Why did Noah Curse Canaan?

I saw a bad theory:

Why Did Noah Curse Canaan Instead of Ham? | The Real Sin in the Tent
Unforsaken | 2 Jan. 2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ct5J7IqhIk

[I'm not making it clickable, feel free to copy-paste if you must torment yourself, but here is my answer:]

Idiocy.

The solution is far less dramatic (within Noah's close family).

1) Canaan was the first to test the wine, got drunk, and
2) Noah asked him how much he could safely drink
3) but Canaan gave him too much.

Woe to him that giveth drink to his friend, and presenteth his gall, and maketh him drunk, that he may behold his nakedness
[Habacuc (Habakkuk) 2:15]

Woe is a synonym for "cursed be" and "drunk" and "nakedness" are direct matches to Genesis 9.

Now, this supposes that Canaan was already old enough to taste wine (as he was already old enough to be a servant). This means, there were other people alive than just the 8 on the Ark plus the grandchildren of Noah. Noah's embarassment could have social consequences and have led to Nimrod's rise to power.

Unforsaken

@GodsUnforsaken

That theory simply is not in the text. Genesis does not say Canaan tested the wine, advised Noah, or got him drunk, and it does not place Canaan in the tent at all. It explicitly says Noah drank, became drunk, and Ham saw his father’s nakedness. Quoting Habakkuk does not rewrite Genesis, and importing later verses to invent a new character role is not exegesis, it is speculation. The narrative is clear, the actors are named, and the attempt to shift the event onto Canaan contradicts the plain reading of the passage.

Hans-Georg Lundahl

@hglundahl

@GodsUnforsaken "Genesis does not say Canaan tested the wine, advised Noah, or got him drunk"

No, but the parallels between Genesis 9 and Habacuc 2:15 are striking enough to justify reading this or some very similar thing between the lines.

Unlike my theory, yours is drawing from nowhere at all in the Holy Scriptures.