Note 2111 — Chapter XI

The Old Testament command to exterminate the Canaanites (Deut. vii, 2; xxv, 19; Josh. vi-xi) is not historical, that is, was not given at the time stated or at any other time. The Israelites, in fact, settled down among the Canaanites and intermarried with them, and at the time when the passages just cited were written (seventh century and later) there were no such alien tribes in Canaan. But these passages show how a current barbarous custom of war could be regarded by religious leaders as pleasing to God.