Loading…
The Lexham Bible Dictionary
Restore columns
Exit Fullscreen

Canaanites The people group living in the land of Canaan prior to and during the rise of the Israelites.

The history of the Canaanites is debated; Lemche, Thompson, and Davies have gone so far as to say that the Canaanites were fictional antagonists invented to oppose the Israelite protagonists (Lemche, The Canaanites and Their Land, 7). This extremist position, however, is not the norm in ancient Near East studies.

The land of Canaan changed shape and size over time. The way the word is used in the Amarna letters suggests that “the whole of Egypt’s province in the Levant was called ‘Canaan,’ ” (Drews, Canaanites and Philistines, 47). Neo-Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Greek sources make no mention of Canaan, suggesting that by the eighth century, the geographical region was no longer known by that name.

LBD

About The Lexham Bible Dictionary

The Lexham Bible Dictionary spans more than 7,200 articles, with contributions from hundreds of top scholars from around the world. Designed as a digital resource, this more than 4.5 million word project integrates seamlessly with the rest of your Logos library. And regular updates are applied automatically, ensuring that it never goes out of date.

Lexham Bible Dictionary places the most relevant information at the top of each article and articles are divided into specific subjects, making the entire dictionary more useable. In addition, hand-curated links between articles aid your research, helping you naturally move through related topics. The Lexham Bible Dictionary answers your questions as they arise and expands your knowledge of the Bible.

Copyright

Copyright 2016 Lexham Press.

Support Info

lbd

Table of Contents