Daughters of Onitah and the wife of Ham

There is only one verse on the daughters of Onitah, but I find their lineage interesting to their story as well, of which we can find more scriptures.

Abraham 1:11 "Now, this priest had offered upon this altar [the one Abraham was also offered upon, though Abraham was saved] three virgins at one time, who were the daughters of Onitah, one of the royal descent directly from the loins of Ham.  These virgins were offered up because of their virtue; they would not bow down to worship gods of wood or of stone, therefore they were killed upon this altar, and it was done after the manner of the Egyptians."

They were of royal birth, and direct descendants of Ham.  The descendents of Ham- it talks more about them in Abraham 1: 21-22 and even a little in verse 23.  "Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the poins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth.  From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land." (Abr. 1:21-22)  The footnote for Canaanites is given in both verses, one footnote being the same in both- Moses 7:6-8 which tells us who the Canaanites were, for their blood to be passed down, or in other words, the people of Egypt were related to the Canaanites.  "... and the people of Canaan shall divide themselves in the land, and the land shall be barren and unfruitful, and none other people shall dwell there but the people of Canaan; For behold, the Lord shall curse the land with much heat, and the barrenness thereof shall go forth forever; and there was a blackness came upon all the children of Canaan, that they were despised among all people." (Moses 7:7-8)  So these were the same people that were initially cursed because of their wickedness, now to take it down to Noah's time...

Moses 8:28-30, "The earth was corrupt before God, and it was filled with violence.  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.  And God said unto Noah: The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence, and behold I will destroy all flesh from off the earth."  EVERYONE was wicked.  There was not one nation that was righteous- cursed or not cursed.  And then back to Moses 8:27 "And thus Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord; for Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation; and he walked with God, as did also his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth." (emphasis added) Back briefly to Abraham 1:23 "The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden".  Many people say this shows that Ham's wife was forbidden.  That's what it seems her name means, and regardless we know she was of the lineage of the people of Canaan.  BUT, (here's a shout out for the wife of Ham) a man, Ham, who walked with God, chose to marry her when all the world around him was becoming more and more wicked.  ALL the wicked were destroyed and his wife was not.  "Cursed" or not, she was a righteous woman, otherwise she would not have survived the floods. 

Now back to the book of Abraham 1:24-25, "...from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land.  Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, [I'm unsure as to whether there are two Egyptus's or if it is the same that was mentioned in verse 23] the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal."  So we have the beginnings of the royal line in Egypt from which the daughters of Onitah came.  Now verse 26, "Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom..."  The beginnings of the leadership in Egypt was righteous- its people were righteous and over time people began to turn from the Lord and worship idols instead.  The people of Egypt may have carried the result of the curse in their blood, but as we can see here, it has nothing to do with their ability to be righteous and to be chosen.  The wife of Ham was chosen to survive the flood because of her righteousness, even above those of lineages which were not cursed.  The daughters of Onitah were faithful, even unto death, refusing to worship idols and are noted for their virtue.  It reminds me of Daniel who refused to worship idols and was thrown into a lion's den, but these three women went to meet their God a little sooner.  These women practiced virtue and were faithful.  They along with the wife of Ham, are women worthy of emulation.