Many people have difficulty accepting the Bible’s account of Israel’s invasion of Canaan. If God is love, how could he order Israel to wipe them out? First we must see why the Bible called the Canaanites evil. Second, a study of the verses reveals a very different story. God did not issue a command for genocide, and Israel did not slay all the Canaanites.

Canaanite Evil

Four hundred years before Israel the Bible first mentions the Canaanites in Genesis 15:16. God was watching their growing evil. Their behaviour and religion were both wicked. Genesis 18:16-19:29 tells the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities in Canaan where gangs and swarms attacked people for fun. This evil behaviour was later picked up by the tribe of Benjamin (Judges 18:9-21). It so incensed the rest of Israel they fought a war that almost wiped out the Benjaminites.

Canaanite religion involved child sacrifice. It was a practice that increased the more their cities expanded. Unlike other ancient civilizations where such practices died out, the Canaanites perpetuated it.

Were the Canaanites really that evil? The Bible gives so few details it leaves the reader wondering. Unfortunately, most people have no idea how God views evil. They do not understand it and underestimate the danger. The Bible does not go into details because it does not want to perpetuate evil. God doesn’t want anyone copying the Canaanites.

Israel was a new nation just out of Egypt. God was teaching them to be a holy people (Deuteronomy 7:6, 28:9, Leviticus 19:2). They were entering Canaan, a land with religion and culture over 400 years old . Since the Canaanites were not about to change their ways, they would have to be removed.

God Did Not Order Genocide

God issued two specific commands concerning the Canaanites east of the Jordan River (Deuteronomy 2:26-36, 3:1-11) and six commands concerning Canaanites in general (Exodus 23:31-33, 34:11-16, Numbers 33:50-56, Deuteronomy 7:1-5, 12:2-3, 20:10-18). The two specific commands were for the conquest of the kingdoms east of the Jordan. Of the six general commands, only Deuteronomy 7:1-5 demands the total destruction of the Canaanites. Deuteronomy 20:10-18 qualifies this by specifically mentioning the destruction of Canaanite cities. The other four concern driving them out, destroying their idols and not making any treaties with them.

As will be seen later, Israel followed God’s instructions. The two Canaanite kingdoms east of the Jordan were completely destroyed, but the Canaanites on the west were not.

Now it makes no sense to “drive out” the Canaanites and then “kill” them. It makes even less sense to “kill” them and then “drive them out”. The most reasonable reading of these commands is that some of them were to be killed and the rest driven out.

Perhaps the most important point is that God’s angel did not insist on the total destruction of the Canaanites after the war (Judges 2:1-10). If slaying all the Canaanites was God’s command, the angel would have said so.

God’s angel also said he would no longer drive out the Canaanites since Israel showed little interest in doing so. Because of this disobedience, the Canaanites remaining were now allowed to stay. They would become a test for Israel’s faithfulness to God (Judges 3:1-6). It seems unlikely God would use the Canaanites in this fashion if they were fit only for slaughter.

Israel Did Not Commit Genocide

The two following sections demonstrates Israel’s behaviour before and during the invasion of Canaan. A careful reading of all the verses shows that genocide was not the goal.

Several points concerning the Bible itself should be considered.

1. Even historians admit the Bible is unique. It was the first written record with a world view of history.
2. It was the first record that dared criticize its own nation and kings. As far as this author knows, no other ancient record at that time did this.
3. It was written long before the concept of  “political correctness” and way before our modern sensibilities. The Bible is brutally frank. It will not hide unpleasant incidents like ethnic cleansing.

Before Canaan

Five conflicts listed below show Israel’s behaviour before the invasion of Canaan.

Three interesting points stand out in these five conflicts.

The Amorites of Jazer stand out because no mention is made of a battle, or of cities burned, or of men, women and children slain. The lack of the information forces the reader to wonder what happened. Since the Bible did not shrink from recording the details in the other four conflicts, one would expect Jazer to be no different. The possibility is that there was no battle. Cities were not destroyed. The Amorites of Jazer saw what happened to Arad and Sihon and fled as Israel approached.

