵ֖ת  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
עֶרְוַ֣ת  the  nakedness 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: עֶרְוָה  
Sense: nakedness, nudity, shame, pudenda.
אֲבִיהֶ֑ם  of  their  father 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
וּפְנֵיהֶם֙  and  their  faces 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
אֲחֹ֣רַנִּ֔ית  [were]  backward 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אֲחֹרַנִּית  
Sense: backwards, back part, the rear.
וְעֶרְוַ֥ת  and  the  nakedness 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: עֶרְוָה  
Sense: nakedness, nudity, shame, pudenda.
אֲבִיהֶ֖ם  of  their  father 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
רָאֽוּ  they  saw 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.