Place
Cush (Ethiopia)
cushzephaniah
Summary
Kingdom south of Egypt on the upper Nile, addressed among the nations in Zephaniah 2:12; Zephaniah's own lineage runs through a father named Cushi.
- Cush was the kingdom on the upper Nile south of Egypt, in the region the Bible's own Greek translation calls Ethiopia.
- Cush appears from the rivers of Eden in Genesis to the last prophets, as a real nation Israel's kings met in war and diplomacy.
- Tirhakah king of Cush and Zerah the Cushite both led armies against Judah, and both accounts end the same way, with the LORD delivering His people.
- Ebed-melech the Cushite rescued the prophet Jeremiah from a muddy cistern when Judah's own officials would not.
- The fullest and most far-reaching story Scripture tells touching Cush is Philip's meeting with the Ethiopian official in Acts 8, who hears the gospel from Isaiah and asks to be baptized.
On this page
In Scripture
- Verses
- 29
- Books
- 11
Where it is
- Region
- Upper Nile / Nubia
- Kind of place
- Region
Why Cush (Ethiopia) matters
Cush named the kingdom on the upper Nile, south of Egypt, in the region ancient Nubia occupied. Genesis mentions it as early as the garden of Eden, where one of the four rivers winds through the whole land of Cush, and again in the Table of Nations, where Cush is a son of Ham and the father of Nimrod. From there, Cush shows up across the Old Testament as a real political power, not a distant legend.
Twice, Cush sent an army against Judah, and both times the outcome favored God's people. Zerah the Cushite marched on Asa with a million men, and Asa's cry to the LORD turned the battle before it truly began. Tirhakah king of Cush advanced against Sennacherib of Assyria at the very moment Assyria was besieging Jerusalem, and that same night the angel of the LORD struck down Sennacherib's camp. A Cushite man also appears at one of David's lowest moments, as the messenger who tells him plainly that Absalom is dead, and a Cushite official named Ebed-melech risked his own standing at court to pull the prophet Jeremiah out of a cistern before he starved.
The prophets speak of Cush both in judgment and in hope. Ezekiel numbers Cush among the nations that fall with Egypt. Zephaniah names Cush among the peoples his oracles address, and his own family line runs through a father named Cushi. But the Psalms hold out something else: Cush stretching out her hands to God, and Cush counted among the nations who know Him, born in Zion in every sense that matters.
That promise finds its clearest answer in the New Testament, when Philip meets a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, on the desert road to Gaza. The man is reading Isaiah aloud, and Philip tells him the good news about Jesus straight from that same scroll. The official asks to be baptized on the spot, and Scripture never says he hesitated.
Philip and the Ethiopian official
Acts 8:26-39, in the order it happens
Read Acts 8:26-39, in the order it happens
- Philip sent toward GazaActs 8:26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
- The official of the CandaceActs 8:27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
- Philip runs to the chariotActs 8:30So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
- Isaiah's suffering servant, read aloudActs 8:32-33The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth. In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”
- The official asks who the prophet meansActs 8:34“Tell me,” said the eunuch, “who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
- Philip preaches Jesus from that ScriptureActs 8:35Then Philip began with this very Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
- The official asks for baptismActs 8:36As they traveled along the road and came to some water, the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”
- The baptism, and the official's joyActs 8:38-39And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.
Scripture's own Greek text uses Ethiopia for the same land the Old Testament calls Cush; the Septuagint consistently translates the Hebrew name that way, and the New Testament follows it.
Philip and the Ethiopian — Acts 8What happened here, in order
in the order the canon tells it
- The Gihon winds through the land of CushGenesis 2:13The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.
- Cush named among the sons of HamGenesis 10:6The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
- Moses marries a Cushite womanNumbers 12:1Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.
- A Cushite runner carries the news to David2 Samuel 18:21So Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.
- Tirhakah king of Cush moves against Sennacherib2 Kings 19:9Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
- Zerah the Cushite marches against Asa2 Chronicles 14:9Then Zerah the Cushite came against them with an army of 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots, and they advanced as far as Mareshah.
- Cush names the southern edge of Xerxes' empireEsther 1:1This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.
- Cush will stretch out her hands to GodPsalms 68:31Envoys will arrive from Egypt; Cush will stretch out her hands to God.
- Cush counted among those who know GodPsalms 87:4“I will mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me— along with Philistia, Tyre, and Cush— when I say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”
- A message concerning the land beyond the rivers of CushIsaiah 18:1Woe to the land of whirring wings, along the rivers of Cush,
- The proverb of the Ethiopian's skinJeremiah 13:23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.