The “destruction” of Midian has to be qualified with Judges 6:3. Midian was later one of the oppressors of Israel during the time of the Judges. This would not be possible if they had been completely destroyed (Numbers 31:3-19). Two possible conclusions can be suggested. 1) The destruction of the Midianite cities and encampments did not mean the destruction of all the people. 2) Only one branch of the Midianite tribes was destroyed.

Now the war with Og also stands out. It was the only one where the destruction of walled and unwalled villages was mentioned. Does this make it more of a “complete destruction?”

If genocide was the goal, would not the Bible have clearly recorded battles and destruction for all five conflicts? Even if the campaigns were all described as complete successes, the case of Midian shows that appearances can be deceiving. In reality we don’t know how thorough the Israelites were in their war.

The picture becomes clearer with the invasion of Canaan itself.

Invasion Of Canaan

The first two cities attacked in Canaan were completely destroyed (Joshua 6:18-19, Ch. 8). Jericho was a city “devoted to the LORD for destruction” (Joshua 6:17). It was the only city specially designated with a title. Ai, the second city, was the only city where the Bible gave a casualty report. Does the destruction of these two cities mean the same occurred everywhere throughout the invasion, or were they special cases? A further look shows Jericho and Ai were special cases. Total destruction did not occur everywhere throughout the invasion.

Six southern Canaanite cities were destroyed (Joshua 10). Only Hebron and Debir had neighbouring towns destroyed as well. The Bible gives no indication the other four cities had their towns attacked.

In Joshua 11, Israel fought the Canaanites in the north. Only one city is named: Hazor. It was the only city burnt. Other cities were attacked and destroyed, but no names, numbers or details were given.

If genocide was the invasion objective, each town, village or farm destroyed would have been another step of obedience. If Israel had disobeyed, the Bible would have clearly said so. If Israel had obeyed such a command, each act of destruction would have been another victory. The Bible would not have been silent about their faithfulness. Since the Bible gives no hint of either case, it appears unlikely genocide was the objective. And if genocide was not the objective, Israel would not be attacking every city, town, village or farm. This seems to fit what the Bible recorded.

Now Thutmose III (Egyptian pharaoh 1501?-1447?BC) claimed 300 cities recognized his power in Canaan¹. Perhaps his claim was an exaggeration, but we can be quite certain there were many cities in Canaan. The Bible account of Joshua’s invasion lists only a few cities by name. Does this mean Joshua’s invasion was small? The Bible clearly shows it was not small. Joshua 12 lists 31 conquered kings covering most of Canaan. Only the peripheral areas were left unconquered (Joshua 13). It could be concluded that the invasion was directed against Canaanites with the greatest power and influence. Israel won the war once any possible rallying point was destroyed. Complete destruction of all the Canaanites was unnecessary.

One final point could be made concerning Israel’s actions in Canaan. The ancient world was not an urban society. Even if Israel destroyed every single city, over 90% of the population at that time lived in the countryside . What would happen to these people? A few would fight. Some would take refuge in the cities. Some would flee and return later after the fighting. Many might stay where they were and hope for the best. This explains why most of God’s commands reiterated the need to drive the Canaanites out.

Conclusion

This is not to downplay or minimize the devastating impact of Israel’s invasion. Many people (men, women and children) were slain. In some cases even all livestock from a city were slaughtered. The Canaanite culture was evil and God wanted it removed. But he didn’t want everyone killed. He was not merciless. Gradually driving the Canaanites out of their land and into neighbouring nations where they would be the minority would force them to change their ways (Exodus 23:27-30).

Israel’s invasion demonstrated God’s justice, mercy and practicality at work. He executed justice upon the Canaanite ruling class. They tended to live in the cities, and they were most responsible for the evil Canaanite culture. God granted mercy to the Canaanites outside of the cities. They had their lives, but they would eventually have to move and give up all their sinful culture.

Notes

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