Josh. xiv. 6, and father of Caleb a ruler of the tribe
of Judah. Numb. xiii. 2, 6—the Kenites
registered in the genealogies of the tribe of Judah,
Judg. i. 16; 1 Chron. ii. 55, and the one hundred
and fifty thousand Canaanites, employed by Solomon
in the building of the Temple.[D] Besides, the greatest
miracle on record, was wrought to save a portion of
those very Canaanites, and for the destruction of
those who would exterminate them. Josh. x. 12-14.
Further—the terms employed in the directions
regulating the disposal of the Canaanites, such as
“drive out,” “put out,” “cast
out,” “expel,” “dispossess,”
&c., seem used interchangeably with “consume,”
“destroy,” “overthrow,” &c.,
and thus indicate the sense in which the latter words
are used. As an illustration of the meaning generally
attached to these and similar terms, we refer to the
history of the Amalekites. “I will utterly
put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
Ex. xvii. 14. “Thou shalt blot out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt
not forget it.” Deut. xxv. 19. “Smite
Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have,
and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant
and suckling, ox and sheep.” 1 Sam. xv. 2, 3.
“Saul smote the Amalekites, and he took Agag
the king of the Amalekites, alive and UTTERLY DESTROYED
ALL THE PEOPLE with the edge of the sword.”
Verses 7, 8. In verse 20, Saul says, “I
have brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and have utterly
destroyed the Amalekites.” In 1 Sam.
xxx. 1, 2, we find the Amalekites marching an army
into Israel, and sweeping everything before them—and
this in about eighteen years after they had all been
“UTTERLY DESTROYED!” In 1 Kings ii. 15-17,
is another illustration. We are informed that
Joab remained in Edom six months with all Israel,
“until he had cut off every male”
in Edom. In the next verse we learn that Hadad
and “certain Edomites” were not slain.
Deut. xx. 16, 17, will probably be quoted against
the preceding view. We argue that the command
in these verses, did not include all the individuals
of the Canaanitish nations, but only the inhabitants
of the cities, (and even those conditionally,)
because, only the inhabitants of cities are
specified—“of the cities of
these people thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.”
Cities then, as now, were pest-houses of vice, they
reeked with abominations little practised in the country.
On this account, their influence would be far more
perilous to the Israelites than that of the country.
Besides, they were the centres of idolatry—there
were the temples and altars, and idols, and priests,
without number. Even their buildings, streets,
and public walks were so many visibilities of idolatry.
The reason assigned in the 18th verse for exterminating
them, strengthens the idea—“that they
teach you not to do after all the abominations which
they have done unto their gods.” This would
be a reason for exterminating all the nations and individuals