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Canaan

Canaan was the ancient region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, named after Noah's grandson and later promised to Abraham's descendants.

Also known as Canaanite · trading · merchants · Chanaan

Canaan refers to both a region and a people group in the Bible. As a region, Canaan was the ancient name for the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and parts of Syria and Jordan. It was the land God promised to give to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:5-7; 17:8).

The Canaanites were the descendants of Canaan, the grandson of Noah through Ham (Genesis 10:18-19). They were known for their idolatry and wickedness, which led to God commanding the Israelites to drive them out of the land (Deu.20.17). The term "Canaanite" was also used to refer to merchants or traders (Job.41.6; Proverbs 31:24), possibly due to their reputation for trading.

After the Exodus, the Israelites conquered parts of Canaan under Joshua's leadership, but they failed to completely drive out the Canaanites (Judges 1:27-36). This led to ongoing conflicts and religious influences throughout Israel's history. The prophets often rebuked Israel for adopting Canaanite practices and worshipping their gods (Ezk.16.3).

Approximate location: 31.694, 34.844 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas

Bible dictionary

Canaan Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

CANAAN, LAND OF . Gen 12:5. The country inhabited by the posterity of Canaan, who were hence called Canaanites, and which was given by God to the children of Israel, the posterity of Abraham, as their possession. Ex 6:4; Lev 25:38. The original boundaries were Mount Lebanon on the north, the wilderness of Arabia on the south, and the Arabian desert on the east. On the west their possessions extended at some points to the margin of the Mediterranean. Their boundaries on this side were partially restricted by the Philistines, who held the low lands and strong cities along the shore. Gen 10:19. Besides the possessions of the Israelites, the land of Canaan embraced Phoenicia on the north and Philistia on the south-west. Zeph 2:5. The land of Canaan was called the land of Israel, 1 Sam 13:19, because it was occupied by the descendants of Jacob or Israel; the holy land, Zech 2:12; the land of promise, Heb 11:9, because it was promised to Abraham and his posterity as their possession; the land of Judah, Jer 39:10, because Judah was the leading tribe; the land of the Hebrews, Gen 40:15, or the descendants of Eber, an ancestor of Abraham. The modern name of Palestine, or the land of the Philistines, was originally applied to the region lying along the coast of the Mediterranean CAN CAN , south-west of the Land of Promise, but in its present usage denotes the whole country bounded by the Jordan on the east, the Mediterranean on the west, Arabia on the south, and Lebanon on the north. For physical features, see PALESTINE. Sketch-Map of Canaan before the Conquest. History.נ-Previous to its conquest by Joshua, Canaan was peopled by several tribes, as Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgasites, Hivites, Perizzites, and four others, all early known as Canaanites. Gen 10:15-19. Later…

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Canaan appears

146 verses in 19 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H3667

Genesis48
Exodus11
Leviticus3
Numbers17
Deuteronomy5
Joshua22
Judges21
2 Samuel1
1 Kings1
1 Chronicles2
Ezra1
Nehemiah2
Psalms3
Isaiah2
Ezekiel2
Obadiah1
Zephaniah1
Matthew1
Acts2

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.