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CushAid to Bible Understanding
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Ethiopia. The “rivers of Ethiopia [Cush]” are suggested to have been the Blue and White Nile Rivers, which have their junction at Khartoum, and also the Atbara River, which joins the Nile S of the fifth cataract.—Zeph. 3:10.
The “Arabs that were by the side of the Ethiopians [Ku·shimʹ]” (2 Chron. 21:16) likely were those Arab tribes occupying the SW coast of the Arabian Peninsula and thus facing Africa across the Red Sea.
Much of the land of Cush was evidently arid desert country. The “region of the rivers of Ethiopia” is described as the “land of the whirring insects with wings” (Isa. 18:1), perhaps referring to the locusts that swarm in Ethiopia and Egypt, while some suggest the mosquitoes, and others point out that the Hebrew word for “whirring” (tsela·tsalʹ) resembles in sound the name given to the tsetse fly (tsaltsalya) by the Galla tribes (a Hamitic people living in modern Ethiopia). Ivory, ebony, gold, precious stones, iron and aromatics were products of the land, and Biblical mention is made of the “merchants of Ethiopia” (Isa. 45:14) and the “topaz of Cush.”—Job 28:19.
LATER HISTORY
At about the time of the exodus of Israel from Egypt, Cush or Ethiopia had come under Egyptian domination and continued thus for some five hundred years. A viceroy administering this domain under the Egyptian Pharaoh was known by the title “King’s Son of Kush.” Evidently toward the close of the second millennium B.C.E. Ethiopia freed itself from Egypt’s control. The Ethiopian capital was thereafter located first at Napata, near the fourth cataract, and later at Meroe, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) N-NE of Khartoum.
Ethiopian warriors formed part of Pharaoh Shishak’s forces that attacked Judah in the fifth year of Rehoboam (993-992 B.C.E.). (2 Chron. 12:2, 3) Following King Asa’s tenth year, or about 967-966 B.C.E., the Ethiopian Zerah marched against Judah with a million men, but suffered complete defeat at Mareshah.—2 Chron. 14:1, 9-15; 16:8.
Secular history shows that in the latter part of the eighth century B.C.E. Ethiopia conquered Egypt and dominated it for some sixty years. This was during the Twenty-fifth (Ethiopian) Dynasty, which included among its rulers King Taharka, called Tirhakah in the Bible. This king came up against the forces of Sennacherib during their invasion of Judah (c. 732 B.C.E.), but, according to the Assyrian inscriptions, was defeated at Elteke.—2 Ki. 19:9; Isa. 37:8, 9.
Assyrian Emperors Esar-haddon and Ashurbanipal invaded Egypt during their respective reigns, and the destruction of Thebes in Upper Egypt (called No-amon at Nahum 3:8-10) by Ashurbanipal (c. 684 B.C.E.) completely subjugated Egypt and also ended Ethiopian dominance of the Nile valley. This fulfilled the prophecy uttered about a half a century earlier by the prophet Isaiah.—Isa. 20:3-6.
At the battle of Carchemish in 625 B.C.E. Ethiopian forces formed part of Pharaoh Necho’s army, which suffered defeat there at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. (Jer. 46:2, 9) Nebuchadnezzar’s later invasion of Egypt (c. 588 B.C.E.) would cause “severe pains” in Cush and “drive self-confident Ethiopia [Cush] into trembling.”—Ezek. 29:19; 30:4-9.
Persian King Cambyses (529-522 B.C.E.) conquered Egypt during the days of Pharaoh Psammetichus III, and this opened the way for bringing Ethiopia under Persian control; thus, Ahasuerus (Xerxes I; 486-474 B.C.E.) could be spoken of as ruling “from India to Ethiopia [Cush],” a fact confirmed by Persian texts of Xerxes’ time.—Esther 1:1; 8:9.
