Study guide

Peoples & Nations

Israel never lived alone. Behind every war, treaty, and marriage in the Old Testament stands a nation with its own ancestry, its own land, and its own reasons. These pages trace where each people came from, how they came to work with or against Israel, and where their story ends.

Start with the Canaanites See the twelve tribes

22 peoples

Every nation here traces back to Noah's three sons in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10), or to Abraham and his nephew Lot. Each page gives the ancestry, the land, a dated timeline of dealings with Israel, what they did with and against Israel, and how their story ends.

The sons of Canaan — the nations in the land

Canaan was the son of Ham (Genesis 10:6). His eleven sons became the peoples living in the land God promised to Abraham, which is why Israel’s whole early history is bound up with them.

CanaanitesThe umbrella nation of the land, and the reason for the conquest.AmoritesSihon and Og — the first kingdoms Israel destroyed, when their iniquity was complete.HittitesSold Abraham a grave, gave Esau his wives, and gave David his most loyal soldier.JebusitesHeld Jerusalem for four centuries; their threshing floor became the temple mount.Hivites & the GibeonitesTricked Israel into a treaty God refused to let anyone break.Phoenicians — Sidon & TyreBuilt Solomon’s temple, and married Baal into Israel’s royal family.

Ham’s other lines — Egypt, the coast, and Babel

Mizraim (Egypt) and Cush were Canaan’s brothers. From Mizraim came the Philistines; from Cush came Nimrod, who founded Babel.

EgyptiansRefuge, then the house of slavery, then an unreliable ally.PhilistinesIsrael’s defining enemy: the ark, Samson, Saul, and Goliath.BabyloniansBabel, then the empire that burned the temple and carried Judah away.

Abraham’s other children — the near kin

Ishmael by Hagar, Midian by Keturah, and Esau by Isaac. These are Israel’s closest relatives, and the source of some of its longest quarrels.

IshmaelitesAbraham’s firstborn line: blessed, multiplied, and outside the covenant.MidianitesGave Moses a wife and a father-in-law; later ground Israel into caves.KenitesThe most consistently loyal outsiders in the Old Testament.EdomitesEsau’s line — brothers who cheered while Jerusalem burned.AmalekitesAttacked the stragglers at the exodus; under a standing sentence ever after.

The sons of Lot

Moab and Ammon, born to Abraham’s nephew in the aftermath of Sodom. Their land was protected from Israel by God’s own command, and their assembly barred to Israel’s worship.

MoabitesBarred from the assembly — and the family of Ruth.AmmonitesFrom Nahash’s gouged eyes to Tobiah’s schemes against Nehemiah.

The line of Shem — neighbours and empires

Aram, Asshur, and Elam were sons of Shem, like Israel itself. From them came Syria, Assyria, and the Persian world.

Arameans — Syria & DamascusIsrael’s in-laws and Israel’s border war — and the language Jesus spoke.AssyriansThe empire that ended the northern kingdom — and repented under Jonah.Persians & MedesThe only empire that paid to rebuild the temple.

The line of Japheth — the powers from the west

Javan and Kittim, sons and grandsons of Japheth, are the coastlands: Greece and Rome, the empires that shaped the world the New Testament was written into.

GreeksIsrael’s worst persecution before Rome, and the language of the New Testament.RomansCrucified the Messiah, destroyed the temple, and carried the gospel to the world.

Made by the exile

One people has no place in the Table of Nations, because Assyria created them by policy after 722 BC.

SamaritansHalf-kin, half-foreign — and the hero of Jesus’ most famous parable.

At a glance

Where each people came from, which side of Israel they ended up on, and how their story closed.

People	Descended from	With or against Israel	How it ended
Canaanites	Canaan, son of Ham	Worked against Israel	Destroyed or absorbed; gone by the exile
Amorites	Canaan, son of Ham	Worked against Israel	Annihilated east of the Jordan; absorbed west of it
Hittites	Heth, son of Canaan	Both, at different times	Empire fell c. 1180 BC; clans absorbed into Israel
Jebusites	Canaan, son of Ham	Worked against Israel	Conquered by David; absorbed into Judah
Hivites & the Gibeonites	Canaan, son of Ham	Worked with Israel	Bound to the sanctuary; still serving after the exile
Phoenicians — Sidon & Tyre	Sidon, firstborn of Canaan	Both, at different times	Tyre destroyed by Alexander, 332 BC
Egyptians	Mizraim, son of Ham	Both, at different times	Never destroyed; promised healing in Isaiah 19
Philistines	Casluhim, of Mizraim; migrants from Caphtor	Worked against Israel	Crushed by Assyria and Babylon
Babylonians	Nimrod, of Cush son of Ham	Worked against Israel	Fell to Cyrus, 539 BC; the name endures in Revelation
Ishmaelites	Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar	Both, at different times	Merged into the Arab tribes
Midianites	Midian, son of Abraham and Keturah	Both, at different times	Shattered by Gideon
Kenites	Jethro's clan, attached to Midian	Worked with Israel	Absorbed into Judah; honoured as Rechabites
Edomites	Esau, son of Isaac	Worked against Israel	Idumea absorbed; ended with Herod's dynasty
Amalekites	Amalek, grandson of Esau	Worked against Israel	Destroyed; the last Agagite hanged in Persia
Moabites	Moab, son of Lot	Both, at different times	Ended by Babylon; present in the line of David
Ammonites	Ben-ammi, son of Lot	Worked against Israel	Subdued by Babylon; absorbed into the Arab tribes
Arameans — Syria & Damascus	Aram, son of Shem	Both, at different times	Damascus fell to Assyria, 732 BC; Aramaic outlived it
Assyrians	Asshur, son of Shem	Worked against Israel	Nineveh destroyed, 612 BC
Persians & Medes	Elam, son of Shem; Madai, son of Japheth	Worked with Israel	Fell to Alexander, 331 BC
Greeks	Javan, son of Japheth	Both, at different times	Absorbed by Rome; the language remained
Romans	Kittim, of Javan son of Japheth	Both, at different times	Destroyed Jerusalem AD 70; later professed the faith
Samaritans	Northern Israel mixed with Assyrian settlers	Both, at different times	A small community survives today