Canaan

In the Bible

The name is traced to Canaan, the son of Ham and grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:6, 15-19). The account of Noah cursing Canaan after the Flood appears in Genesis 9:25.

• Patriarchal period: God called Abraham, sent him to Canaan, and promised, "Unto thy seed will I give this land" (Genesis 12:1-7; 17:8). This promise was passed on to Isaac and Jacob. In the time of Joseph, Jacob's household went down to Egypt.
• Exodus and wilderness: God described the land to Moses as "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8). After hearing the report of the twelve spies sent out from Kadesh, the people refused to enter. As a result, Israel spent forty years in the wilderness (Numbers 13-14). The boundaries of the land are recorded in Numbers 34.
• Conquest and allotment: Led by Joshua, the people crossed the Jordan River and brought down Jericho. The land was then divided among the twelve tribes (Joshua 13-21).

Background

Canaan corresponds roughly to present-day Israel and the Palestinian territories, together with part of Lebanon. It lies along the route connecting Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Bible records that the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites lived there (Deuteronomy 7:1). The religion of the land, typified by the worship of Baal and Asherah, is portrayed throughout the Old Testament as the avenue by which Israel fell into idolatry. The etymology of the name is uncertain; one proposal, among others, connects it with purple dye. Scholars differ on when and how the conquest took place.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

Canaan is a sign that God keeps His promises. The New Testament carries the land forward into a greater hope. Hebrews states that Abraham desired "a better country, that is, an heavenly" (Hebrews 11:13-16). It also declares that there remains a rest greater than the one Joshua gave (Hebrews 4:9-11). The "woman of Canaan" in Matthew 15:22 is called the Syrophoenician woman in Mark.

Interpretations and Debates

• Fulfillment of the land promise: Dispensationalism holds that the land promise remains in force for ethnic Israel. The covenant theology tradition tends to read the promise as fulfilled in Christ and the new creation.
• Ethics of the conquest: Interpretations differ regarding the command to utterly destroy the Canaanite peoples. Some see it as judgment on the sins of the Canaanites; others regard it as the hyperbolic language of ancient war literature.
• The "curse of Ham": In the text, the one cursed is not Ham but Canaan. Nevertheless, the passage was historically misused to justify the enslavement of Black people. Most churches today regard this as a misuse of Scripture.

In the Korean Church

In sermons and hymns, Canaan is commonly used as a metaphor for heaven or the goal of the life of faith, with the crossing of the Jordan River symbolizing death or a decisive commitment. In addition, "Canaan believers" is a neologism for Christians who do not attend church: the Korean word for Canaan (ga-na-an), read backward, becomes an-na-ga, meaning "not going."