Hebrew word · H3569

כּוּשִׁי

kushi

Cushite

People of Kush, the land on the Nile south of Egypt's first cataract (the rapids at Aswan). This is Nubia, in today's southern Egypt and northern Sudan, home of the kingdoms of Napata and Meroë. In Genesis 10:6 Kush is a 'brother' of Mizraim (Egypt) and Put.

Appears 26 times in 21 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Someone from Ethiopia

Group of kush (כּוּשׁ "Ethiopia" H3568H)

§ Cushi or Ethiopian, of Cush "their blackness"

inhabitant of Ethiopia, land of one of the descendants of Cush the grandson of Noah

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Daniel 11:43

Range of meaning

People of Kush, the land on the Nile south of Egypt's first cataract (the rapids at Aswan). This is Nubia, in today's southern Egypt and northern Sudan, home of the kingdoms of Napata and Meroë. In Genesis 10:6 Kush is a 'brother' of Mizraim (Egypt) and Put.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and NASB-type renderings say 'Ethiopians', following the Greek Aithiopes. To a modern reader that means the nation of Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, which is a different region. BSB, NIV and ESV say 'Cushites', which avoids the confusion.

How it drifted

Greek writers called the dark-skinned peoples south of Egypt Aithiopes ('burnt-faced'). The Septuagint and Vulgate used that word for Kush, and English Bibles inherited 'Ethiopia'. Later the name came to belong to the Abyssinian kingdom and the modern state, so the English now points to the wrong place.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lubim and Kushim are paired in 2 Chronicles 12:3, 16:8 and Nahum 3:9, always on Egypt's side. In the Hellenistic period the Ptolemies at times controlled Lower Nubia and Cyrenaica (eastern Libya), so the pair outlined the edges of the Ptolemaic world.

From the study of Jeremiah 13:23

Range of meaning

Someone from Kush (כּוּשׁ), the land along the Nile south of Egypt, above the first cataract (a stretch of rapids). Today this is northern Sudan. The word names where a person comes from. In the Hebrew Bible it describes soldiers, messengers and royal officials (2 Samuel 18:21; Jeremiah 38:7). It also appears as a personal name (Cushi, Jeremiah 36:14; Zephaniah 1:1).

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV and most others have 'Ethiopian'. YLT and CSB have 'Cushite'. 'Ethiopian' comes from the Greek Aithiops, which the Septuagint used. The Greeks used it loosely for dark-skinned peoples south of Egypt. A modern reader hears the country of Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, which is a different region. It became known as 'Ethiopia' only centuries later, when the kingdom of Aksum took up the name.

How it drifted

The Greek translators (3rd–2nd century BC) used Aithiops. Latin carried it on as Aethiops, and English Bibles followed the Latin and Greek. Once a modern nation took the name 'Ethiopia', the English word pointed somewhere else.

Used elsewhere in the period

Kush was a major power. Its kings ruled Egypt as the 25th Dynasty (about 744–656 BC). 'Tirhakah king of Cush' (Taharqa) marched against Assyria in Hezekiah's day (2 Kings 19:9). Isaiah 18:2 describes the Cushites as 'tall and smooth-skinned', a people 'feared far and near'. Cushite troops served in Egypt's armies (Jeremiah 46:9). Amos 9:7 puts the Cushites on the same level as Israel before God. In Jeremiah, Ebed-melech the Cushite, a royal official, rescues Jeremiah from the cistern (38:7–13). God promises to save him because he trusted in God (39:15–18).

From the study of Jeremiah 38:7

Range of meaning

A person from Kush (Cush), the land and kingdom on the Nile south of Egypt, above the First Cataract: ancient Nubia, today's northern Sudan. In the Hebrew Bible Cush is the far southern edge of the known world (Esth 1:1, 'from India to Cush'). Cushites were known for dark skin (Jer 13:23, 'Can the Cushite change his skin?'), for being tall and smooth-skinned (Isa 18:2), and for their soldiers and traders. A Cushite dynasty (the 25th) had ruled Egypt about a century before Jeremiah, and Cushite soldiers and messengers turn up in Judah's world (2 Sam 18:21; 2 Chr 14:9; Zeph 3:10).

Against the English

KJV, WEB, ESV and NLT say 'Ethiopian'. BSB, YLT and NIV say 'Cushite'. 'Ethiopian' comes from the Greek Aithiops ('burnt-face'), a loose Greek word for dark-skinned peoples south of Egypt. It does not mean the modern country of Ethiopia (ancient Abyssinia / Aksum), which lies further south-east and is a different people and history.

How it drifted

The Septuagint translated Kush as Aithiopia and the Vulgate followed with Aethiops. English Bibles took 'Ethiopian' from them. Once 'Ethiopia' became the name of the modern state in the Horn of Africa, readers began to picture that country.

