Genesis 10:15-19 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

Canaan] Phœnicia and Palestine. The Canaanites were a Semitic race, speaking a language near akin to Hebrew. They are here assigned to Ham, perhaps contemptuously, or possibly because Palestine was a province of Egypt previous to the exodus. Sidon] the Phœnician seaport. Heth] The Hittites are now well known from Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions to have been a powerful nation to the N. of Palestine, with Carchemish on the Euphrates and Kadesh on the Orontes as their chief cities. An offshoot of the nation is found at Hebron: cp. Genesis 23:3; Genesis 25:10. The Jebusite] the tribe in and around Jerusalem: cp. Joshua 15:8; Joshua 15:63; 2 Samuel 5:6-9. The Amorite] one of the most powerful Palestinian tribes. In Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions they are called the Amurru, and “Amorite” seems to have been a general term for the old inhabitants of Canaan: see on 2 Samuel 12:5. According to Numbers 13:29 they dwelt chiefly in the mountainous districts. Sihon and Og were Amorite kings. The Girgashite] perhaps connected with Gergesa, near the Sea of Galilee. The Hivite] a petty tribe of Central Palestine. The Arkite] the tribe connected with the Phœnician city of Arka, 12 m. N. of Tripolis. The Sinite] probably connected with a city called Sin, near Lebanon. The Arvadite] Arvad was a city built on an island off the Phœnician coast (now Ruwad). The Zemarite] Sinsyra, S. of Arvad. The Hamathite] Hamath was a city on the Orontes. The 'entering in of Hamath 'was the northern limit of Palestine. Most of these tribes were afterwards driven out by the conquering Israelites.