דברי הימים א, פרק א׳, פסוק י״ג

The genealogy of Canaan begins by naming his first sons, Sidon and Heth, but this family record holds a much deeper significance regarding the future division of the land. The primary approach among commentators focuses on the total number of Canaan's descendants. Canaan had eleven sons, and when counting Canaan himself alongside them, the total number of Canaanite nations comes to exactly twelve.

This specific number is not a coincidence. It perfectly mirrors the twelve tribes of Israel. This direct parallel clarifies an earlier biblical concept from the book of Deuteronomy, which notes that God set the borders of the peoples according to the number of the Israelites. Long before the Israelites arrived, God deliberately established the boundaries of the twelve Canaanite nations. He arranged their territories in advance so that they would perfectly match the twelve tribes of Israel, who were always destined to inherit those exact lands.