Canaan
A place in the Bible
The ancient name of the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants.
What happened here
- Abraham: he came to Canaan with Sarah and with Lot. There the Lord appeared to him and told him he would give that land to his descendants.
- As a stranger: Abraham lived in that land as a stranger, in tents, and so did Isaac and Jacob.
- A good land: God told Moses he would bring his people out of Egypt and lead them to a land flowing with milk and honey.
- The scouts: Moses sent one man from each tribe to explore the land of Canaan.
Today
Today that land is mostly Israel and the West Bank.
Where it appears in the Bible
Genesis 12:5-7; Hebrews 11:9; Genesis 37:1; Exodus 3:8; Numbers 13:2; Numbers 13:17
What the Bible says
Genesis 12:5-7
5And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it, 6Abram passed through the country into the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land. 7And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Hebrews 11:9
By faith he abode in the land, dwelling in cottages, with Isaac and Jacob, the co-heirs of the same promise.
Genesis 37:1
And Jacob dwelt in the land of Chanaan wherein his father sojourned.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Chanaan, Chanaanites”; Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), “Canaan”