Benjamin Tucker Tanner

“ The question is, Why did not Canaan and his posterity accompany the tribes of Ham into Africa? why this younger one remain? In after years the twelve tribes of Jacob marched up from Egypt—nor was one left behind. Why should not the four tribes of Ham march down? The youngest child is most generally the pet, the best beloved. Jacob loved Joseph better than all his brothers, because "he was the son of his old age." Human nature is one. Wherefore should Ham leave this son of his old age behind? ”

“ Even so must we learn from Moses the position of that Cush which the Gihon encompassed. One may say that the common knowledge of the earth, with the positions of the several peoples as well, would enable those generations to understand the position of Cush. So let it be, and does not that common knowledge as handed down by tradition, point with a steady finger towards African Ethiopia? ”

“ After whom was the land of Cush or Ethiopia named? Is there given us the name of such an individual? and is it probable that he was the first possessor of that land, and enjoyed the prerogative of naming it? In Gen. x. 6, the very next place where the word is met, it denotes a person. "And the sons of Ham, Cush and Mizraim, Phut and Canaan." Cush a son of Ham. No other individual of the same name is mentioned in all the Scripture. Must we not conclude that if the land of Cash was named after an individual, as it most undoubtedly was, that individual was Cush, the son of Ham? ”

“ Africa is the land of Ham, the Nile is the Gihon, Ethiopia the land of Cush. To enter into particulars, as to the precise period when the patriarchs migrated thither, and the manner how, with subsequent developments of government and society, would be impossible, and conjectures are useless. Living at this late day, only the mountain outlines of historical facts are seen. Let this suffice. They are distinctly drawn; let us mount the high ridges and travel backward, but let us not presume to look down into the valleys,for dense fog will meet us. ”

“ The conduct of Canaan is reported to him, he goes to see for himself, and his worst fears are more than realized. Having informed Shem and Japheth of the affair, he himself gives his attention to his irreverent son, while his brothers, assured of their father's nudity, go backward and cover him with a mantle.
If one will divest himself of prejudice, no blame can possibly be attached to Ham, by reason of what is declared in this verse. Must not the condition of the father come to the ears of the sons by some one? and must the bare fact of revealing the state of his father, incur guilt? ”

“ In what sense does Moses use the word כּוּש i. e. Cush and its compounds? It appears in his writings in the following places: Gen. ii. 13; x. 6, 7, 8; Numb. xii. 1. In the first of these, Gen. ii. 13, it is used as the name of a country: "And the name of the second river is Gihon, the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia or Cush." Where is that land? To which one of the three great continents shall we look? Might we not possibly find a ray of light in the name it bears; knowing that in ancient times cities and lands were invariably named after men? ”

“ In the use of all these nouns of relationship, the facts of the context must define their limit; they themselves are but general expressions of some kindred. Apply this rule to Gen. ix. 24, and it will read— not "his younger son," but "his younger grand-son." This is perfectly allowable, as is shown, while it gives harmony to the whole affair. By reason of the punishment inflicted the crime is fixed upon Canaan; and this fact of the context fixes and defines the full scope of the Hebrew, בֵּן. Canaan was the younger grandson as a matter of fact, and words must ever accord with facts. ”

“ To write a proper Introduction to a work after the middle of the nineteenth century, a man ought to be well posted, not only as to the literary merits of the work itself, but also, as to the strength of the arguments produced against it by opposing theories. ”

“ He who searches for truth has little to do with consequences, which often stand like spectres to frighten men from their honest pursuits. Such souls have received the command, "Go forward," and nought remains but to obey The single question here to be entertained is, Did Moses mean by the Gihon, his own familiar Nile? A common rule of criticism is, that an author must explain himself ”

“ Under such circumstances it would not be possible for an intelligent man, to write an intelligent Introduction to a Book. I am willing to help others, when I can really help them, and help, or at least do no harm to myself at the same time. ”

“ But, says one, the offense is plainly declared to have been committed by Ham. We contend that no offense can be proved from verse 22: "And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without."
Let us look at the incidents related. Noah had taken too freely of the juice of the grape, and in consequence was drunk. In this condition he made an immodest exhibition of himself. "Et nudatus in tabernaculo suo." Now, what was the action of the children and grandchildren of their aged sire? criminal action? Moses does not even intimate. ”

“ Likewise in verse 22, Ham is again designated as the father of Canaan. Canaan must have had a wide-spread notoriety; and the question presents itself, what had he done to achieve it? He was the youngest of four sons. The youngest do not usually have the greatest fame, all things being equal. Each of his three brothers were men of spirit: not likely to be overshadowed by a younger brother in deeds of moment. Each of them founded an empire ”

“ And again, "Mizraim is allowed to be the same with Menes, whom all historians declare to be the first king of Egypt." The ancient name remains to this day among the Arabians, who call Egypt, Mesre. Although M. Basnage has ventured to express the opinion that Mizraim was never in Egypt, yet are his footprints too legible not to be deciphered.
(C.) As to the posterity of Phut settling in Africa, the evidence in Scripture is, that he is invariably joined with his brethren, the Cushites. Jeremiah xlvi. 9, says, "Cush and Phut that handle the shield." ”

“ I am yours truly,
J. P. Campbell.
P. S. You must already be aware of the fact, that in my travels, I have no access to libraries, when away from my home; and that I am constantly preaching and doing Church business. ”

“ The root of it is אׇרַם, "to be red, ruddy," and was undoubtedly applied to man because of his ruddiness, or clay color, for in Hebrew all names are denotative. ↑ See Gesenius חׇם. ↑ Herodotus says, in regard to the manner of building ships on the Nile, "They do not use timber artificially carved, but bind the planks together with the bark of the byblus (or bulrush) made into ropes." ”