Matthew Poole and continuators on Genesis 9:26

26. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his Servant.

Quest. What is this to Sem? For it is not Sem, but God, who is here blessed. Answ. 1. Shem also is here blessed, and that in the highest degree, because the Lord hath here declared himself to be Shems God. Now for God to be said to be any mans God is every where mentioned as the height of blessedness. See Gen. 17. 7. Psal. 144. 15. Ier. 31. 33. Matth. 22. 32. But the phrase is here justly varied. The curse is fixed upon Ham, because man alone is the Author of his own sin, and the cause of his ruine: But because God is the Author and Fountain of all the good that man either doth or receiveth, therefore the blessing is emphatically given to God; who only doth the work and of right is to receive all the glory, yet so as it redounds to Shem also. And Shem is here peculiarly mentioned, not Iapheth, both for the comfort of the Israelites, whose Progenitor he was, and because this blessing was first seated and long continued in Shems Posterity alone, Iapheths Posterity being for a long time excluded from it, and because the Lord Christ, who is often called the Lord and God in Scripture did take Flesh from Shem, and so the Incarnation of Christ may be here foretold, and Shem highly honoured and blessed in this, that he should be the Father of Christ according to the Flesh, Rom. 9. 5. Answ. 2. This may be a short and abrupt manner of speech, which is frequent in the Hebrew Tongue, and it may signifie that Shem should be so eminently blessed, that men beholding it should be wrapt up into admiration, and break forth into the praises of that God who gave such gifts unto men and did so great things for S[illegible: 1+ letters]m. Answ. 3. The words may be otherwise rendred, either thus b[illegible: 1+ letters]essed▪ O Lord God, let Shem be, i. e. Do thou bless him: So it is only the construct form, Elohe, for the absolute Elohim, which is not unusual in Scripture: or thus, Blessed of the Lord God be Shem, or shall Shem be. So here is only a defect of the Hebrew particle min, which is oft wanting.

Marginal references: Heb. Servant to them.