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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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CUSH (Place)

Egyptian, Akkadian, and Hebrew term broadly referring to the countries of the Upper Nile south of Egypt. In a narrower sense Cush consisted of the territory between the second and fourth cataracts of the Nile, roughly the present northern Sudan (equivalent to ancient Nubia). The OT generally uses the term in that sense. The Greeks called it Ethiopia, which eventually gave its name to modern Ethiopia (farther to the south and east).

The meaning of “Cush” in the book of Genesis, however, is problematic. In the Garden of Eden narrative (Gn 2:13), Cush seems to be located in Mesopotamia, the region of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (v 14). Perhaps the term there should be equated with Kassite (Cossaean), the usual designation of the Babylonian rulers who held sway in Mesopotamia for about half a millennium down to the 12th century BC. The Cush of Genesis 10:6-8, then, could be divided into two locales: Nubia (vv 6-7) and Mesopotamia (vv 9-12). Alternatively, the Cush of Genesis 2:13 and 10:8 could be Kish, the Mesopotamian city that was traditionally the seat of the first Sumerian dynasty after the Flood.

Less uncertainty exists over use of the term “Cushite.” With one possible exception (Nm 12:1), Cushite always refers to people from Nubia, the African Cush.

The first messenger whom Joab, King David’s commander in chief, sent to announce Absalom’s defeat to David was a Cushite (2 Sm 18:21-32). That messenger’s foreign origin is reflected in the fact that he was unaware of a shortcut as well as in his insensitivity to the feelings of David when he gave him the message. The KJB transliterates the Hebrew word as a proper name (Cushi), but that rendering is unlikely. Most English versions translate the other occurrences of Cush and Cushite as Ethiopia and Ethiopians.

Moses had a wife who was known as a Cushite (Nm 12:1). In that context it is possible to understand Cushite in several ways: as a person from Nubia—which would make her a second wife, different from Zipporah; as a person from Cushan—making her possibly a Midianite, perhaps identical with Zipporah; or as a reference to her darker skin and foreign origin—possibly but not necessarily a reference to Zipporah.

See also Cushan; Cushi #1; Ethiopia.