Noach 9:25 · unit 1

TT #62 · Parashas Noach · Fifth Aliyah · Passuk 9:25

The Complete Passuk

וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אָר֥וּר כְּנָ֑עַן עֶ֥בֶד עֲבָדִ֖ים יִֽהְיֶ֥ה לְאֶחָֽיו׃

And he said: “Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”

Chabad.org — 9:25

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to the episode of the African claimants before Alexander (Sanhedrin 91a).

Sefaria — Sanhedrin 91a

E-Daf image — Sanhedrin 91a (size=3)

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים — תָּנוּ רַבָּנָן: כְּשֶׁבָּאוּ בְּנֵי אֲפְרִיקִי לָדוּן עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל… אָמַר לָהֶם גְּבִיהָא בֶּן פְּסִיסָא: כְּתִיב אָרוּר כְּנָעַן עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים יִהְיֶה לְאֶחָיו — עֶבֶד שֶׁקָּנָה נְכָסִים, עֶבֶד לְמִי, נְכָסִים לְמִי?

English: “A slave of slaves” — When the Africans came to litigate with Israel… Geviha ben Pesisa said to them: “It is written ‘Cursed be Canaan, a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers’ — a slave who acquires property: the slave belongs to whom, and the property to whom?”

Type of Learning

Custom (application of the curse to a territorial claim).

What Is Learned

The status of Canaan as “slave of slaves” was invoked to refute a claim to the Land of Canaan by descendants of Cham.