Biblical Cush
Cush (כּוּשׁ "Black", Standard Hebrew Kuš, Tiberian Hebrew Kûš) was the eldest son of Ham, brother of Canaan and the father of Nimrod, mentioned in the "table of nations" in the Book of Genesis (x. 60) and in I Chronicles (i. 8) as the eponym of the people of Kush. The six Arabic tribes are also sons of Cush.
The locality of this area has been questioned, with some believing it refers to countries south of the Israelites and other stating it refers to part of Africa, such as Ethiopia, in ancient inscriptions written as Kesh. Samuel Bochart maintained that it was exclusively in Arabia; Friedrich Schulthess and Heinrich Gesenius held that it should be sought in Africa. Others again, like Johann Michaelis and Rosenmuller, have supposed that the name Cush was applied to tracts of country on both sides of the Red Sea, in Arabia (Yemen) and in Africa.
The existence of a historical Kush between Egypt and Nubia cannot reasonably be questioned, though the term is employed in the Old Testament with some latitude. The African Cush covers Upper Egypt, and extended southwards from the first cataract. In addition, the Cushitic peoples, who live around the Horn region of Africa and today comprise the Somali, Afar, Oromo and several other tribes, are popularly asserted to be the offspring of the Biblical Cush.
That the Biblical term was also applied to parts of Arabia is indicated by Genesis, where Cush is the eponymous father of certain tribal and ethnic designations that tend to point to Arabia (Sheba may be an exception). Even in the 5th century A.D. the Himyarites, in the south of Arabia, were styled by Syrian writers as Cushaeans and Ethiopians.
Moreover, Babylonian inscriptions mention the Kashshi or Kassites, whose name has been equated with the classical KoaociZot, Kto-crux, and it has been held that this affords a more probable explanation of Cush (or perhaps Kash), the ancestor of Nimrod in Genesis chapter 8.
Although decisive evidence is lacking, it is alleged by some that several references to Cush in the Old Testament do not refer to Ethiopia. The historical foundation for the Cushite invasion described in the Bible book 2 Chronicles is understood to have been a raid by Arabians; although their frequent inclusion with Libyans does strongly suggest that they were considered to be African. Moreover, in several passages, their name is mentioned together with that of Mizraim, (Egypt) and views on their precise location generally depend on how willing certain scholars are to concede that Ethiopia could have enjoyed the prominence claimed for it by others.
On the other hand, the rhetorical question "Can the Cushite change his skin?" in Jeremiah 13:23 implies people of a markedly different skin color from the Israelites, probably an African race; also, the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament, done by Greek-speaking Jews between ca. 250 B.C. and 100 B.C., uniformly translates Cush as "Ethiopia".
Josephus also gives an account of the nation of Cush, who is the son of Ham and the grandson of Noah. "For of the four sons of Ham, time has not at all hurt the name of Chus; for the Ethiopians, over whom he reigned, are even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in Asia, called Chusites." AotJ I:6. In addition, it might behoove one to know that a wife of Moses was a Kushite according to the Book of Numbers — but whether this speaks of Zipporah or an unnamed second wife, is unclear.
Another person named Cush in the Bible was a Benjamite, mentioned only in Psalm 7, and believed to be a follower of Saul.
External link
- Jewish encyclopedia: Cush
Part of this article is based on text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please update as needed.
Categories: Torah people | Kush