What other information do we have?
1. The Canaanites have a 'bad' reputation already around the time of Abraham.
2. An eighteenth-century letter from Mari provides the next evidence for the name in a phrase that connects 'thieves and Canaanites'.
3. one of the Hivite leaders raped Dinah, a daughter of Jacob in Gen 34
4. At the time of Moses, Israel is trying to march through Transjordan--on the 'neutral' Kings Highway. They peacefully approach the king of the Amorites with a standard 'passage through' request, but is met with abject hostility and an unprovoked attack (with his ENTIRE army?!) on Israel.
5. We also know that "Canaan" (between the times of Abraham and Joshua, roughly) was basically synonymous with Egypt's territory in Palestine!
The Canaanities had a long exposure to TRUTH and opportunity to change to avoid judgment:
They had a long exposure to truth and influences to 'moderation' . We have seen above that Canaan drew heavily from the purer stock of Eblaite theology and culture. This would have been a long-term influence to moderation. The outstanding figure of Melchizedek ministered right in the middle of them, during the times of Abraham--and may have been an Amorite himself! The story is given in Genesis 14.
Abraham also lived among these peoples, and had close relationships with both Amorites (e.g. Gen 14.7,13) and Hittites (e.g. Gen 23). Esau actually married Hittite wives (also called 'Canaanite'), but this was a bad experience for the family (Gen 26.34-35 with 27.46-28.1). So, there would have been numerous points of contact (in generally friendly settings--but cf. Israel's fight with Amorites in Gen 48.22) in which worldviews would have been 'discussed'.
The Canaanites/Amorites would have witnessed God's judgment on Sodom and the cities of the plain! Abraham had delivered those cities from a Mesopotamian king in Gen 14 (and perhaps the Amorite cities in v.7), only to see them destroyed in Gen 19. Abraham (and Lot) were witnesses to the theological understanding of a highly visible (and internationally applauded, no doubt!) action by God. The peoples of the Land should have taken notice and warning.
The above items are 400 years+ before the 'judgment' on them begins!
•During the 400 years in Egypt, the Canaanites would have had much interaction with Egypt, much of which probably "went through" Goshen--the place of the Hebrews.
•During the 400 years, the Canaanites would have still been surrounded by offspring of Abraham--through Ishmael and Esau, not to mention that of Lot.
•Immediately after the Exodus, word 'got out' about the Hebrews, and made its way into Canaan. (Josh 2.9- 11) Rahab had heard about the Exodus (some 40+ years earlier), the conquest of the Amorite Kings Sihon and Og (a few months earlier), and the land-grant promise by YHWH(!)--given 400 years earlier. They probably had at least 40 years notice of Israel's coming.
•Likewise, after the drying up of the Jordan and before the fall of Jericho, the whole land of Palestine knew and individuals could have begun migrating (as was common in those days). So Joshua 5.1: There was an abundance of information for these people--perhaps even MORE THAN the other nations around them had!--but they did not respond appropriately. (The other nations in the ANE seemed to respond to 'available' truth with a degree of moderation and correspondingly did not develop the ruthless, cruel, and degenerate practices of their Canaanite neighbors.)
Summary: These nations show up in archeology and literature as a uniquely evil and destructive civilization, whose culpability is increased due to the abundance of truth and religious warnings which they were confronted with, and had access to. In contrast to the vast majority of surrounding nations, the Canaanite/Amorite cultures would not act responsibly and prudently, in matters of foreign relations and domestic practice. The result was a destructive and malignant force, in an already difficult ANE historical setting.
Sources:
Peoples of the Old Testament World; Hoerth, Mattingly, Yamauchi (eds.), Baker: 1994
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised ed., Geoffrey W. Bromiley (ed), Eerdmans:1979
Credits and Sources:
Glen Miller: http://www.christian-thinktank.com/
James Patrick Holding: http://www.tektonics.org/
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9:41"Genocide" and the Bible Part 10 The Canaanitiesby mdean1215167 views
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