Genesis 9 · a question people ask
What exactly did Ham do?
The text says Ham "saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside" (9:22), while his brothers covered their father without looking. Noah later "knew what his youngest son had done to him" (9:24). Protestants read this in two main ways.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
He looked, and spread it
Ham saw his father exposed and told his brothers instead of covering him. His brothers' careful response, walking in backwards so they wouldn't see, shows how shameful his looking and telling were. On this reading, what Ham "had done" (9:24) is exactly what 9:22 describes.
Genesis 9:22-23
Something worse
In the law, "uncover the nakedness" describes forbidden sexual relations (Leviticus 18:6-7), and "sees her nakedness" is used the same way (Leviticus 20:17). With 9:24's "what his youngest son had done to him", some read the account as a restrained way of describing a more serious act, though the text doesn't say what.
Genesis 9:24 · Leviticus 18:6-7 · Leviticus 20:17
The verses
“Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness. Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him.”