CANAAN, LAND OK —The ancient name of the country lying between the Jordan valley and the Mediterranean (Gen. xii. 5 ; xvi. ; Judg.
I). Different opinions are held regarding the origin and meaning of the name. Gesenius states that it is from the root In, one meaning of which is 'to be low or depressed;' and that the country is so called because of its low situation, as contrasted with the 'highlands' of Aram (Thesaurus; Stan ley, S. and P., t28, 263). Others think that it is so called as contrasted with the mountains and plateau of Gilead. Such views are purely fanciful, and they are at variance with the plain statements of the Bible. Canaan was the son of Ham. He and his family colonised western Syria, and while the whole region took his name, different sections of it were called after his sons (Gen. x. 15-20).
Aram was a son of Shem, and his descendants colonised the country of Aram (Gen. x. 21-31). The view of Gesenius is not even supported by the physical geography of the countries referred to. Aram cannot, with any regard to truth, be termed a 'highland region.' It comprised the vast plains along the banks of the Euphrates, and westward to the Orontes and Anti-libanus. Canaan, on the contrary, is a hill country, with strips of plain along the coast. In one passage it is distinguished from the low valley of the Jordan---` Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain' (Gen. xiii. 12). The name Canaan is not confined to the Bible. It occurs on some of the most ancient monuments of Egypt (Kenrick's Phaniei a, p. 40). It is also mentioned by Sanchoniathon and Stephanus of Byzantium as the original name of Phoenicia; and it is found on an old Phoenician coin of Laodicia (Kenrick, Phawicia, pp. 42, 46o, and plate 2; Gesen. in Is. xxiii. II; Reland, p. 7).
The extent and boundaries of Canaan are given with tolerable exactness in the Bible. On the west the sea was its border from Sidon to Gaza (Gen. x. 19). On the south it was hounded by a line run ning from Gaza to the southern end of the Dead Sea, including the Judxan hills, but excluding the country of the Amalekites (Gen. x. 19; Num.
29). The Jordan was the eastern boundary; no part of Canaan lay beyond that river (Num. xxxiii. 51 ; Exod. xvi. 35, with Josh. v. 12 ; xxii. I I. See Reland, Pal. 3, sq.) On the north, Canaan extended as far as Hamath, which was also the utmost boundary of the 'land of promise' (Gen.
xvii. 8; Num. xxxiv. 8). The coast from Sidon northwards to Arvad, and the ridge of Lebanon, were inhabited by Canaanites, though they do not appear to have been included in Canaan proper (Gen. x. 15-19. See Bochart, Opp. i. 308, sq. Reland, Pal. 3, sq.) While such was the country usually called Canaan in the Bible, we find that the name was sometimes used in a much more limited sense. Thus, in Num. xiii. 29, 'The Hittites and the Jehusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by Me sea, and by the coast of the Jordan.' In 2 Sam, xxiv. 7, the Canaan ites are distinguished from the Hivites, though the latter were descended from Canaan; and in several passages the Canaanites are mentioned with the IIittites, Amorites, Jebusites, etc., as if they con stituted a special portion of the population (Exod. iii. 8; Deut. vii. I; Josh. iii. so). The prophet Zephaniah uses Canaan as a specific name for Philistia (ii. 5). Isaiah (xxiii. s r) appears to give this name to Phoenicia—` The Lord gave command ment concerning Canaan to destroy her strong holds.' The A.V. renders lyn 'Merchant City,' (Sept. xavab). So the person called by Mark a Syrophenician' (vii. 26), is called by Matthew (xv. 22) `a woman of Canaan.' The Septuagint often translate Canaan `Phoenicia;' as in Exod. xvi. 35; Josh. v. 12. It is not easy to understand why there should be so much diversity in the use of the name Canaan. The most probable explana tion is, that while some of the tribes which in habited Syria retained for their territories the name of their common ancestor Canaan, others pre ferred taking, as a distinctive appellation, the name of some subsequent head or chief of the tribe. The very same practice prevails to this day among the great Arab tribes of Arabia. For an account of the geography, etc., of Canaan, see PALES TINE.—j. L. P.