Ham meaning

The name that occurs in the English Bible as Ham is really two completely different Hebrew names; one which is pronounced Cham (חם), and the other Ham (הם). They have two completely different meanings, but since English readers are so used to the name Ham, Ham it is. We'll call them Ham I (חם) and Ham II (הם):

Meaning

Hot, or: Protective Wall

Etymology

From the verb חם (ham), to be hot, or the verb חמה (hmh), to protect or surround.

Related names

• Via חם (ham): Ahumai, Emmaus, Gehenna, Hamath, Hamathite, Hamath-zobah, Hammath, Hammon, Hammoth-dor, Hammuel, Hamutal, Jahmai, Lebo-hamath

Ham 1 (spelled חם and probably pronounced as Cham) is the youngest son of Noah (Genesis 9:24). Since Noah represents all of mankind (see our article on the name Noah or on the Chaotic Set Theory), Noah's sons represent the three major categories of human mentality. Shem stands for the mindset that allows a worldview irrespective of the self. In Japheth mankind develops a so-called theory of mind, which is an acknowledgement and appreciation of other people's perspectives. And Ham represents the mind prior to the development of a theory of mind, which in human individuals would end at about one year of age.

The Hamite mind centers on self — self-preservation and personal gain — and is the most primitive and most animal of human mentalities. On a national level, the Hamite mind will allow for little more than rudimentary chiefdoms; nationalisms with very little regard for the merits of neighboring states or thoughts about the whole of mankind.

When Noah drank of the wine of his vineyard (which refers to mankind's culture, see our articles on the words כרם, kerem, meaning vineyard, and יין, yayan, meaning wine) and became drunk, Ham thought it was amusing, but Japheth and Shem walked in without looking and covered up their father. When Noah awoke, he cursed Ham (or rather Ham's son Canaan) and declared him the servant of his two brothers (Genesis 9:20-27).

This name Ham is identical to the adjective חם (ham), meaning warm, and also to the noun חם (ham), meaning father in law:

For the meaning of this name Ham, Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) confidently derives it from the verb חמם (hamam), meaning to be hot, and renders it Heat, Black. Then he goes off on the tried and commonly rejected ramble that connects blackness with sin. Jones rather reluctantly admits that Ham was the grandfather of Nimrod, the world's first emperor, but quickly relativizes this feat by fantastically stating, "no doubt [Ham] was the sole introducer of the worship of the sun," and thundering, "even while the hand of God was bearing him up in safety in the Ark of gopher wood, the leaven of his horrid idolatry was working in his breast".

What escapes the otherwise fine scholar is that:

• This version of the name Ham is also identical to חם (ham), father-in-law, from the unused root חמה (hmh) of which the cognates mean to protect or surround.
• In the Bible not blackness but whiteness is associated with sin. Miriam turned white because of her aggression against Moses' second wife, who was a Cushite and thus quite likely very black. And the bride of the Song of Solomon, often regarded as a type of the Church, was black as well (Song of Solomon 1:5). For more on black-and-white in the Bible, read our article Meet Mrs. God.

NOBSE Study Bible Name List simply reads Hot for Ham, but in view of the above, a closer rendering would be Passion or Intensity.

Meaning

Noisy

Etymology

From the verb המה (hama), to be noisy.

Related names

• Via המה (hama): Abihu, Baal-hamon, Ben-hinnom, Haman, Hamonah, Hamon-gog, Jehu, Malcam

Ham 2, which is spelled הם and pronounced as Ham, denotes a once-mentioned town where kings Amraphel, Arioch, Chedorlaomer and Tidal defeated the Zuzim during the war of four against five kings (Genesis 14:5).

Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names derives this Ham from the verb המה (hama), meaning cry aloud:

NOBSE Study Bible Name List incorrectly lists this Ham as one of the occurrences of Ham 1, for which it reads Hot. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names renders this version of the name Ham as Noisy.