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And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.
Acts 13:19 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred fifty years.
  • KJV And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.
  • NKJV And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment.
  • NASB When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.
  • NLT Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave Israel their land as an inheritance. He fulfilled his promise to the fathers.

Overview

The conquest of Canaan's nations and the gift of the land fulfill God's covenant pledge to Abraham's descendants. The chronological notes here, which interpreters reckon in various ways, summarize centuries of God's dealings. Paul's point is the steady faithfulness of God in history, which now reaches its climax in the Savior he is about to announce.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • Deut 7:1When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—
  • Ps 78:55He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
  • Acts 7:45And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David,
  • Josh 14:1Now these are the portions that the Israelites inherited in the land of Canaan, as distributed by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes of Israel.
  • Josh 19:51These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families distributed by lot to the tribes of Israel at Shiloh before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing up the land.
  • Gen 17:8And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
  • Josh 18:10And Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh, where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.
  • Neh 9:24So their descendants went in and possessed the land; You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land. You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished.
  • Num 26:53–56“The land is to be divided among the tribes as an inheritance, according to the number of names.
  • Ps 135:11Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kings of Canaan.
  • Josh 24:11After this, you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I delivered them into your hand.
  • Gen 12:5And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,
  • Josh 23:4See, I have allotted as an inheritance to your tribes these remaining nations, including all the nations I have already cut off, from the Jordan westward to the Great Sea.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 13:19YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 13:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.