Places in the Bible · Region

Canaan

Canaan is a region mentioned in 101 verses. Its most likely location is Canaan. The name means “merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues.”

panorama of a region in Canaan from Mount Tabor
panorama of a region in Canaan from Mount Tabor · Photo: Bahnfrend (CC-BY-SA-4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Where is Canaan?

Approx. 32.7667, 35.3333 · OpenStreetMap · Google Maps

Possible modern locations

IdentificationTypeConfidence
CanaanregionHigh

Canaan in the Bible dictionary

The country which derived its name from the preceding. The name as first used by the Phoenicians denoted only the maritime plain on which Sidon was built. But in the time of Moses and Joshua it denoted the whole country to the west of the Jordan and the Dead Sea (Deut. 11:30). In Josh. 5:12 the LXX. read, “land of the Phoenicians,” instead of “land of Canaan.”

The name signifies “the lowlands,” as distinguished from the land of Gilead on the east of Jordan, which was a mountainous district. The extent and boundaries of Canaan are fully set forth in different parts of Scripture (Gen. 10:19; 17:8; Num. 13:29; 34:8).

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain. Full dictionary entry →

Verses that mention Canaan

  • Genesis 10:19

    And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

  • Genesis 11:31

    And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

  • Genesis 12:5

    And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

  • Genesis 12:10

    And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

  • Genesis 13:12

    Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

  • Genesis 16:3

    And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

  • Genesis 17:8

    And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

  • Genesis 23:2

    And Sarah died in Kirjath–arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

  • Genesis 23:19

    And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

  • Genesis 28:1

    And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

All 101 references

Events at Canaan