The list of inhabitants continues: the Hittites, Perizzites, and Rephaites. The Hittites — Abraham will buy a burial cave from Hittites in Genesis 23 — are one of the major powers of the ancient Near East, a significant empire far to the north. Their presence in Canaan reflects the complex multi-ethnic composition of the region. The Rephaites are associated with giant stature and ancient warrior traditions; they appear in Numbers 13 as the source of the spies' fear. The Perizzites, mentioned alongside the Canaanites throughout the conquest narratives, represent the settled rural population. The diversity of peoples included in the list is the diversity that Israel's conquest of Canaan will encounter. The application: the promise of inheritance never comes without the reality of opposition. Every people listed here represents an occupied claim that will require faith and action to displace.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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