The seemingly strange account of Abram and Sarai faking out Pharaoh is a microcosm of the later Exodus account. Abram and the descendants of Israel initially were welcomed and exalted, but then they were seen as a curse and told to leave, sent away with many gifts and riches.
At first, it’s puzzling why Noach cursed Cana’an for something his father, Ham, did. Is this a generational curse, with the sins of the father being meted out to future generations? Is something else going on here? The answer seems to be in the meaning of the Hebrew words for curse and Cana’an.