SEVENTH STUDY
The Conquest of Canaan
I. Let us notice the Ca´naan-ites, the peoples who were dispossessed by the Is´ra-el-ites.
1. They were of one stock, according to the Scriptures, belonging to the Ham´ite race, and all descended from the family of Ca´naan (Gen. 10. 15-19).
2. They were divided into various tribes, from seven to ten nations, arranged mainly as follows: 1.) On the seacoast plain, the Phi-lis´tines on the south, the Ca´naan-ites in the middle, and the Phœ-ni´cians, or Zi-do´ni-ans, on the north of Mount Car´mel. 2.) In the mountain region, the Am´or-ites in the south, the Jeb´u-sites around Je-ru´sa-lem, the Hi´vites in the center of the land, and the Hit´tites in the north. 3.) The Jor´dan valley was held by the Ca´naan-ites. 4.) On the eastern table-land, the Mo´ab-ites east of the Dead Sea, the Am´or-ites east of the Jor´dan, and the Ba´shan-ites in the north.
3. Their government was local. Not only was each tribe independent, but each little locality, often each city, had its own "king," or chief. There was no unity of government, and scarcely any combination to resist the invasion of Is´ra-el, a fact which made the conquest far less difficult.
4. They were idolatrous and, as a result, grossly immoral. Idolatry is always associated with immorality; for the worship of idols is a deification of sensuality. Ba´al and Ash´e-rah (plural Ash´to-reth) were the male and female divinities worshiped by most of these races (Judg. 2. 13).
5. They had been weakened before the coming of the Is´ra-el-ites either by war or by pestilence. The allusions in Exod. 23. 28; Deut. 7. 20; and Josh. 24. 12, have been referred to an invasion before that of Israel, or to some plague, which destroyed the native races.
II. The Campaigns of the Conquest. These may be divided as follows: