The Land of Israel in Genesis

Map of the Land of Israel around 1800 BC

The Promised Land. During the time that the events within the book of Genesis the land of Israel was actually called the land of Canaan. It was inhabited by the Canaanites, seven mighty nations who were very corrupt. Eventually the God of all the earth took the land away from the Canaanites and gave it to Abraham's descendants. It was a beautiful land from north to south, from east to west, and from the coastal plains, to the hill country and the wilderness. It was truly the promised land, and the history of the world hinges upon the events that took place in the book of Genesis.

Genesis 12:5-6 - "Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother's son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time, Canaanites were in the land."


[Maps are free to use for personal, classroom, or church use]