If it be overlooked that, in this appellation of God, there is implied the indirect designation of the blessings which are to be conferred on Shem (just as in Gen. xxiv. 27 the words, "Blessed be Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham," imply the thought: because He has manifested Himself as Jehovah, and as the God of my master; which thought is then further carried out in the subsequent words: "And who hath not left destitute my master of His mercy and His truth;"--and just as it is also in the utterance of Zacharias in Luke i. 68, where the words, "Blessed be the Lord [κύριος], the God of Israel," imply the thought: because He has manifested Himself as the Lord [in the New Testament, κύριος is used where the Old has Jehovah], the God of Israel),--if this be overlooked, we obtain only a weak and inadequate thought, very unsuitable to the context, the purport of which evidently is to celebrate Shem, and to mark him out as worthy of his name. So it is according to _Hofmann_, who, in the words, "Blessed--Shem," finds only an expression of gratitude for the gift of this good son, and who limits the announcement of blessings to the single one--that Canaan shall be Shem's servant. Against this feeble interpretation we must adduce these considerations also: that nowhere does the gift of the good son form, even indirectly, the subject in question;--that thus we should lose the opposition of the curse and the blessing (which requires that, under [Pg 38] the "Blessed be Jehovah," we should have concealed the "Blessed be Shem"), just as we should, the contrast between Jehovah here and Elohim in the following verse;--and, lastly, that what, in the following verse, is said of Japheth's dwelling in the tents of Shem, would thus be deprived of its necessary foundation. It is said: "Canaan shall be a servant to _them_." The suffix ־־ָ־מוֹ, which cannot be used for the singular, any more than can the suffix ־־ָ־ם, for which it is only the fuller poetical form (the instances of a different use, adduced by _Ewald_, § 247, d., can easily be explained in accordance with the rule), indicates that the announcement has no reference to the personal relation of Shem and Ham, but that they come into view solely as the heads of families. Ver. 27. "_May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be a servant to them._"--These words, in the first instance, contain the blessing pronounced upon Japheth; but they entitle us to infer from them, at the same time, a glorious blessing destined for Shem, which is the source of blessing to Japheth also. They thus complete the promise of the preceding verse, which directly refers to Shem.