Ancient Canaanite DNA Confirms Biblical Accuracy | The Institute for Creation Research

Ancient Canaanite DNA Confirms Biblical Accuracy

A recent news story emerged regarding sequencing ancient human DNA found in bones thought to be about 4,000 years old. The DNA was found in Sidon, Lebanon, on the shore of the Mediterranean.1 This area of the world corresponds to the ancient Phoenician civilization that descended from the Canaanites mentioned in the Bible. Numbers 13:29 notes their specific location, saying, “The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

The researchers involved in the DNA sequencing project found that greater than 90 percent of modern Lebanese ancestry is probably from the original Canaanites, with the rest coming from other Eurasian groups.2 Not surprisingly, those skeptical of the Bible and quick to criticize it claimed these results somehow disproved the Scriptures. For example, a Cell Press news article said, “Were they [the Canaanites] annihilated like the Bible says?” 1

But the Bible does not describe annihilation!

While God commanded the Israelites to eliminate the Canaanites from the land they were given, the Bible clearly documents that the Israelites disobeyed God and refused to follow the instructions recorded in three different places (Joshua 17:12-13, Judges 1:27-33, Judges 2:1-3). As it turns out, the Canaanites got a big break and survived just fine.

Here’s a striking passage from the Bible that records God stating He would let the prior inhabitants of Canaan continue to live in the land because of Israel’s disobedience:

Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you. (Judges 2:1-3)

Once again science confirms the Scriptures as being historically accurate—this time with the aid of new technologies that help sequence ancient DNA. We await the next discovery.

References

  1. Who were the Canaanites? Ancient human DNA evidence yields answers. EurekAlert! Posted on eurekalert.org July 27, 2017, accessed August 3, 2017.
  2. Haber, M. et al. Continuity and Admixture in the Last Five Millennia of Levantine History from Ancient Canaanite and Present-Day Lebanese Genome SequencesAmerican Journal of Human Genetics. Published online before print July 27, 2017. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.06.013>

Article posted on August 14, 2017.

*Jeffrey Tomkins is Director of Life Sciences at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in genetics from Clemson University, where he worked as a research technician in a plant breeding/genetics program. After receiving his Ph.D., he worked at a genomics institute and became a faculty member in the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson.

The Latest
NEWS
Pastor and Longtime ICR Supporter Dr. John MacArthur Now with...
Faithful ICR supporter and pastor Dr. John MacArthur went home to be with the Lord on Monday, July 14, 2025, completing his 86-year pilgrimage.1...

CREATION PODCAST
Setting Sights on Scopes: The Truth Behind the Infamous Monkey...
The Scopes Trial is one of the most famous court cases in American history, and this year marks its one hundredth anniversary. Often,...

NEWS
Did Earthworms Rewrite Their DNA to Survive on Land?
An earthworm news story was recently posted that openly questions Darwin’s gradual and slow evolutionary progress in the living world.1...

NEWS
Mysterious Erosion Confirms High Flood Boundary
Two separate research reports arrived at a similar conclusion.1,2 Both found an episode of mysterious erosion had occurred near the end of...

NEWS
A Uniquely Designed Air-Filled Sac Within Birds’ Lungs
Soaring birds are a majestic sight to behold, especially when they undergo such climbing and endless spiraling so effortlessly. Not surprisingly, evolutionists...

NEWS
Liberty and the Word of God
“And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts” (Psalm 119:45). July 4th is called Independence Day here in our country because on...

NEWS
July 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome...

NEWS
Valued Longtime ICR Employee Mary Smith Retires
Mary Morris Smith, an employee of the Institute for Creation Research for many years, has retired. The second daughter of ICR founder Dr. Henry M. Morris...

NEWS
Man of Science, Man of God: George Washington Carver
Who:  George Washington Carver What: Father of Modern Agriculture When: 1864 or 1865 – January 5, 1943 Where: Diamond Grove,...

ACTS & FACTS
The Scopes Monkey Trial: A Battle of Worldviews
Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee, and its statue of William Jennings Bryan Image credit: M. Mueller The Scopes Monkey...