Texts in Conversation
In Genesis 9, Noah reacts to something done to him while drunk, though the story never says how he learned what happened to him. The Aramaic translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan fills in this narrative gap by saying it was revealed to him in a dream.
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Genesis 9:24
Hebrew Bible
23 Shem and Japheth took the garment and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor he learned what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said,“Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves he will be to his brothers.”
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 9:24
Targum
23 But Shem and Japheth took a mantle, placed it on both their shoulders, and going backwards, covered their father’s nakedness; their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew by being told in a dream what had been done to him by Ham his son, who was slight in merit because he was the cause of his not begetting a fourth son. 25 And he said, 'Cursed be Canaan, who is his fourth son. A slave reduced to slavery shall he be to his brothers.'
Date: 300-1200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, alone among the Targums, explains how Noah could have known what had happened to him when he was drunk. The source of Pseudo-Jonathan’s addition is not known. Pseudo-Jonathan sometimes tells how hidden things were revealed to different people (compare Exodus 1:15; 32:20, 28; Numbers 31:18; Deuteronomy 21:8). ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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