Genesis 9:26-27 New English Translation

²⁶He also said,

“Worthy of praise is^[a] the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem!^[b]
²⁷May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers!^[c]
May he^[d] live^[e] in the tents of Shem
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth!”^[f]

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Footnotes

Genesis 9:26 tn Heb “blessed be.”
Genesis 9:26 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Genesis 9:27 tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.sn There is a wordplay (paronomasia) on the name Japheth. The verb יַפְתְּ (yaft, “may he enlarge”) sounds like the name יֶפֶת (yefet, “Japheth”). The name itself suggested the idea. The blessing for Japheth extends beyond the son to the descendants. Their numbers and their territories will be enlarged, so much so that they will share in Shem’s territories. Again, in this oracle, Noah is looking beyond his immediate family to future generations. For a helpful study of this passage and the next chapter, see T. O. Figart, A Biblical Perspective on the Race Problem, 55-58.
Genesis 9:27 sn There is some debate over whether God or Japheth is the subject. On the one hand, the brothers acted together and the refrain ending vv. 26 and 27 is the same, which suggests that v. 26 is about Shem and v. 27 is about Japheth. But it is not clear what it would mean for Japheth to live in Shem’s tents. A similar phrase occurs in Ps 78:55 where it means for Israel to occupy Canaan, but there is no reason in this context to expect Japheth to be blessed at the expense of Shem and occupy his territory. If this applies to Japheth, it would make more sense for it to mean that Japheth would participate in the blessings of Shem, but that is not clear for this phrase. On the other hand it is typical to keep the same subject if a new one is not explicitly introduced, suggesting that God is the subject here (see W. Kaiser, The Messiah in the Old Testament, 44-46). In addition, the phrase שָׁכַן בּ (shakhan b…, “to dwell in/among” is often used of the Lord dwelling among Israel, in Zion, making his name dwell there, or the Tabernacle dwelling among them. Referring to the “tents” (plural) of Shem looks ahead to tents of his descendants, not to the Tabernacle, though the Tabernacle being in the middle of the camp would seem to be a realization of the statement, as would Jesus’ presence among Israel.
Genesis 9:27 tn In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).
Genesis 9:27 tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Japheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

New English Translation (NET)