What Does Genesis 15:20 Mean?

The Hittites and Perizzites (recurring in the lists) represent the upper and middle registers of the land's pre-Israelite population. The Hittites were historically connected to the great Hittite empire of Anatolia, though the Hittites of Canaan were likely a semi-independent population descended from or affiliated with the imperial Hittites. Abram will purchase the cave of Machpelah from a Hittite, Ephron son of Zohar, in chapter 23, confirming their documented presence in this region and period. The covenant that promises the land includes the specific details of who currently holds it.

The Perizzites, meaning "those of the open country" or perhaps an ethnic name, appear consistently in the Canaanite population lists without detailed genealogical connection to the wider table of nations. They represent the inhabitants of the rural and semi-rural areas of Canaan, distinct from the city-dwelling Canaanites proper. Their persistent appearance in the lists suggests they were a recognized and distinct population group throughout the patriarchal and conquest periods. Lot and Abram's quarrel occurred in front of Canaanite and Perizzite witnesses in chapter 13, placing them in the covenant land's immediate landscape.

The inclusion of the Hittites and Perizzites in the covenant-boundary list alongside eight other peoples makes the point that the land promise is not given against a backdrop of convenient political vacancy. Every people named here had historical depth, established territory, and ongoing civilization in the land. The covenant was not made about unclaimed territory; it was made about occupied territory that God declared He would give to Abram's descendants. The audacity of the promise corresponds to the scope of the divine authority making it. Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me"; the covenant vision of Genesis 15 is the original statement of that authority applied to the land.