Joshua 17:13

After Ham had been cursed through his one son, [Noah] blessed Shem and Japheth and said, "May God increase Japheth and may he dwell in the tent of Shem, and let Canaan be their slave." Japheth increased and became powerful in his inheritance in the north and in the west. And God dwelt in the tent of Abraham, the descendent of Shem, and Canaan became their slave when in the days of Joshua son of Nun, the Israelites destroyed the dwelling-places of [Canaan] and pressed their leaders into bondage.

Let us see, then, now, what this threefold narrative concerning the Canaanites means. First, the "Canaanite" is indeed with us and is "under tribute," yet he is not obedient to us nor a "servant." Second, he is made even a "servant" and obedient. Let us here take the Canaanite as our flesh, or the things that belong to the flesh. This is first with us, that is, it is joined to the soul, but it is not obedient to it, except only that it "pays tribute," that is, it does indeed furnish the service of doing or moving something, "yet it lusts against the spirit" and is not obedient to the soul, but yields to its own desires. But if we have now made some progress, the flesh "is made" for us a "servant" and obedient, and submitting to the will of the soul; and this is the second progress of the soul, when it has made the flesh both obey it and serve it. The third, however, is that which is perfect. For if we now come to the perfect, the "Canaanite" is said to be "exterminated" by us and handed over to death. But how this is fulfilled in our flesh, hear the Apostle saying: "mortify your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness," and the rest that follows. And again he says: "but they who are Christ's have crucified their flesh with its vices and lusts." So then, thirdly, that is, when we come to perfection and "mortify our members" and "carry about the death of Christ in our body," the "Canaanite" is said to be "exterminated" by us.

The "Canaanites" are said, for the third time, to be among the sons of Ephraim. But let us observe what is the order of these statements in each case, that is, what the first statement contains, which says that the Canaanites were with the sons of Ephraim, and what the second and the third contain. For if we observe more carefully how the Canaanites are said to be with the sons of Ephraim for the third time, then, by the Lord's help, we shall be able to investigate the order of the statements — what is reported to have been done from this in the first, what in the second, what in the third — and I think we shall not be unbelieving that these things were truly written not merely that the narrative of the deeds should be handed down to us by itself, but that they were filled with divine mysteries worthy of God. First, then, it was said that: "Ephraim did not destroy the Canaanite who dwelt in Gazer; but the Canaanite dwelt in Ephraim until this present day, and he was made a servant under tribute, until Pharaoh king of Egypt came up and took the city and burned it with fire, and slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites and those who dwelt in Gazer; and Pharaoh gave it as a dowry to his daughter." Second: "and it came to pass," it says, "when the sons of Israel had grown strong, that they made the Canaanites subject, but by extermination they did not exterminate them." Third, when the men of the tribe of Ephraim "contradicted Jesus," wishing, according to their multitude — because they were many and strong — to receive also a greater portion of the inheritance, and they are commanded to "go up into the forest" and make more room for themselves; and, that they might be able to occupy wider spaces, they are commanded to "exterminate the Canaanite."