GENESIS 10
15 Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
– Genesis 10:15-20
GENESIS 10 NATIONS SPRINGING FROM CANAAN
According to the following verses, Canaan was Ham’s son who gave birth to Sidon and Heth, Jebusite, Amorite, Girgashite, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites, totalling to eleven children. Notice that the names mentioned becomes nations as we read in the bible. Verse 19 describes the direction of the spreading of Canaan’s clan which was towards Sidon near Gerar and as far as Gaza and also near Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Lasha.
According to Wikipedia, scholars connect the name Canaan with Northwest Semitic region. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but one explanation says its original meaning is “lowlands” from a Semitic root “to be low, humble, depressed” in contrast with “Aram” which is highlands.
According to traditional Ethiopian histories, Canaan’s son Arwadi (the Arvadites) and his wife Entela crossed from Asia into Ethiopian in 2101 BC and the Qemant tribe were said to be descended from their son, Anayer. There is further Ethiopian tradition that two other Canaanite tribes the Sinites and Zemarites also entered Ethiopia at the time it was ruled by King Kush and became Shangella and Weyto peoples respectively.
Canaan was the ancestor of the tribes who originally occupied the land of Canan, all the territory of Sidon or Hamath in the north to Gaza in the southwest and Lasha in the southeast. In Exodus 23, God declares a pestilence to these nations to annihilate them and let the Israelites occupy their land. It must have been connected with the curse that was on Canaan in Genesis 9:25, where Canaan will be a slave to his brothers.
REFLECTION
- Why do you think God destroyed the Canaanites in Deuteronomy 20:16-17?
