Amorites

The Amorites (meaning highlanders or westerners) were one of the pre-Israelite peoples of Canaan, descended from Canaan the son of Ham (Gen. 10:16). The name is used in the Old Testament with varying scope: at times it designates a specific hill-country people distinct from the coastal Canaanites (Num. 13:29; Deut. 1:7), and at other times it serves as a comprehensive name for all the pre-Israelite inhabitants of the land (Gen. 15:16; Josh. 24:15).

By the time of the exodus, the Amorite kingdoms of Sihon and Og controlled Transjordan and were defeated by Israel before the Jordan crossing (Num. 21:21–35). Earlier, Abraham had Amorite confederates (Gen. 14:13). In Genesis 15:16, God informs Abraham that Israel will return to Canaan when the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete, framing the conquest as a delayed act of moral judgment. The Amorites largely disappear from the biblical record after the Davidic period.