Used elsewhere in the period

Egyptian texts call the region Kꜣš, and Assyrian texts call it Kūsu. Assyrian annals record the Cushite pharaohs Shabaka and Taharqa (Tirhakah, 2 Kgs 19:9). In Acts 8:27 the 'Ethiopian' eunuch serves the Kandake, queen of Meroë, the later Kushite kingdom. That is the same region and the same Greek word.

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 12:1 הַכֻּשִׁ֖ית כֻשִׁ֖ית <the> Cushite, Cushite

    Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.

2 Samuel · 8

  1. 2 Samuel 18:21 לַכּוּשִׁ֔י כוּשִׁ֛י to the Cushite, [the] Cushite

    So Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.

  2. 2 Samuel 18:22 הַכּוּשִׁ֑י the Cushite

    Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “No matter what, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” “My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?”

  3. 2 Samuel 18:23 הַכּוּשִֽׁי׃ the Cushite

    “No matter what, I want to run!” he replied. “Then run!” Joab told him. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.

  4. 2 Samuel 18:31 הַכּוּשִׁ֖י הַכּוּשִׁ֗י the Cushite

    Just then the Cushite came and said, “May my lord the king hear the good news: Today the LORD has avenged you of all who rose up against you!”

  5. 2 Samuel 18:32 הַכּוּשִׁ֔י הַכּוּשִׁ֗י the Cushite

    The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And the Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you to harm you be like that young man.”

2 Chronicles · 7

  1. 2 Chronicles 12:3 וְכוּשִֽׁים׃ and Cushites

    with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless troops who came with him out of Egypt—Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites.

  2. 2 Chronicles 14:9 הַכּוּשִׁ֗י the Cushite

    Then Zerah the Cushite came against them with an army of 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots, and they advanced as far as Mareshah.

    Here: 'The Cushite', a man of Cush. In the Hebrew Bible Cush usually means Nubia, the land south of Egypt along the Nile (modern Sudan). In a few texts it seems to refer to Cushite groups linked with Arabia or the Negev. Which one is meant here is debated.

  3. 2 Chronicles 14:12 הַכּוּשִׁ֔ים הַכּוּשִֽׁים׃ the Cushites

    So the LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah, and the Cushites fled.

  4. 2 Chronicles 14:13 מִכּוּשִׁים֙ of [the] Cushites

    Then Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell and could not recover, for they were crushed before the LORD and His army. So the people of Judah carried off a great amount of plunder

  5. 2 Chronicles 16:8 הַכּוּשִׁ֣ים the Cushites

    Were not the Cushites and Libyans a vast army with many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand.

    Here: The people of Cush, the Nile lands south of Egypt (Nubia, today's northern Sudan). This points back to Zerah 'the Cushite' and his huge force, which Asa defeated in 2 Chronicles 14:9–15.

  6. 2 Chronicles 21:16 כּוּשִֽׁים׃ [the] Cushites

    Then the LORD stirred against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and Arabs who lived near the Cushites.

Jeremiah · 5

  1. Jeremiah 13:23 כּוּשִׁי֙ a Cushite

    Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.

    Here: A man of Kush, the Nile kingdom south of Egypt (modern Sudan), whose dark skin people in Judah recognised at a glance. He is the example of a feature someone is born with and cannot change.

  2. Jeremiah 38:7 הַכּוּשִׁ֜י the Cushite

    Now 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,

    Here: A man from Cush, the Nile kingdom south of Egypt (roughly modern Sudan, ancient Nubia). It marks him as a foreigner, probably dark-skinned (compare Jer 13:23). The label is kept on purpose, so the reader notices who it is that saves the prophet.

  3. Jeremiah 38:10 הַכּוּשִׁ֖י the Cushite

    So the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

  4. Jeremiah 38:12 הַכּוּשִׁ֜י the Cushite

    Ebed-melech the Cushite cried out to Jeremiah, “Put these worn-out rags and clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so,

  5. Jeremiah 39:16 הַכּוּשִׁ֜י the Cushite

    “Go and tell Ebed-melech the Cushite that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to fulfill My words against this city for harm and not for good, and on that day they will be fulfilled before your eyes.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 11:43 וְכֻשִׁ֖ים and Cushites

    He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and over all the riches of Egypt, and the Libyans and Cushites will also submit to him.

    Here: The Kushites: peoples of the upper Nile south of Egypt (Nubia, roughly today's southern Egypt and Sudan). With the Libyans they mark Egypt's far west and far south, standing for the whole Egyptian sphere.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 9:7 כֻשִׁיִּ֨ים [the] Cushites

    “Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?

    Here: The people of Kush, the Nile kingdom south of Egypt (Nubia, in modern Sudan). To an Israelite they lived at the far southern edge of the known world.

Zephaniah · 2

  1. Zephaniah 1:1 כּוּשִׁ֣י Cushi

    This 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:

  2. Zephaniah 2:12 כּוּשִׁ֔ים O Cushites

    “You too, O Cushites, will be slain by My sword.”

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.