The Gift of the land and the fate of the Canaanites in Jewish thought

"This volume of essays presents a compelling and comprehensive analysis of the intriguing issue of the gift of the land of Israel and the fate of the Canaanites as presented in diverse biblical sources. Jewish thought has long grappled with the moral and theological implications and challenges of this issue. Innovative interpretive strategies and philosophical reflections were offered, modified, and sometimes rejected over the centuries. Leading contemporary scholars follow these threads of interpretation offered by Jewish thinkersfrom antiquity to modern times."-- "The gift of the land of Israel by God is an essential element in Jewish identity, religiously, and politically. That the gift came at the expense of the local Canaanites has stimulated deep reflections and heated debate in Jewish literature, from the creation of the Bible to the twenty-first century. This book offers nineteen chapters on this moral dilemma by international experts in the history of Jewish thought. The chapters examine the theological, ethical, and political issues connected with the gift and with the fate of the Canaanites, focusing on classical Jewish texts and major Jewish commentators, legal thinkers, and philosophers from ancient times to the present. The book sheds light on Jewish exegetical and intellectual creativity in developing interpretive and philosophical strategies to cope with the problem, and hopes to enable a greater understanding of the long history of Jewish reflection on the issue of Israel's sovereignty over the land and its relationship with non-Jewish inhabitants."--