Where were blacks descended from in the Bible?

Answer 1

Ham, the youngest son of Noah, saw his father naked when Noah was drunk. So, Noah put a curse on Ham's youngest son, Canaan, and Ham's skin was "smitten." Smitten is interperted as the darkening of Ham's skin that his descendants inherited.

Answer 2

A:

The Bible focusses on people of the Middle East, and rarely mentions people who might have been black-skinned. It does not really provide an explanation of the origins of black people. Of course, we know that all other races are really descended from the black people of Africa, but the authors of the Bible had no way of knowing this.

Some say that the 'mark' of Cain was that God turned his skin black, and that all black people are descended from Cain. This is unbiblical because it would mean there was never a great Flood that killed all the people other than Noah and his family.

Ham had a son named Cush, which means "black" in Hebrew, leading some to conclude that blacks are descended from Cush. But it is pointed out that an Englishman called Mr. Black would not necessarily have black descendants.

Various conjectures and midrashim have sought to uncover a biblical explanation for the origin of black people, but there is none.

Answer 3

All peoples 'originated' via Adam and Eve. Some believe that the Table of Nations lists the descendants of Ham as the progenitor of the black peoples.