ridiculous these religions were: they lived surrounded by all sorts of bizzare idolatry. 12:10. Someone reading this passage of the Bible now may find it disconcerting. As the text has already said apropos of the Egyptians (11:21–26), it was not weakness that led God to tolerate the Canaanites. By punishing them “little by little”, God wanted to give them time to repent. The Canaanite race, descended from Cain, was cursed by Noah for their evil ways (cf. Gen 9:22–25). Among the Jews in Old Testament