CANAANITES
- Easton's
- Nave's
- Torrey's
| EASTON'S BIBLE DICTIONARY |
the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. Migrating from
their original home, they seem to have reached the Persian Gulf, and to have
there sojourned for some time. They thence "spread to the west, across the
mountain chain of Lebanon to the very edge of the Mediterranean Sea, occupying
all the land which later became Palestine, also to the north-west as far as the
mountain chain of Taurus. This group was very numerous, and broken up into a
great many peoples, as we can judge from the list of nations (Genesis 10), the 'sons of Canaan.'" Six different tribes are mentioned in
Exodus 3:8,17;
23:23;
33:2;
34:11. In
Exodus 13:5 the "Perizzites" are omitted. The "Girgashites" are
mentioned in addition to the foregoing in
Deuteronomy 7:1;
Joshua 3:10.
The "Canaanites," as distinguished from the Amalekites, the Anakim, and the
Rephaim, were "dwellers in the lowlands" (Numbers
13:29), the great plains and valleys, the richest and most important
parts of Palestine. Tyre and Sidon, their famous cities, were the centres of
great commercial activity; and hence the name "Canaanite" came to signify a
"trader" or "merchant" (Job
41:6;
Proverbs 31:24, lit. "Canaanites;" Compare
Zephaniah 1:11;
Ezekiel 17:4). The name "Canaanite" is also sometimes used to designate
the non-Israelite inhabitants of the land in general (Genesis
12:6;
Numbers 21:3;
Judges 1:10
).
The Israelites, when they were led to the Promised Land, were commanded utterly
to destroy the descendants of Canaan then possessing it (Exodus
23:23;
Numbers 33:52,53;
Deuteronomy 20:16,17). This was to be done "by little and little," lest
the beasts of the field should increase (Exodus
23:29;
Deuteronomy 7:22,23). The history of these wars of conquest is given in
the Book of Joshua. The extermination of these tribes, however, was never fully
carried out. Jerusalem was not taken till the time of David (2 Samuel
5:6,7). In the days of Solomon bond-service was exacted from the
fragments of the tribes still remaining in the land (1 Kings
9:20,21
). Even after the return from captivity survivors of five of the Canaanitish
tribes were still found in the land.
In the Tell-el-Amarna tablets Canaan is found under the forms of Kinakhna and
Kinakhkhi. Under the name of Kanana the Canaanites appear on Egyptian
monuments, wearing a coat of mail and helmet, and distinguished by the use of
spear and javelin and the battle-axe. They were called Phoenicians by the
Greeks and Poeni by the Romans. By race the Canaanites were Semitic. They were
famous as merchants and seamen, as well as for their artistic skill. The chief
object of their worship was the sun-god, who was addressed by the general name
of Baal, "lord." Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local
Baals were summed up under the name of Baalim, "lords."
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