Why did Noah curse Ham's descendants for seeing him naked? (Genesis 9:20_)
Does the Bible mention anything about large land animals? If so were please?
A commentary on the subject since just reading the verse about Noah cursing Caanan doesn't give much information on why Noah pronounced this curse on Ham's descendant.
Wine is a mocker (Prov. 20:1), and may deceive the wisest of men if they are not watchful. Drunkenness deforms and degrades the temple of the Holy Spirit, which we are, weakens moral principle and thus exposes a man to countless evils. He loses control both of physical and of mental faculties. Noah's intemperance brought shame to a respectable old man, and subjected one who was wise and good to derision and scorn. That Ham is again called the father of Canaan seems to imply that both father and son had similar unholy inclinations that revealed themselves, not only in the incident
described here, but later in the religious practices of a whole nation. Furthermore, it shows that the event took place some time after the Flood, when Canaan, the fourth son of Ham (ch. 10:6), was already born. The sin of Ham was not an unintentional transgression. He may have seen his fathers shameful condition accidentally, but instead of being filled with sorrow over his fathers folly, he rejoiced in what he saw and found delight in
publishing it. Hams two older brothers did not share his perverted feelings. Adam also had had two wellsons, Abel and Seth, and one child of sin, Cain. Although all had received the same parental love and training, sin manifested itself much more markedly in one than in the others. Now the same spirit of depravity breaks forth in one of Noah's children, while the older
sons, reared in the same home and under the same conditions as Ham, show an admirable spirit of decency and self As the evil trends of criminal Cain were perpetuated in his descendants, Ham's degraded nature revealed itself further in his offspring. When Noah regained consciousness and reason he learned of what had happened during his sleep, probably by making inquiry as to the reason for the garment covering him. His younger son, literally, his son, the little one, meaning the youngest son, refers to Ham.
The curse being pronounced on Canaan, Ham's fourth son, rather than on the perpetrator of the crime himself, has been taken by many commentators as evidence that Canaan had really been the culprit and not Ham, and that he is meant in v. 24 as the youngest member of the Noachic family. The church Father Origen mentions the tradition that Canaan first saw the shame of his grandfather, and told it to his father. It is not impossible that Canaan had
shared in his father's evil deed. Noahs curse does not seem to have been pronounced resentment, but rather as a prophecy. The prophecy does not fix Canaan in particular or Hams sons in
general in the bonds of an iron destiny. It is merely a prediction of what God foresaw and announced through Noah. Presumably Canaan already walked in the sins of his father, and those sins became such a strong feature in the national character of Canaans descendants that God later ordered their destruction. Shem has subdued Japheth, and Japheth has subdued Shem, but Ham has never
subdued either.
Regarding large animals of the Bible. You mention "large
land animals", probably referring to dinosaur type creatures. I doubt that the Bible refers to any of these. You understand that the names of animals in the numerous translations that we have are the closest names that the translators could come up with which we can understand as applied to their evaluation of the creatures of antiquity.
Behemoth Job 40:15