A people descended from Canaan
The first biblical mention of the Girgashites appears in the table of nations after the flood. Genesis places the Girgasite among the descendants of Canaan, who was the son of Ham and grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:16). In this kind of genealogy, a family name can also point to the wider people group that came from that line.
So the Girgashites were Canaanites in the broad biblical sense. That doesn't mean they were identical to every other Canaanite group. Scripture names several distinct peoples in the land, each with its own ancestral and regional identity.
And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite,
One of the nations in the land
When God promised land to Abram, the Girgashites were included among the peoples then living there (Genesis 15:21). Centuries later, as Israel stood ready to enter Canaan, Moses named them as one of seven nations in the land, alongside the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (Deuteronomy 7:1).
The Bible presents this as part of Israel's particular covenant story. God had promised this land to Abraham's family, and Israel's entry came after a long period of waiting. Genesis also connects God's judgement on the land's peoples with their iniquity, rather than portraying Israel's conquest as a simple matter of ethnic superiority (Genesis 15:16).
When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Their role in Joshua's story
The Girgashites appear again when Joshua leads Israel across the Jordan. Joshua tells the people that the living God would drive out the Canaanite nations before them, including the Girgashites (Joshua 3:10). Their name is part of the larger account of Israel receiving the land God had promised.
Yet the Bible doesn't give us a separate story about a Girgashite king, city, or individual. We aren't told where their main settlement was, what their customs were like, or what happened to them as a distinct people. It is all right to leave those questions open rather than filling the gaps with guesses.
And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
Why their brief mention matters
A short name in a list can still matter. The Girgashites remind us that the Bible's story took place among many real communities, not in a vague or empty landscape. Their repeated inclusion also shows the long thread connecting God's promise to Abram, Moses' teaching, and Joshua's entry into Canaan.
If their name feels unfamiliar, that is understandable. Read the surrounding passages slowly, and notice how each reference contributes to the larger story of promise, patience, judgement, and God's faithfulness to his word.