Abstract
Gen. 9.20-27 is an eccentric anecdote of which the reception and interpretation are often equally fantastic. Besides a series of extravagant sexual, moral and racial interpretations, one can distinguish ethnological and moralizing explanations, and, more recently, symbolic and social-critical approaches. The present examination of Gen. 9.20-27 maintains that exegetes should keep close to the text as a linguistic and literary composition. The analysis of the Noah tale, then, focuses successively on the 'bridge' function of this text among the genealogical compositions in Genesis 5-11, its linguistic and literary structure, and, finally, the origin and meaning of the text. It is argued that Gen. 9.20-27 displays Priestly characteristics. More particularly, the lexeme ? is considered to be a key term for the interpretation of the pericope. Referring to the usage of ? in the Priestly tradition, the analysis claims that, in Gen. 9.20-27, sexual habits which appear, to the eyes of Israel, as erotic aberrations, are condemned.
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