King James Bible Dictionary

1. The fourth son of Ham (Genesis 10:6). His descendants were under a curse in consequence of the transgression of his father (9:22-27). His eldest son, Zidon, was the father of the Sidonians and Phoenicians. He had eleven sons, who were the founders of as many tribes (10:15-18).

2. The country which derived its name from the preceding. The name as first used by the Phoenicians denoted only the maritime plain on which Sidon was built. But in the time of Moses and Joshua it denoted the whole country to the west of the Jordan and the Dead Sea (Deuteronomy 11:30). In Joshua 5:12 the LXX. read, "land of the Phoenicians," instead of "land of Canaan."

The name signifies "the lowlands," as distinguished from the land of Gilead on the east of Jordan, which was a mountainous district. The extent and boundaries of Canaan are fully set forth in different parts of Scripture (Genesis 10:19; 17:8; Numbers 13:29; 34:8). (See CANAANITES, PALESTINE.)

merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues

1. Son of Ham

General references
Genesis 9:18; Genesis 9:22; Genesis 9:25-27

Descendants of
Genesis 10:6; Genesis 10:15; 1 Chronicles 1:8; 1 Chronicles 1:13

2. Land of
Israel, 3, History of; Israel, 4, History of; Israel, 5, History of; Canaanites

General references
Genesis 11:31; Genesis 17:8; Genesis 23:2

Called:

The Sanctuary
Exodus 15:17

Palestine
Exodus 15:14

Land of Israel
1 Samuel 13:19

Land of the Hebrews
Genesis 40:15

Land of the Jews
Acts 10:39

Land of Promise
Hebrews 11:9

Holy Land
Zech 2:12

Lord's Land
Hosea 9:3

Immanuel's Land
Isaiah 8:8

Land of Beulah
Isaiah 62:4

Promised to Abraham and his seed
Genesis 12:1-7; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:18-21; Genesis 17:8; Deuteronomy 12:9-10; Psalms 105:11

Promise renewed to Isaac
Genesis 26:3

Extent of:

According to the promise
Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:4; Joshua 15:1

After the conquest by Joshua
Joshua 12:1-8

In Solomon's time
1 Kings 4:21; 1 Kings 4:24; 2 Chronicles 7:8; 2 Chronicles 9:26

Prophecy concerning, after the restoration of Israel
Ezekiel 47:13-20

Fertility of
Deuteronomy 8:7-9; Deuteronomy 11:10-13

Fruitfulness of
Numbers 13:27; Numbers 14:7-8; Jeremiah 2:7; Jeremiah 32:22

Products of:

Fruits
Deuteronomy 8:8; Jeremiah 40:10; Jeremiah 40:12

Mineral
Deuteronomy 8:9

Exports of
Ezekiel 27:17

Famines in

General references
Genesis 12:10; Genesis 26:1; Genesis 47:13; Ruth 1:1; 2 Samuel 21:1; 2 Samuel 11:17
Famine

Spies sent into, by Moses
Numbers 13:17-29

Conquest of, by the Israelites
Numbers 21:21-35; Deuteronomy 3:3-6; Deuteronomy 43:6; Psalms 44:1-3

Divided by lot among the twelve tribes and families
Numbers 26:55-56; Numbers 33:54; Numbers 34:13

Divided by Joshua, Eleazar and a prince from each tribe
Numbers 34:16-29; Numbers 35:1-8; Numbers 43:14

Divided into twelve provinces by Solomon
1 Kings 4:7-19

Divided into two kingdoms, Judah and Israel
1 Kings 11:29-36; 1 Kings 12:16-21

Roman provinces of
Luke 3:1; John 4:3-4

(Ca'nan) (low, flat).

