The Meaning of Genesis 9:27 Explained

Genesis 9:27

KJV: God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

YLT: God doth give beauty to Japheth, And he dwelleth in tents of Shem, And Canaan is servant to him.'

Darby: Let God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, And let Canaan be his bondman.

ASV: God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

God  shall enlarge  Japheth,  and he shall dwell  in the tents  of Shem;  and Canaan  shall be his servant. 

What does Genesis 9:27 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 9:27 mean?

May enlarge God Japheth and may he dwell in the tents of Shem and may be Canaan the servant unto him
יַ֤פְתְּ אֱלֹהִים֙ לְיֶ֔פֶת וְיִשְׁכֹּ֖ן בְּאָֽהֳלֵי־ שֵׁ֑ם וִיהִ֥י כְנַ֖עַן עֶ֥בֶד לָֽמוֹ

יַ֤פְתְּ  May  enlarge 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect Jussive, third person masculine singular
Root: פָּתָה 
Sense: to be spacious, be open, be wide.
אֱלֹהִים֙  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
לְיֶ֔פֶת  Japheth 
Parse: Preposition-l, 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.
וְיִשְׁכֹּ֖ן  and  may  he  dwell 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁכַן  
Sense: to settle down, abide, dwell, tabernacle, reside.
בְּאָֽהֳלֵי־  in  the  tents 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: אֹהֶל  
Sense: tent.
שֵׁ֑ם  of  Shem 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: the eldest son of Noah and progenitor of the Semitic tribes.
וִיהִ֥י  and  may  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Jussive, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
כְנַ֖עַן  Canaan 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: כְּנַעַן 
Sense: the 4th son of Ham and the progenitor of the Phoenicians and of the various nations who peopled the seacoast of Palestine.
עֶ֥בֶד  the  servant 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֶבֶד  
Sense: slave, servant.
לָֽמוֹ  unto  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: לְמֹו  
Sense: at, to, for, in, of, by, in reference to.