H3669a H3669a
Canaanite; a member of the pre-Israelite people of Canaan; by metonymic extension, a merchant or trader.
Primarily the gentilic adjective and noun designating the Canaanite people — the pre-Israelite inhabitants of the promised land who appear from the Table of Nations (Gen 10:18) through the conquest narratives (Judg 1) and beyond. The Canaanites were so closely associated with commerce in the ancient Near East that their very name became a byword for 'merchant,' a semantic development attested in Job 41:6 and paralleled in later prophetic literature (Zech 14:21). This striking shift from ethnonym to trade term offers a window into how Israel perceived its neighbors.
1. Canaanite (ethnic designation) — The gentilic designation for a member of the Canaanite people, the pre-Israelite inhabitants of the land of Canaan. Covering 70 of 71 occurrences, this sense spans the patriarchal narratives (Gen 12:6; 13:7), conquest accounts (Judg 1:1, 3, 9), and genealogies (Gen 46:10). Translations consistently use standard gentilic forms — Spanish 'cananeo,' French 'Cananéen,' German 'Kanaaniter' — underscoring the stable ethnic reference across all contexts, from individual identifications (Gen 38:2) to collective designations of the people group. 70×
AR["الكَنعانيَّ","الكَنعانيِّ","الكَنعانِيَّ","الكَنعانِيُّ","الكَنعانِيِّينَ","الْ-كَنْعَانِيِّ","الْ-كَنْعَانِيِّينَ","الْكَنْعَانِيَّ","الْكَنْعَانِيُّ","الْكَنْعَانِيُّونَ","الْكَنْعَانِيِّ","الْكَنْعَانِيِّينَ"]·ben["-কনানীয়দের","কনানীয়","কনানীয়দের","কনানীয়দেরকে-(সেই)","কনানীয়রা","কনানীয়ের","সেই-কনানীয়"]·DE["den-Kanaaniter","der-Kanaaniter","des-Kanaaniters","die-Kanaaniter"]·EN["the-Canaanite"]·FR["le-Canaanite","le-Cananéen"]·heb["ה-כנעני"]·HI["कनʿआनी-का","कनानियों-के","कनानी","कनानी-की","कनानी-के","कनानी-ने","केनअनि","केनानी-की","केनानी-के"]·ID["-orang-Kanaan","orang Kanaan","orang-Kanaan","orang-Kanaan-itu"]·IT["il-Cananeo"]·jav["punika","tiyang-Kanaan","tiyang-Kanaan,","wong-Kanaan"]·KO["가나안과","가나안의","가나안족과","그-가나안-사람","그-가나안-사람-을","그-가나안-사람-이","그-가나안-사람과","그-가나안-사람의","그-가나안-사람이","그-가나안인이"]·PT["o-Cananeu","o-Kena'ani","o-Kena'ani,","o-cananeu","o-kena'ani"]·RU["-Канаанея","-Кенаанея","-Ханаанеев","Канааней","Кенаанеев","Кенааней","Кенаанейца","Кенаанские","Ханааней","Ханаанея","Хананеев","Хананей","Хананейская","Хананейские"]·ES["al-cananeo","el-cananeo","el-kenaani","el-kenaanita"]·SW["Mkanaani","Mkanaani-huyo","Wakanaani","pa-Mkanaani","ya-Mkanaani","ya-Wakanaani"]·TR["-Kenanlı","-Kenanlı'nın","-Kenanlı'yı","-Kenanlıları","-Kenanlıların","Kenanlı","Kenanlı'nın","Kenanlı'yı","Kenanlılar'in","Kenanlının","Kenanlıyı"]·urd["-کنعانی","-کنعانیوں-کے","کنعانی","کنعانی-نے","کنعانی-کے","کنعانیوں","کنعانیوں-کی","کنعانیوں-کے"]
Gen 10:18, Gen 10:19, Gen 12:6, Gen 13:7, Gen 15:21, Gen 24:3, Gen 24:37, Gen 50:11, Exod 3:8, Exod 3:17, Exod 13:5, Exod 13:11 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. merchant, trader — A metonymic extension meaning 'merchant' or 'trader,' reflecting the Canaanites' widespread reputation as commercial middlemen throughout the ancient Near East. Attested only at Job 41:6, where it appears in a mercantile context. The multilingual evidence is decisive: Spanish shifts from 'cananeo' to 'mercaderes,' English from 'Canaanite' to 'merchants,' while French and German retain the Hebrew form untranslated, signaling lexicographic uncertainty about how to render this rare figurative usage. 1×
AR["التُّجَّارِ؟"]·ben["ব্যবসায়ীদের"]·DE["[כנענים]"]·EN["merchants"]·FR["כנענים"]·heb["כנענים"]·HI["व्यापारियों"]·ID["para pedagang"]·IT["merchants"]·jav["para-saudagar?"]·KO["가나안-사람들의"]·PT["comerciantes?"]·RU["ханаанеями"]·ES["mercaderes"]·SW["wafanyabiashara"]·TR["tüccarların"]·urd["تاجروں-کے"]
Related Senses
H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)G2192 1. possess / have (680×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)H1471a 1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) (466×)G3326 1. with (368×)G1325 1. give, bestow (336×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)H5159 1. inherited land or property (170×)H4150 1. meeting (tent of meeting) (151×)G2992 1. people/nation (an ethnic or political community) (142×)G2983 1. receive, obtain (134×)H3423 1. Qal: take possession of land (130×)G4862 1. (129×)G1484 1. Gentiles, non-Jewish nations (128×)G2983 2. take, take up (113×)H1471a 2. nation, people-group (singular) (98×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. כְּנַעֲנִי adj. et nom. gent. of 1. כְּנַעַן;—usually ms. (הַ)כְּנַעֲנִי Gn 38:2 Nu 21:1 +; fs. הַכְּנַעֲנִית Gn 46:10 = Ex 6:15 1 Ch 2:3; mpl.; (הַ)כְּנַעֲנִים Ob 20 Ne 9:24;— 1. adj. אִישׁ כ׳ Gn 38:2 (J). 2. c. art. as subst., a. of individual, הַכּ׳ מֶלֶךְ־עֲרָד Nu 21:1 (J) and hence 33:40 (P or R); f. הַכְּנַעֲנִית Gn 46:10 = Ex 6:15 (P) בַּת־שׁוּעַ הַכְּנַעֲנִית 1 Ch 2:3. b. usually…