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Canaan

Portrait of Canaan

Canaan was the son of Ham upon whom Noah pronounced a curse of servitude following Ham's dishonor. He became the ancestor of the Canaanite peoples - the Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, and others - who occupied the Promised Land before Israel. The curse of Canaan foreshadowed Israel's later conquest of the land God had promised to Abraham's seed.

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Biography

Father
Ham
Children
Sidon, Heth, and the Canaanite nations
Era
Post-Flood (Primeval History)

Family

Parents
Ham
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Canaan
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Children
Sidon, Heth, and the Canaanite nations
Old Testament Genesis

Did You Know?

1

Though Ham committed the offense, Noah cursed Ham's son Canaan (Genesis 9:25) - a detail that framed the later displacement of the Canaanite peoples whose land was promised to Abraham.

2

Canaan's descendants listed in Genesis 10 - the Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, and others - are precisely the nations Israel confronts when entering the Promised Land, making this genealogy a preview of the conquest.

3

The 'border of the Canaanites' in Genesis 10:19 traces the exact territory - from Sidon toward Gaza and the cities of the plain - that would later be defined as the land of Israel.

Key Chapters

Key Passages

The Curse of Canaan

Genesis 9:24-27

Noah curses Canaan to be a servant of servants, prophetically anticipating the subjugation of the Canaanite nations.

A24nd Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Read full chapter: Genesis 9 โ†’

The Canaanite Nations

Genesis 10:15-19

Canaan fathers the peoples whose land Israel would inherit.

A15nd Canaan begat Sidon his first born, and Heth,

16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, 17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, 18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. 19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

Read full chapter: Genesis 10 โ†’