When something is repeated in scripture, it might be because you are supposed to pay attention to it. Underline it. Highlight it.
I wondered why the text uses this word אֲחֹרַנִּית (ahoraneeth) twice in the same sentence. Backwards, or Reverse.
But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were [a]turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
Genesis 9:23 (NASB)
[a] Lit backward
If you’ve followed along, you know that I have to chase these words down and try to find meaning in them and their usage in the text. Sometimes, this results in dead ends, but often it’s quite enlightening.
But sometimes, it gets very interesting…
One learning is that Genesis is full of spiritual versions of words that later are demonstrated in physical words.
Examples:
Good is the spiritual root of beautiful
Shame is the spiritual root of naked/uncovered
So we’re supposed to view them in a related way. This is the nature of parables.
The Genesis Ark is covered inside and out in “pitch,” and we later learn that this word is the same word used for “atonement.” In Exodus, when Moses is in the basket (same word: Ark), it’s also covered in “pitch,” but it’s the natural version of this word. But it’s linked.
And then there is the relationship between the Genesis Ark (“tayVah”) and the Exodus Ark (“ahRon”) of the Covenant. Same concept… except different words are used. One covered in pitch/atonement, the other covered in gold/purity. Sort of like our house vs God’s house? Maybe.
So anyhow, this word “backwards” appears here in Genesis 9, and the next time we see it is in 1 Samuel 4.
Samuel learns that his two wicked sons have died and that the Ark of the Covenant has been taken. In his shock, he falls backwards and dies.
Then the one who brought the news replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great defeat among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas are also dead; and the ark of God has been taken.” When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. And so he judged Israel for forty years.
1 Samuel 4:17-18 (NASB)
Isn’t that interesting?
Eli has two wicked sons who die, and Noah has two good sons who are blessed. The Ark was taken away instead of God’s people exiting it. Eli falls backwards, breaks his neck, and is forever shamed in the text for being fat vs. the two good sons walking in backwards to protect Noah’s dignity to prevent further shame. These stories seem so connected.
Kind of weird, right? But stranger yet, we later have three back to back instances in Scripture that point to another set of “backwards.”
It’s when Elijah demonstrates the power of God to Hezekiah. He appears to reverse the clock, and then set it forward again by 10-degrees.
So Hezekiah said, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but have the shadow turn backward ten steps.”
2 Kings 20:10 (NASB)Then Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
2 Kings 20:11 (NASB)Behold, I will make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.
Isaiah 38:8 (NASB)
Incidentally, ten degrees by the sun-dial equates to… 40 minutes. And we’ve already learned that 40 = testing or trials. It represents a time of testing.
So here’s an interpretation:
Noah cursed Canaan instead of forgiving him. He thinks he has good reason for this: he wants vengeance.
We can choose vengeance (Noah’s way) or forgiveness (God’s way). There’s time to consider it – a time of testing where God makes the clock stand still. Through our forgiveness or acting out in wrath, we move the sun. We either move forward or backward. We create or destroy.
That’s what forgiveness and wrath do: they create and they destroy. They move creation forward or they undo it and send it back into chaos.
Perhaps we’re meant to see this and understand that time is connected to all of this. God is telling us how to move through time rightly.
The last, and possibly most important instance of “backwards” is in the center of the listings, in 1 Kings 18. This is when Elijah faces off against the prophets of Ba’al, when he calls down fire from heaven.
He prays that God turns the clock of hearts… “backwards.” Back to Him.
Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that You, Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back.
—
And here’s another thought:
Based on these connections, I suspect Noah did not merely curse Canaan. He pummeled him with his fists.
Why?
Because Eli’s sons names are as follows:
Phinehas: – root meaning: mouth. This points to the curse from Noah’s mouth.
Hophni – root meaning: fist. This points to the physical beating from Noah’s hands.
Their deaths points to undoing all of Noah’s vengeance as God turns the clock back.