Genesis 9:26 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, &c.— The old patriarch doth not say, Blessed be Shem, as he said, Cursed be Canaan; for men's evil springeth of themselves, but their good from God: and therefore, in a strain of devotion, he breaketh forth into thanksgiving to God, as the author of all good to men. Neither doth he say the same to Japheth; for God certainly may dispense his peculiar favours according to his good pleasure, and salvation was to be derived through Shem and his posterity in the promised seed. God prefers Shem to his elder brother Japheth, as Jacob was afterwards preferred to Esau, and David to his elder brothers: but we shall say more on this subject in due place. The Lord being called the God of Shem, it is plainly intimated thereby, that the Lord would be his God in a particular manner: and of Shem, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. And Canaan shall be HIS servant, should rather be, their servant, or servant to them; that is, to his brethren. This, as we before observed, is the main part of the prophecy, and therefore so frequently repeated.