Bible Encyclopedia: Cushite

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

CUSHITE

kush'-it: Whereas kushi, is elsewhere rendered Ethiopian, in 2 Samuel 18:21-32 it is rendered Cushite in the Revised Version (British and American) (see CUSHI and compare CUSHITE WOMAN). Its plural, which occurs in Zephaniah, Daniel and 2 Chronicles, also in the form kushiyim, in Amos, is uniformly translated Ethiopians, following Septuagint. The other Old Testament books use simply kush, for people as well as land.

CUSHITE WOMAN; ETHIOPIAN WOMAN

kush'-it: In Numbers 12:1 Moses is condemned by his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron "because of the Cushite woman ha-'ishshah ha-kushith whom he had married"; and the narrator immediately adds by way of needed explanation, "for he had married a Cushite woman" ('ishshah khushith). Views regarding this person have been of two general classes:

(1) She is to be identified with Zipporah (Exodus 2:21 and elsewhere), Moses' Midianite wife, who is here called "the Gushite," either in scorn of her dark complexion (compare Jeremiah 13:23) and foreign origin (so most older exegetes), or as a consequence of an erroneous notion of the late age when this apocryphal addition, "because of the Cushite," etc., was inserted in the narrative (so Wellhansen).

(2) She is a woman whom Moses took to wife after the death of Zipporah, really a Cushite (Ethiopian) by race, whether the princess of Meroe of whom Josephus (Ant., II, x, 2) romances (so Targum of Jonathan), or one of the "mixed multitude" (Exodus 12:38; compare Numbers 11:4) that accompanied the Hebrews on their wanderings (so Ewald and most). Dillmann suggests a compromise between the two classes of views, namely, that this woman is a mere "variation in the saga" from the wife elsewhere represented as Midianite, yet because of this variation she was understood by the author as distinct from Zipporah. The implication of the passage, in any case, is clearly that this connection of Moses tended to injure his prestige in the eyes of race-proud Hebrews, and, equally, that in the author's opinion such a view of the matter was obnoxious to God.

J. Oscar Boyd

Strong's Hebrew

3571. Kushith -- a Cushite woman
... 3570, 3571. Kushith. 3572 . a Cushite woman. Transliteration: Kushith Phonetic
Spelling: (koo-sheeth') Short Definition: Cushite. ... a Cushite woman. ...
/hebrew/3571.htm - 6k

3569. Kushi -- descendant of Cush
... 3568b, 3569. Kushi. 3570 . descendant of Cush. Transliteration: Kushi Phonetic
Spelling: (koo-shee') Short Definition: Cushite. ... Cushi, Cushite, Ethiopians. ...
/hebrew/3569.htm - 6k

Library

The Wail of a Broken Heart
... The three men, Ahimaaz, Joab, and the Cushite (Ethiopian), are types of different
kinds of self-engrossment, which is little touched by others' sorrows. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/the wail of a broken.htm

Philosophical Basis, and Antecedents of Manichæism.
... 3] This primitive Turanian quasi-dualism (it was not dualism in the strictest sense
of the term) was not entirely obliterated by the Cushite and Semitic ...
/.../chapter ii name basis and.htm

Chapter x
... But each of these terms acquires a bad sense in the light of the name "Nimrod."
The tendency of this Cushite must have been to rise up against, and to attempt ...
//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter x.htm

From the Flood to Abraham
... We thereby confirm the Biblical claim that it was under Nimrod the Cushite, and
not through the Semitic race, that the Chaldean kingdom began. ...
/.../tidwell/the bible period by period/chapter iii from the flood.htm

Of Uncharitable Truth.
... as keep anything they think New; nay, will sometimes run themselves out of breath,
for fear least anyone should serve them as Ahimaaz did the Cushite 2. Sam ...
/.../allestree/the government of the tongue/section vi of uncharitable truth.htm

The Prophet Amos.
... alone as the tertium comparationis (Cocceius says: "Ye are so alienated from Him,
and so unfaithful, that every one of you may be called a Cushite"), give too ...
/.../hengstenberg/christology of the old testament/the prophet amos.htm

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) The messenger sent by Joab to David to announce his victory over Absalom (2 Samuel 18:32).

(2.) The father of Shelemiah (Jeremiah 36:14).

(3.) Son of Gedaliah, and father of the prophet Zephaniah (1:1).

(4.) Moses married a Cushite woman (Numbers 12:1). From this circumstance some have supposed that Zipporah was meant, and hence that Midian was Cush.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

(n.) A descendant of Cush, the son of Ham and grandson of Noah.

