the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,
Verse 15 names three clans among Canaan's descendants, inside a genealogy that runs from Adam to Israel. Such names look like dead weight today, yet these are the peoples Israel later meets in the promised land.
Who the Arkites and Sinites were
Both names point to settlements on the Phoenician coast, north of Israel. We know where the Arkites lived:
Morrish Bible DictionaryA tribe descended from Canaan, son of Ham; it probably lived in Arca, in the north of Phoenicia, about 15 miles north of Tripoli, now called Tell Arka. Gen. 10:17; 1 Chr. 1:15.
The Sinites left far less trace:
Morrish Bible DictionaryA tribe of unknown Canaanites, probably in the far north. Gen. 10:17; 1 Chr. 1:15. The Targums give Orthosia, a town on the coast to the north-east of Tripolis.
The Hivites in Israel's story
This clan keeps reappearing, from Jacob's day to Joshua's:
Morrish Bible DictionaryOne of the races found early in Palestine: they were descendants of Ham through Canaan. Gen. 10:17. Jacob, on his return to Palestine, found Shechem occupied by the Hivites. Gen. 34:2. They also held Gibeon, and found a way to deceive Joshua into making a treaty with them. Joshua 9:3, 7. They seem to have been a trading people rather than a warlike one... Israel failed to carry out God's directions to drive out these and other inhabitants of the land, and suffered for it. These nations led Israel into idolatry.
Why a list of Canaanite clans exists at all
Scripture does not list these families for the sake of geography. They held ground God had already assigned:
William KellyThe youngest branch of the Hamitic race now comes before us, already marked with a curse (Gen. 9:25)... Scripture carefully points them out as races which took possession of the land destined for Israel. As the song of Moses so forcefully puts it (Deut. 32:8), "When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage."
(Kelly's older translation reads "according to the number of the sons of Israel" — his point is that God measured out the land with Israel in view.)
Judgment that was deserved and delayed
God did not sweep these peoples away on a whim. He waited until their evil was complete:
William KellyNow the races of Canaan occupied the land which Jehovah intended for Israel. Nor was this all. They were notably vile... But the cup of the Amorites became full. The land grew so unclean that Jehovah had to judge its sin. Then He was pleased to make Israel the executioner of His vengeance. What could be more righteous in itself? What wiser for His people, its destined heirs? All unnatural evils as well as idolatries had become their "customs," from which Israel had to be kept. It was no question of cruelty. It was Israel's fault not to wipe them out as completely as Jehovah commanded. Those left alive went on to trap and corrupt the chosen people into the same infamy.
The Hivite treaty and its lesson
The best-known Hivite episode is Gibeon. The failure there was Israel's, not Gibeon's cleverness:
Leslie M. GrantWhat the Gibeonites said sounded plausible. Their reference to Israel's God may have had a deciding effect with Joshua. But he and Israel made the fatal mistake of receiving them on their own word without asking counsel from the Lord (v.14)... if they had taken the matter to God, would they have been deceived? No! If we are in proper communion with the Lord, we shall not be deceived, for the Lord is not deceived.
Why Chronicles keeps it short
Chronicles trims what Genesis 10 spells out. It leaves out the Canaanite borders, because this book has a narrower aim.
H. L. RossierGenesis 10 deals with how the nations spread over the earth. Those details would be useless for the aim of the book we are now looking at. For the same reason the boundaries of the Canaanites in Genesis 10:18-20 and those of the sons of Joktan (Gen. 10:30-32) get no mention here at all.
Why the chosen line comes last
One rule shapes the whole chapter. The natural branches come first, the promised line last.
William KellyJapheth and Ham, with their sons, come before us first, and only then Shem and the line of God's promise in Shem... God's purposes ripen latest. God lets the world take its own way, and it exalts men on the earth. God means to exalt the Man who humbled Himself.
Summary
- Named — the Arkites settled at Arca, north of Tripoli. The Sinites are unknown, likely far north. The Hivites held Shechem and Gibeon.
- Placed — these clans took land God had already measured out for Israel, so Scripture names them.
- Judged — judgment waited until their evil was full. It was righteous toward them and it guarded Israel.
- Spared — whoever Israel failed to drive out trapped Israel instead. Gibeon gained its treaty because no one asked the Lord.
- Last — Scripture lists the natural line first and the promised line last, because God's purposes ripen latest.