In the inquiry, What evidence have we that the Canaanites were black? we
may find it necessary to refer to various facts which have come down to
us, connecting their history with that of the Israelitish people.
Perhaps no fact could be better established than that Abraham lived on
the most friendly terms with the Canaanites. He was a confederate with
their kings. When they lost a battle, he retrieved it. They treated him
with the utmost regard, and he them with a generous liberality. Could he
not have wedded his son among them, to whom he chose?
“And Abraham said unto the eldest servant of his house, that ruled over
all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: and I will
make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the
earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of
the Canaanites among whom I dwell.” _Gen._ xxiv. 2, 3.
Under the circumstances of the case, what could have influenced such a
determination?
“And Rebecca said unto Isaac, I am weary of my life, because of the
daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such
as those which are the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do
me? And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, Thou shalt
not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.” _Gen._ xxvii. 46, xxviii.
1.
On what rational ground are we to account for this extraordinary
repugnance?
The conduct of the sons of Jacob does not determine them to have been
very sincerely religious. The soul of Shechem, a prince of the country,
clave unto Dinah their sister; he was rich, and offered ever so much
dowry for an honourable marriage with her; and to show his sincerity,
even abandoned his old, and adopted their religion. There must have been
some other deep and unalterable cause for their unchangeable aversion to
that proposed marriage of their sister.
“When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest
to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites,
and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the
Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater
and mightier than thou;
“And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt
smite them and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with
them, nor show mercy unto them:
“Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt
not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.”
_Deut._ vii. 1, 2, 3.
The laws of God are always predicated upon some sufficient cause: in
such cases we may ever notice a tendency towards the prevention of
deterioration.
“Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.” _Ex._ xxii.
19.
The terms Japhet, Laban, Hor, and their derivatives in significancy ever
include the idea white, of a light colour. These terms are applied among
the descendants of Japheth and Shem, as the appellatives of their races
and individual names, and as adjectives in description of their personal
appearance, too frequently to permit a doubt of these families belonging
to the white race.
There is but a single case in all the holy books, where any of these
terms is applied to a person of colour, and which we trust we have
explained; and if our view be correct, how came the poet to require its
use there, unless to elevate the character he celebrates! Do we use any
term to signify that a person is white in a country where there are none
but white people? Whatever evidence then there may be that the families
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were white people, is also just as positive
testimony that the Canaanites were black. See _Gen._ xxvi. 34, 35.
But in Judges i. 16, we find that the family of the race of Ishmael out
of which Moses took his wife are denominated Kenites. We think that we
have abundantly proved that they were black. From this connection of
Moses, the Israelites seem to have felt some regard for that race. Now
it appears that some of that descent were afterwards residing in the
cities of Amalek; for we find in 1 Samuel xv. 6, that “Saul said unto
the Kenites, Go, depart, get ye down from among the Amalekites, lest I
destroy you with them, for ye showed kindness to all the children of
Israel when they came out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed.” How should
it be a fact, since they were black, that he could not distinguish them
from the Amalekites, unless the Amalekites were black also?
The Amalekites were Canaanites, notwithstanding they claimed Esau in
their ancestry. “Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan. Adah
the daughter of Ebon the Hittite; * * * and Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz;
* * * and Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son; and she bore to
Eliphaz, Amalek.” _Gen._ xxxvi. 2, 4, 12.
The Amalekites were one of those tribes, that the Israelites were
particularly commanded to destroy from off the earth; and in them, he
who amalgamates with the daughters of Ham may see his own prospect as to
posterity.
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