Judean exiles were foretold to return to their homeland from faraway lands, including Cush. (Isa. 11:11, 12; compare Zephaniah 3:10.) In Daniel’s prophecy of the “time of the end,” the aggressive “king of the north” is described as having Ethiopia and Libya “at his steps,” that is, responsive to his direction. (Dan. 11:40-43) Ethiopia (Cush) also has a place in the wicked battle forces of “Gog of the land of Magog” in his stormlike assault upon Jehovah’s regathered ones “in the final part of the years.” (Ezek. 38:2-5, 8) Yet the psalmist favorably foretells that Cush will be counted among those bringing gifts to God.—Ps. 68:29-32.
3. The seventh psalm carries an introduction stating that the psalm is “concerning the words of Cush the Benjaminite.” No other mention is made of this person. If the psalm relates to the early period of David’s history, the reference might be to some opposer of David in Saul’s court; if to a later period, the name might be used to refer enigmatically to Shimei the Benjaminite who cursed David.—2 Sam. 16:5-8.
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CushanAid to Bible Understanding
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CUSHAN
(Cuʹshan) [belonging to Cush].
Cushan appears at Habakkuk 3:7 as paralleling the “land of Midian” and hence evidently is another name for Midian or relates to a neighboring country. As shown in the article on CUSH, some descendants of Cush appear to have settled on the Arabian Peninsula; and the name Kusi or Kushim was anciently used to describe certain Arabic peoples of that region.
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Cushan-rishathaimAid to Bible Understanding
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CUSHAN-RISHATHAIM
(Cuʹshan-rish·a·thaʹim).
A king of Mesopotamia from whose domination Othniel liberated the Israelites after eight years of servitude. He is also called “the king of Syria.” (Judg. 3:7-11) Some view the second half (“rishathaim”) of this composite name as the name of a place or region, while others translate it to mean “double wickedness.” “Cushan” is used at Habakkuk 3:7 to parallel Midian; however, King Cushan-rishathaim is stated to be from Mesopotamia (Heb., ʼAramʹ na·haraʹyim, meaning “Aram of the two rivers”; compare Genesis 24:10, where the same term is used to describe the location of the city of Nahor in Syria). A list of Pharaoh Ramses III mentions a district in northern Syria called Qusanaruma, and this is suggested by some scholars to have been the possible seat of this king’s domain. Cushan-rishathaim was Israel’s first major oppressor during the period of the judges.
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CushiAid to Bible Understanding
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CUSHI
(Cushʹi) [Cushite or Ethiopian].
1. The Authorized Version rendering of the Hebrew appellative applied to the runner sent by Joab to David.—2 Sam. 18:21; see CUSHITE.
2. Father of the prophet Zephaniah.—Zeph 1:1.
3. Forefather of Jeremiah’s secretary, Baruch Jehudi.—Jer. 36:14.
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CushiteAid to Bible Understanding
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CUSHITE
(Cushʹite).
As has been shown in the article headed CUSH, the term “Cushite” may refer to inhabitants of the land of Cush in Africa or may apply to people of Arabic tribes on the Arabian Peninsula, the latter identification evidently applying to Moses, wife Zipporah. (Ex. 18:1-5; Num. 12:1) Zipporah was a Shemite, descended from Abraham through Midian. (Gen. 25:1, 2) The expression at 2 Chronicles 21:16 “by the side of the Ethiopians [Cushites]” as applying to certain Arabs may also mean “under the control of the Ethiopians,” and this might indicate one basis for applying the name “Cushite” to persons not descended from Cush. Several of Cush’s sons are believed to have settled on the Arabian Peninsula. See HAVILAH No. 2; SABTAH.
Basically, however, “Cushite” refers to Africans residing in the region anciently called Ethiopia. In addition to “Zerah the Ethiopian [Heb., Cushite]” and “Tirhakah the king of Ethiopia” (2 Chron. 14:9; 2 Ki. 19:9), considered under the heading CUSH, other Cushites mentioned in the Bible are Ebed-melech (Jer. 38:7-12; 39:16-18) and the Ethiopian eunuch who became a convert to Christianity, and the queen he served, Candace. (Acts 8:26, 27) General Joab selected an unnamed Cushite runner rather than an Israelite to deliver the news to David of
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