Counted as Righteous
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Genesis 15:20 · Berean Standard Bible
The list continues: the Hittites, Perizzites, and Rephaites are also mentioned as inhabitants of the promised land.
God keeps naming the peoples, emphasizing the reality of what's to come. These are established nations, some quite powerful. The Hittites especially were a major empire in the ancient world.
God continuing His list of the land's inhabitants
By the end of Joshua, all these nations have been conquered or displaced. The promise made here in Genesis 15 becomes historical reality, though centuries later. This shows God's word never fails, even when the obstacles seem overwhelming.
The list continues with Hittites, Perizzites, and Rephaites as inhabitants of the promised land.
These three peoples represent a cross-section of Canaanite populations: the Hittites (חִתִּים) were Indo-European peoples with significant presence in Anatolia and northern Canaan; the Perizzites (פְּרִזִּים) were rural hill-dwelling populations; the Rephaites (רְפָאִים) were known in biblical tradition as giants (cf. Deuteronomy 2:11, 20). The specificity of the enumeration—not a generic 'all the nations of Canaan' but named peoples—suggests both historical grounding and theological precision about the covenant's real-world implications.
The narrator continues the list of inhabitants, completing God's geographical specification.
The continuation of this list reinforces that the promised land is not an empty inheritance but a territory whose possession requires displacement. This introduces a permanent tension in biblical theology: the covenant promise of land necessarily involves the displacement of others, raising questions about divine justice that biblical narratives address through the category of judgment upon sin (as verse 16 suggested regarding the Amorites).
18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
Read all of Genesis 15 — God takes Abram outside, points at the stars, and makes a promise. Abram believes — and it changes everything about how we understand faith.
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