FOOTNOTE:
[C] The location of Kadesh-barnea is one of the great questions of the Bible geography. Robinson places it at ´Ain el-Weibeh, north-west of Petra. Rowlands, and lately Trumbull, locates it at Ain Gadis, forty-five miles south of Beersheba. I think the latter is the true place, though the authorities are not agreed.
Third Study.
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN.
I. Let us notice the CANAANITES before the conquest.
1. They were a varied people. There were from seven to ten different nations in Palestine when the Israelites entered it (Exod. 3. 17; Deut. 7. 1). Each tribe, often each city, had its own government. There was no unity of government, no combined action to resist the invasion of Israel. This made the conquest easy. If one king had ruled a united people the result might have been different.
2. These peoples were, however, of one stock. They belonged to the Hamite race, and were all descended from the family of Canaan (Gen. 10. 15-19). There was no reason, except the tribal spirit, for their separation into small clans and nationalities.
3. 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. Baal and Asherah (plural Ashtoreth) were the male and female divinities worshiped by most of these races (Judg. 2. 13).