Canaan

(1.) The fourth son of Ham (Gen. 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 (Deut. 11:30). In Josh. 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 (Gen. 10:19; 17:8; Num. 13:29; 34:8). (See CANAANITES, PALESTINE.)

(Ca’nan) (low, flat).

CA'NAAN (low, humbled), the fourth son of Ham, Gen 10:6; 1 Chr 1:8, and the progenitor of those peoples who inhabited the country on the west of the Jordan. Noah, his grandfather, cursed him on awaking from his drunken sleep because of the conduct of Ham, his father. Gen 9:20-25. The difficulty is easiest solved if we trust a Jewish tradition that Canaan was the one who first saw his grandfather's shame, and that, instead of decorously concealing it, he told his father. His descendants bore the curse. The Israelites carried on a war of extermination against them, and they became, in great measure, servants or slaves.

merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues

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, "Canaanites" appears to designate a separate tribe, and the land was inhabited by them and six other tribes. Canaan was the country for which Terah started, Gen 11:31; Abram dwelt in it; it was promised to him for a possession. Gen 12:5, 1 Kgs 15:8, etc.; Isaac, Jacob, and the patriarchs made their home there. Gen 26-35. It was left by Jacob because of the famine; searched by the twelve spies. Num 13:2; viewed by Moses, Deut 32:49; conquered by Joshua, Josh 11:23; divided by lot among the twelve tribes. Josh 13:7; a king of the country was slain by Deborah and Barak. Jud 4:24. See Map. In the temple at Karnak, in Egypt, a triple list of 118 or 119 towns of Canaan has lately been discovered, which is believed to be a record of an Egyptian conquest of the land by Thuthmes III, previous to that by Joshua. See the list of these towns in Conder's Tent-Work in Palestine, vol. ii. 344-346. It is the oldest known record of Canaanite cities before the time of Joshua. For later history see Judah, Kingdom of; Israel, Kingdom of; and Palestine.