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The Sidonian Wound: How an Ancient Curse Still Speaks to Us Today
What a Strange Bible Story — and Jesus’ Response — Tells Us About Cycles of Hurt, Healing, and Hope
In Genesis 9, shortly after surviving the flood, Noah plants a vineyard, gets drunk, and ends up naked in his tent. Awkward.
One of his sons, Ham, sees him in this vulnerable state and tells his brothers. The brothers respond by respectfully covering their father without looking, but the damage is done. When Noah wakes and realises what happened, he doesn’t curse Ham directly — he curses Ham’s son, Canaan.
In the ancient world, a father’s curse was no small thing. It wasn’t just words; it was the withdrawal of favour, of blessing, of identity. A curse from your father meant the loss of something essential. It was rejection at the deepest level. It lingered. It spread. It stuck to you and your children like smoke in your clothes.
Canaan is cursed. And with him, his descendants. His eldest son, Sidon, goes on to father a people — so many, in fact, that Sidon becomes the name of a nation. That nation, the Sidonians, appears again and again throughout the Bible.
In Judges 10, the Sidonians are among those who conquer and oppress the Israelites. The wound from Noah’s tent…