1. The fourth son of Ham, (Genesis 10:6; 1 Chronicles 1:8) the progenitor of the Phoenicians [ZIDON, OR SIDON], and of the various nations who before the Isr'lite conquest people the seacoast of Palestine, and generally the while of the country westward of the Jordan. (Genesis 10:13; 1 Chronicles 1:13) (B.C. 2347.)
2. The name "Canaan" is sometimes employed for the country itself.

(lit. lowland), a name denoting the country west of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, and between those waters and the Mediterranean; given by God to Abraham's posterity, the children of Isr'l. (Exodus 6:4; Leviticus 25:38) [PALESTINA AND PALESTINE]

Mentioned in Isaiah 19:18, denotes the language spoken by the Jews resident in Palestine. The language of the Canaanites and of the Hebrews was substantially the same. This is seen from the fragments of the Phoenician language which still survive, which show the closest analogy to the Hebrew. Yet the subject of the language of the "Canaanites" is very obscure. The cuneiform writing of Babylon, as well as the Babylonian language, was taught in the Canaanitish schools, and the clay tablets of Babylonian literature were stored in the Canaanitish libraries. Even the Babylonian divinities were borrowed by the Canaanites.

A name given to the apostle Simon (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18). The word here does not, however, mean a descendant of Canaan, but is a translation, or rather almost a transliteration, of the Syriac word Kanenyeh (R.V. rendered "Cananaen"), which designates the Jewish sect of the Zealots. Hence he is called elsewhere (Luke 6:15) "Simon Zelotes;" i.e., Simon of the sect of the Zealots. (See SIMON.)

the designation of the apostle Simon, otherwise known as "Simon Zelotes." It occurs in (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18) and is derived from a Chaldee or Syriac word by which the Jewish sect or faction of the "Zealots" was designated

a turbulent and seditious sect, especially conspicuous at the siege of Jerusalem. They taught that all foreign rule over Jews was unscriptural, and opposed that rule in every way.

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;" comp. 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."

Eleven nations, descended from Canaan
Genesis 10:15-19; Deuteronomy 7:1; 1 Chronicles 1:13-16

Territory of
Genesis 10:19; Genesis 12:6; Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:31; Numbers 13:29; Numbers 34:2-12; Joshua 1:4; Joshua 5:1

Given to the Israelites
Genesis 12:6-7; Genesis 15:18; Genesis 17:8; Exodus 23:23; Deuteronomy 7:1-3; Deuteronomy 32:49; Psalms 135:11-12

Wickedness of
Genesis 13:13; Leviticus 18:25; Leviticus 18:27-28; Leviticus 20:23

To be expelled from the land
Exodus 33:2; Exodus 34:11

To be destroyed
Exodus 23:23-24; Deuteronomy 19:1; Deuteronomy 31:3-5

Not expelled
Joshua 17:12-18; Jude 1:1-33; Judges 3:1-3

Defeat the Israelites
Numbers 14:45; Judges 4:1-3

Defeated by the Israelites
Numbers 21:1-3; Joshua 11:1-16; Jude 4:4-24

Defeated by the Egyptians
1 Kings 9:16

Chariots of
Joshua 17:18

Isaac forbidden by Abraham to take a wife from
Genesis 28:1

Judah marries a woman of
Genesis 38:2; 1 Chronicles 2:3

The exile Jews take wives from
Ezra 9:2

Prophecy concerning
Genesis 9:25-27

a word used in two senses:

1. A tribe which inhabited a particular locality of the land west of the Jordan before the conquest; and
2. The people who inhabited generally the whole of that country.
3. In (Genesis 10:18-20) the seats of the Canaanite tribe are given as on the seashore and in the Jordan valley; comp. (Joshua 11:3)
4. Applied as a general name to the non-Isr'lite inhabitants of the land, as we have already seen was the case with "Canaan." Instances of this are, (Genesis 12:6; Numbers 21:3) The Canaanites were descendants of Canaan. Their language was very similar to the Hebrew. The Canaanites were probably given to commerce; and thus the name became probably in later times an occasional synonym for a merchant.