The nakedness of Noah

Before we finish Genesis 9, we come across an interesting story about the nakedness of Noah. The story follows immediately after God's rainbow covenant and leaves a lot of room for wild interpretations.
The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.
These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled (Genesis 9:18-19).
Fair enough. This is a simple genealogy which will be fully expanded in Genesis 10. "Ham was the father of Canaan." Innocent enough. Canaan would be the ancestor of the Canaanites. So, when the Israelites occupied Canaan, the Promised Land, centuries later, it was legitimate enough.
Later, we are told that Noah was a husbandman. He planted a vineyard, brewed some wine, enjoyed it and had himself drunk.
and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent (Genesis 9:21).
Natural enough. When you are intoxicated with alcohol, you feel hot and remove your clothing. What came next suggested something else had happened.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside (Genesis 9:22).
When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,
he said, "Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers." (Genesis 9:24-25)
First of all, we now know that Ham was the youngest son, though his name always appeared in the middle (Genesis 5:32, 6:10, 7:13, 9:18).
What is really mind-boggling is the fact that Canaan, the son of Ham, was cursed instead of Ham. Ham saw Noah's nakedness, not Canaan. Why was Ham's son cursed instead of Ham himself? The whole story only involves these 4 male-survivors of the Great Deluge. Why was Canaan suddenly brought in to bear the brunt for his father? I think we need to explore more the meaning of "nakedness" in Leviticus. You might protest why I should consult Leviticus. Don't forget, the first 5 books of the Old Testament form one unit, the Torah.
Nakedness usually means nudity. But in Leviticus, "to have sexual intercourse with someone" is almost always expressed as "to uncover the nakedness of someone". The only exception is Leviticus 20:17 where it is expressed as "to see the nakedness of someone". Put this way, Noah was probably having sex with his wife in Genesis 9:21. Ham saw his father Noah making love with his father's wife and told his brothers outside (Genesis 9:22). Now, a behind-the-scene 5^th character is introduced in this interpretation. Still, it is difficult to explain why Canaan, Ham's son, was cursed.
Armed with Leviticus 20:17, it is not difficult for some scholars to stretch their imagination wild to come up with some outrageous interpretations. Ham had sex with his father's wife who gave birth to Canaan! That was why Canaan, the outcome of the first incest, was cursed by Noah.
Don't complain if you find this interpretation distasteful. Remember, after the flood, there were only 4 men and 4 women. From them, the whole earth was peopled (Genesis 9:19). Furthermore, Adam and Eve gave birth only to sons. How can we expect them to give birth to grandsons, unless ... ? Therefore, in this primitive stage of the development of societies, there was no incest taboo. Only when a society has reached a certain level of economic development will it be necessary for that society to institutionalize the concept of incest. Marriage inside a family would never yield extra economic gains. Marrying your daughters out would, thus incest between brothers and sisters became a taboo. Similarly, allowing the generation boundary to break down would generate a lot of inheritance disputes, thus incest between parents and children became a taboo. Solving this problem once and for all, Noah declared Canaan a slave to his "brothers" Shem, Ham and Japheth. As a slave, Canaan would have no share in Noah's inheritance. The Bible cannot be too explicit!
Now, let's go back to see what Shem and Japheth had done.
Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness (Genesis 9:23).
Whatever Ham had done, whether he had simply seen his father's nudity or had actually made love with his father's wife, Shem and Japheth returned the dignity to their father instead. But what had they actually done? What does this "walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father" mean? Since the Bible cannot be too explicit, readers are free to imagine.
One last point before I leave, this interpretation in the light of Leviticus needs a longer time-span to carry through. But once again, the time-frame of this story is not clear. It can be one day. It can be more than decades.
In conclusion, Genesis 9:18-27 explains why Canaan would be a slave to Israel. Most probably, this is also the first incest story with a consequence in the Bible.

Dear Lord, today was the last school day of my S.5 students. These kids are rather sentimental. Many girls shed tears in the classrooms. Koko and Cheryl came to take photos with me and tears burst out from them. I thanked them and reassured them that they had been very supportive of me in these two years. Lord, I pray for all my students. Forgive me for the stupid acts that I had done to them. I entrust them into Your loving care. Amen.