Canaanites in 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 Israel, 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 (Gen. 10), the 'sons of Canaan.'" Six
different tribes
are mentioned in Ex. 3:8, 17; 23:23; 33:2; 34:11. In
Ex. 13:5
the "Perizzites" are omitted. The "Girgashites" are
mentioned in
addition to the foregoing in Deut. 7:1; Josh. 3:10.
The "Canaanites," as distinguished from the
Amalekites, the
Anakim, and the Rephaim, were "dwellers in the
lowlands" (Num.
13:29), the great plains and valleys, the richest
and most
important parts of Israel. 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; Prov. 31:24, lit. "Canaanites;" comp.
Zeph. 1:11;
Ezek. 17:4). The name "Canaanite" is also sometimes
used to
designate the non-Israelite inhabitants of the land
in general
(Gen. 12:6; Num. 21:3; Judg. 1:10).
The Israelites, when they were led to the Promised
Land, were
commanded utterly to destroy the descendants of
Canaan then
possessing it (Ex. 23:23; Num. 33:52, 53; Deut.
20:16, 17). This
was to be done "by little and little," lest the
beasts of the
field should increase (Ex. 23:29; Deut. 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 Sam. 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."
Read More about Canaanites in Easton's Bible Dictionary