Decoder Terminal
PEOPLE OF CANAAN
MERCHANT CLASS — COMMERCIAL OPERATIVES
PERSONNELSpecs
semantic shift
Ethnic term → commercial term
prophetic usage
Hosea 12:7, Zechariah 14:21 — merchant connotation
loaded with silver
Wealthy merchant class
phoenician connection
Canaanite descendants dominated trade
Intelligence Brief
The term 'Canaan' had evolved. Originally the ethnic designation for pre-Israelite inhabitants, by the prophetic period it had become associated with commerce (the Phoenicians, descendants of Canaanites, dominated Mediterranean trade). To call Jerusalem's merchants 'people of Canaan' is a double insult: they are traders, and they have become like the pagans Israel was supposed to displace. Their silver-laden prosperity is about to be 'cut off' — the same verb used for covenant cutting, here meaning covenant breaking.
Scripture References