Thesaurus

Cushite (15 Occurrences)
... (4.) Moses married a Cushite woman (Numbers 12:1). From this circumstance some have
supposed that Zipporah was meant, and hence that Midian was Cush. ...CUSHITE. ...
/c/cushite.htm - 14k

Cushi (7 Occurrences)
... 18:21-32 seven out of eight times, all readings supported by the Septuagint) it
simply indicate that the person so designated was of the Cushite people, as in ...
/c/cushi.htm - 10k

Ethiopian (11 Occurrences)
... 2. (a.) Alt. of Ethiopic. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
CUSHITE WOMAN; ETHIOPIAN WOMAN. kush'-it: In Numbers ...
/e/ethiopian.htm - 18k

Zerah (22 Occurrences)
... See ZOHAR, (2). (5) Cushite king (2 Chronicles 14:9). See the next article David
Francis Roberts. ... The title "the Cushite" (Hebrew) is hard to understand. ...
/z/zerah.htm - 19k

Cush (31 Occurrences)
... Three branches of the Cushite or Ethiopian stock, moving from Western Asia,
settled in the regions contiguous to the Persian Gulf. ...
/c/cush.htm - 25k

Havilah (7 Occurrences)
... It is uncertain whether the tribe gave its name to this region or derived its name
from it, and whether it was originally a Cushite (Genesis 10:7) or a ...
/h/havilah.htm - 11k

Ahimaaz (15 Occurrences)
... death. By his reluctance and his sympathy he softened a little the message,
which the Cushite presently repeated more harshly. That ...
/a/ahimaaz.htm - 14k

Zipporah (3 Occurrences)
... Egypt, later succeeded at his death by Jethro, or Hobab (Exodus 2:21, 22; Exodus
4:25, 26; 18:2-6). Whether or not Zipporah was the "Cushite woman" (Numbers 12 ...
/z/zipporah.htm - 9k

Miriam (13 Occurrences)
... Numbers 12:1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman
whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. ...
/m/miriam.htm - 12k

Circumstance (5 Occurrences)
... Numbers 12:1 And Miriam speaketh -- Aaron also -- against Moses concerning the
circumstance of the Cushite woman whom he had taken: for a Cushite woman he had ...
/c/circumstance.htm - 8k

Bible Concordance

Cushite (15 Occurrences)

Numbers 12:1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.
(WEB JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 18:21 Then said Joab to the Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen!" The Cushite bowed himself to Joab, and ran.
(WEB JPS ASV BBE DBY NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 18:22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, "But come what may, please let me also run after the Cushite." Joab said, "Why do you want to run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?"
(WEB JPS ASV BBE DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 18:23 "But come what may," he said, "I will run." He said to him, "Run!" Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Plain, and outran the Cushite.
(WEB JPS ASV BBE DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 18:31 Behold, the Cushite came. The Cushite said, "News for my lord the king; for Yahweh has avenged you this day of all those who rose up against you."
(WEB JPS ASV BBE DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Samuel 18:32 The king said to the Cushite, "Is it well with the young man Absalom?" The Cushite answered, "May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you to do you harm, be as that young man is."
(WEB JPS ASV BBE DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Kings 19:9 And he heareth concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, 'Lo, he hath come out to fight with thee;' and he turneth and sendeth messengers unto Hezekiah, saying,
(See NIV)

2 Chronicles 14:9 And there came out against them Zerah the Cushite, with a host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came to Mareshah.
(WBS YLT NIV)

Isaiah 20:4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Cushites captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their hind-parts uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
(Root in WBS NIV)

Isaiah 37:9 And he heareth concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, 'He hath come out to fight with thee;' and he heareth, and sendeth messengers unto Hezekiah, saying,
(See NIV)

Jeremiah 13:23 Doth a Cushite change his skin? and a leopard his spots? Ye also are able to do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
(YLT)

Jeremiah 38:7 Now when Ebed-melech the Cushite, one of the eunuchs who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;
(WBS YLT NIV)

Jeremiah 38:10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dieth.
(WBS YLT NIV)

Jeremiah 38:12 And Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and decayed rags under thy arm-holes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.
(WBS YLT NIV)

Jeremiah 39:16 Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
(WBS YLT NIV)

Subtopics

Cushite

Cushite Woman

Related Terms

Cushi (7 Occurrences)

Ethiopian (11 Occurrences)

Zerah (22 Occurrences)

Cush (31 Occurrences)

Havilah (7 Occurrences)

Ahimaaz (15 Occurrences)

Zipporah (3 Occurrences)

Miriam (13 Occurrences)