• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Stephen M. Miller

Award-Winning, Bestselling Christian Author

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog Features
  • Bible
  • Contact
Painting/photo of Jerusalem Temple-Casual English Bible

Clues to a Canaanite worship service

Stephen M. Miller
ancient idol figurine
BOW NOW. Ancient Middle Eastern figurines like this one are the kind many people kept in their homes and prayed to when they needed good weather, healthy animals, and more kids. Photo by Stephen M. Miller.

BIBLE EXPERTS would love to know why the Bible says God ordered Joshua and the invading Jews to commit genocide, and “completely destroy” (Deuteronomy 20:17) every last Canaanite living in what is now Israel – men, women, children, and even their critters.

The Bible’s explanation doesn’t seem to describe a crime fit for this punishment:

“This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 20:18).

One theory is that Canaanites sacrificed humans – male children, in particular. A couple of nasty Jewish kings did just that, possibly picking up the local custom: Manasseh and his grandpappy Ahaz.

There’s an archaeological dig going on at the ruin of a Canaanite city. It seems to offer a few clues about Canaanite worship services.

Archaeologists call the site Tel Burna. It’s about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Jerusalem. The dig director, Itzick Shai, reports in on his discoveries so far; he wrote the report for the current issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (September/October, 2015, pages 30-31).

There at Tel Burna, a few inches underground, they found the remains of a site dated to about the time of the Jewish conquest of the land. They’ve dated the site to about 1550-1200 BC.

In what Shai says was a building of yet-undetermined size they found:

  • Animal bones
  • Two ovens
  • Goblets
  • Cups with saucers
  • Fragments of two masks the size of a human face
  • Several figurines, including one with a nude woman holding two children at her breasts.

Based on this, Shai guesses that the worship services included eating meals, drinking, and taking part in rituals that involved wearing masks.

Nothing yet to suggest human sacrifice.

I thought the report was interesting because scholars seem to know very little about how Canaanites worshipped their gods.

Wouldn’t it be nice if some archaeologist turned up a Canaanite worship bulletin?

  • Prayer
  • Chant
  • Drink wine
  • Sacrifice goat
  • Eat goat
  • Dance
  • Prayer
  • Sacrifice and burn newborn son of Yassib’s wife
  • Prayer
  • Drink wine
  • Closing chant

Maybe not.

For more about the Canaanites

  • God in a holocaust frame of mind?
  • “Operation High Ground: Joshua’s strategy for killing Canaanites,” A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible, pages 62-63
  • “God orders a Holocaust,” Complete Guide to the Bible, page 59
  • “Canaan,” Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible 2.0, page 77

New blog subscribers who win books this week

  • Bill Allison
  • Barry Reed

I give away free books each week. It’s normally to randomly selected subscribers to my free blog and quarterly newsletter. But this time, I picked two of the most recent subscribers. I’ll probably pick from the newbies for the next several weeks.

The winners will get the option of choosing my new release: A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible – among about half a dozen other titles.

An offer for 5 free books

If you would be willing to write a short book review (a sentence or two) on Amazon or some other site that sells books, be one of the first five to write in a comment box below: Review Book.

I’ll send you a free copy of my newest book, A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible.

Bible Gateway Blogger Grid

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X

Like this:

Like Loading...
View All Posts - Ordered by Most Recent First
« Previous
Next »

About Stephen M. Miller

STEPHEN M. MILLER is an award winning bestselling Christian author of easy-reading books about the Bible and Christianity and author of the Casual English Bible® paraphrase. His books have sold over two million copies and include The Complete Guide to the Bible and Who’s and Where’s Where in the Bible.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tom Temple

    August 21, 2015 at 4:54 pm

    Review book

    Reply
    • Stephen M. Miller

      August 21, 2015 at 5:53 pm

      OK Tom. I’ll be in touch.

      Reply
  2. NaTasha L. Howard

    August 25, 2015 at 5:11 am

    Review book.

    Reply
    • Stephen M. Miller

      August 25, 2015 at 8:28 am

      Hey NaTasha. You got it. Just email or Facebook message me where you’d like me to mail it. Peace to you.

      Reply
      • Sandra Doane

        August 26, 2015 at 3:35 pm

        Review Book

        Reply
        • Stephen M. Miller

          August 26, 2015 at 8:46 pm

          OK Sandra. Email me where you’d like me to mail it.

          Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

Casual English Bible Website

Featured Book

Complete Guide to the Bible

Complete Guide to the Bible
Buy from Amazon
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from Christian Book Distributor
Buy from Google Play

Latest Posts

  • When our faith glitches May 5, 2025
  • Job is the right book for me now April 16, 2025
  • Q for AI: “Do most scholars say Jesus never existed?” April 3, 2025

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog Features
  • Books
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · Stephen M. Miller · All Rights Reserved

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Reject AllAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
%d