- Ebed-melech the Cushite hears of Jeremiah's cisternJeremiah 38:7Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,
- Anguish comes to Cush with Egypt's fallEzekiel 30:4A sword will come against Egypt, and there will be anguish in Cush when the slain fall in Egypt, its wealth is taken away, and its foundations are torn down.
- Zephaniah's own line runs through a father named CushiZephaniah 1:1This is the word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:
- Cush addressed in Zephaniah's oraclesZephaniah 2:12“You too, O Cushites, will be slain by My sword.”
Cush (Ethiopia) in Scripture
29 verses name it, or one of its other names (Cush), in 11 books
Open a book to read its mentions here. Text: Berean Standard Bible.
First namedGenesis 2:13The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.Last namedZephaniah 3:10From beyond the rivers of Cush My worshipers, My scattered people, will bring Me an offering.
Old TestamentNew Testamentsegment width = share of mentions
Old Testament11 books · 29 mentions
Genesis4 mentions
- Genesis 2:13The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.
- Genesis 10:6The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
- Genesis 10:7The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
- Genesis 10:8Cush was the father of Nimrod, who began to be a mighty one on the earth.
2 Kings1 mention
1 Chronicles3 mentions
Esther2 mentions
- Esther 1:1This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.
- Esther 8:9At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.
Job1 mention
Psalms2 mentions
Isaiah8 mentions
- Isaiah 11:11On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Isaiah 18:1Woe to the land of whirring wings, along the rivers of Cush,
- Isaiah 20:3Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,
- Isaiah 20:4so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.
- Isaiah 20:5Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.
- Isaiah 37:9Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “He has set out to fight against you.” On hearing this, Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
- Isaiah 43:3For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.
- Isaiah 45:14This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you; they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you: ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’”
Jeremiah1 mention
Ezekiel5 mentions
- Ezekiel 29:10therefore I am against you and against your rivers. I will turn the land of Egypt into a ruin, a desolate wasteland from Migdol to Syene, and as far as the border of Cush.
- Ezekiel 30:4A sword will come against Egypt, and there will be anguish in Cush when the slain fall in Egypt, its wealth is taken away, and its foundations are torn down.
- Ezekiel 30:5Cush, Put, and Lud, and all the various peoples, as well as Libya and the men of the covenant land, will fall with Egypt by the sword.
- Ezekiel 30:9On that day messengers will go out from Me in ships to frighten Cush out of complacency. Anguish will come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom. For it is indeed coming.
- Ezekiel 38:5Persia, Cush, and Put will accompany them, all with shields and helmets,
Nahum1 mention
Common questions
Where was the land of Cush?
Cush was the ancient kingdom on the upper Nile, south of Egypt, in the region ancient Nubia occupied. The Bible's own Greek translation renders the Hebrew name Cush as Ethiopia, which is why the same land carries both names across the Old and New Testaments.
Is the Ethiopia of Acts 8 the same as the Cush of the Old Testament?
Yes, by the Bible's own translation practice. The Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament used across the New Testament era, consistently renders the Hebrew Cush as Ethiopia, so Luke's account in Acts 8 continues the same biblical name the prophets used for the upper Nile kingdom.
Who was Tirhakah, and why does Scripture mention him against Sennacherib?
Tirhakah was king of Cush at the moment Assyria's Sennacherib was besieging Jerusalem under Hezekiah. Word that Tirhakah's army had set out against him pushed Sennacherib to send one more threatening message to Hezekiah, and that same night the angel of the LORD struck down his camp.
Who was Ebed-melech, and why does his story matter?
Ebed-melech was a Cushite official in the royal palace during Zedekiah's reign. When Judah's own officials had thrown Jeremiah into a muddy cistern to die, Ebed-melech went to the king, got permission, and personally organized the ropes and rags to pull the prophet out alive.
What does "Cush will stretch out her hands to God" mean in Psalm 68:31?
Readers differ; the positions are named
The verse promises that Cush, a distant Gentile nation, will turn to worship the LORD. Many readers across church history have pointed to the Ethiopian official's baptism in Acts 8 as the beginning of that promise finding its answer, though the psalm itself does not name that event, and this page states the connection as a reading rather than the verse's only possible sense.
Was Candace a personal name?
No. Candace, or Kandake, was a royal title used of the queens who ruled the kingdom of Meroe in the upper Nile region, the same region as biblical Cush, much as Pharaoh named an office rather than one person's given name. Scripture's own wording, "Candace, queen of the Ethiopians," names her office rather than claiming a specific historical queen.
Sources cited
- World History Encyclopedia, "The Candaces of Meroe"Confirms Candace/Kandake as a royal title of the Meroitic queens of Kush, not a personal name.
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