Genesis 9:25

9:25 So he said,

“Cursed ¹  be Canaan! ² 

The lowest of slaves ³ 

he will be to his brothers.”

Genesis 10:15-19

10:15 Canaan was the father of ⁴  Sidon his firstborn, ⁵  Heth, ⁶  10:16 the Jebusites, ⁷  Amorites, ⁸  Girgashites, ⁹  10:17 Hivites, ¹⁰  Arkites, ¹¹  Sinites, ¹²  10:18 Arvadites, ¹³  Zemarites, ¹⁴  and Hamathites. ¹⁵  Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended ¹⁶  from Sidon ¹⁷  all the way to ¹⁸  Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to ¹⁹  Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

Zechariah 14:21

14:21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the Lord who rules over all, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite ²⁰  in the house of the Lord who rules over all.

Mark 11:17

11:17 Then he began to teach ²¹  them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? ²²  But you have turned it into a den ²³  of robbers!” ²⁴ 

John 2:16

2:16 To those who sold the doves he said, “Take these things away from here! Do not make ²⁵  my Father’s house a marketplace!” ²⁶ 

[9:25]  ¹ sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.

[9:25]  ² sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).

[9:25]  ³ tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.

[10:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:15]  ⁵ sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.

[10:15]  ⁶ tn Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. NIV), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.

[10:16]  ⁷ sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.

[10:16]  ⁸ sn Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.

[10:16]  ⁹ sn The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 1:226).

[10:17]  ¹⁰ sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.

[10:17]  ¹¹ sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.

[10:17]  ¹² sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.

[10:18]  ¹³ sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.

[10:18]  ¹⁴ sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.

[10:18]  ¹⁵ sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.

[10:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “were.”

[10:19]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “as you go.”

[14:21]  ²⁰ tn Or “merchant”; “trader” (because Canaanites, especially Phoenicians, were merchants and traders; cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי). English versions have rendered the term as “Canaanite” (KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV), “trader” (RSV, NEB), “traders” (NRSV, NLT), or “merchant” (NAB), although frequently a note is given explaining the other option. Cf. also John 2:16.

[11:17]  ²¹ tn The imperfect ἐδίδασκεν (edidasken) is here taken ingressively.

[11:17]  ²² sn A quotation from Isa 56:7.

[11:17]  ²³ tn Or “a hideout” (see L&N 1.57).

[11:17]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Jer 7:11. The meaning of Jesus’ statement about making the temple courts a den of robbers probably operates here at two levels. Not only were the religious leaders robbing the people financially, but because of this they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing from them the opportunity to come to know God genuinely. It is possible that these merchants had recently been moved to this location for convenience.

[2:16]  ²⁵ tn Or (perhaps) “Stop making.”

[2:16]  ²⁶ tn Or “a house of merchants” (an allusion to Zech 14:21).