kā ́nan, kā ́nan-īts (כּנען, kena‛an; Χαναάν, Chanaán):
Canaan is stated in Genesis 10:6 to have been a son of Ham and brother of Mizraim, or Egypt. This indicates the Mosaic period when the conquerors of the 18th and 19th Egyptian Dynasties made Canaan for a time a province of the Egyptian empire. Under the Pharaoh Meneptah, at the time of the Exodus, it ceased to be connected with Egypt, and the Egyptian garrisons in the South of the country were expelled by the Philistines, who probably made themselves masters of the larger portion of it, Thus causing the name of Philistia or Palestine to become synonymous with that of Canaan (see Zephaniah 2:5). In the Tell el-Amarna Letters, Canaan is written Kinakhna and Kinakhkhi. The latter form corresponds with the Greek (Χνᾶ, Chná), a name given to Phoenicia (Hecat. Fragments 254; Eusebius, Praep. Ev., i.10; ix.17).
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Canaan, Canaanites
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.