We often think of the Torah as a clear-cut set of instructions, but sometimes, things get a little… complicated. Take the story of God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:19-21. God promises the land of Canaan to Abraham's descendants, listing ten nations that inhabit it: "the Kenites, the Kenizites, and the Kadmonites... the Ḥitites, the Perizites, and the Refa’im... the Emorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Yevusites."

But then, a question arises. If you count them all up later, the Israelites only conquer the land from seven nations. What happened to the other three? What’s the deal? The ancient Rabbis grappled with this very question!

As we find in Bereshit Rabbah 44, Rabbi Dostai, quoting Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman, points out an initial oddity: the Ḥivites are missing from the list in Genesis 15. Normally, they’re included in lists of Canaanite nations (like in Genesis 10:17 and 34:2). So, why are the Refa’im mentioned instead? The answer offered is that the Hivites and the Refa’im are one and the same. Okay, that clears that up. But what about the missing nations?

Rabbi Ḥelbo, relaying a teaching from Rabbi Abba in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan, explains that God intended to give Israel the land of ten peoples. But He only gave them seven. We get the seven listed: “The Ḥitites, the Perizites, and the Refa’im, the Emorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Yevusites.” So, which three didn't make the cut? What happened to the Kenites, Kenizites, and Kadmonites?

This is where it gets really interesting, because we find a divergence of opinions.

Rabbi says they are Arabia, the Shalmaite, and the Nabatean. Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai offers a different take: Damascus, Asia Minor, and Apamea. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov suggests Asia Minor, Thrace, and Carthage.

And then, the Rabbis, in a general consensus, say that the three nations not given were Edom, Moab, and "the foremost of the children of Ammon," based on Daniel 11:41. This explanation draws support from other verses. Deuteronomy 2:5 states God wouldn't give even a foot's tread of Edom's land because He gave Mount Seir to Esau. Similarly, Deuteronomy 2:9 forbids besieging Moab.

So, what's the connection? The text explains that the Kenizite descends from Esau, while the Kenite and Kadmonite come from Ammon and Moab.

But here’s the kicker: all is not lost! The text promises that in the messianic era, these lands will revert to the people of Israel. This fulfills God's original promise to Abraham! For now, though, God only gave them seven, "seven nations greater and mightier than you," as Deuteronomy 7:1 puts it.

The passage ends with a poignant saying from Rabbi Yitzḥak: "A pig grazes with ten [offspring], and a sheep with not even one." It’s a folk saying that highlights a disparity: pigs, considered impure, are plentiful, while sheep, considered pure, are scarcer. All these nations, God promised to Abraham, while “Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him any children” (Genesis 16:1). It's a reminder that God's promises, though sometimes delayed or seemingly incomplete, are ultimately fulfilled – even if it takes a messianic age to do it. So, sometimes the promises we receive aren't immediately realized, but that doesn’t mean they won't be. Just something to think about.