Canaan was the name of the strip of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, from Lebanon to the Negev in the south. Before Israel’s arrival, it was inhabited by various Canaanite peoples, among them the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. The Bible describes it as a good and spacious land, flowing with milk and honey.
It was to this land that God called Abraham to move, leaving Haran. In Shechem, he received the first promise: his descendants would inherit that land. Years later, God confirmed this covenant as an everlasting possession.
Centuries later, twelve spies were sent by Moses to scout out Canaan before the people of Israel entered it. The conquest, led by Joshua, ended with the land divided by lot among the tribes.
Canaan is, then, the setting where God fulfills, step by step, a promise made generations earlier. It is the land that appears throughout the Old Testament as a visible sign of God’s faithfulness to his covenants.
