The Bible uses two different names for the land south of Egypt. In the Old Testament, Ethiopia was called "Cush" (Genesis 10:6; 1 Chronicles 1:8; Isaiah 11:11). "Cush" is the English spelling of the Hebrew word for this land. When the Bible was later translated into Greek, the translators used the name "Ethiopia" instead of "Cush."
However, they kept the name "Cush" when listing different groups of people in Genesis 10:6–8 and 1 Chronicles 1:8–10. Some English Bible translations follow this Greek pattern and use "Ethiopia" for the place and "Cush" when it is a personal name. Other English translations use "Cush" for both the place and the personal name, as well as "Cushite" for people living in the land (2 Samuel 18:21–23, 31–32).
The History of Ancient Ethiopia and Its Names
The Hebrew name "Cush" originally came from the Egyptian language. The Egyptians first used this name during a time called the Middle Kingdom. Back then, it only meant a small area near two rocky parts of the Nile River. Later, during a time called the New Kingdom (from about 1570 to 1160 BC), the name Cush was used for a much larger area that stretched further south. Today, this larger area includes parts of what we now call Nubia and northern Sudan.
It is important to understand that the Ethiopia mentioned in the Bible is not the same as the country called Ethiopia today. The modern country of Ethiopia used to be called Abyssinia. The name "Ethiopia" comes from the Greek language. Some scholars think it means "burnt-faced" (compare Acts 8:27). This old name influenced the Arabic name "Beled es Sudan," which means "land of the blacks." This is where we get the modern name "Sudan."
The Old Testament writers used the name "Cush" the same way the Egyptians did. They used it to describe the dry land that stretched south to a city called Aswan (which the Bible calls Syene in Ezekiel 29:10). No one, not even the Egyptians, knew exactly where the borders of this land ended. They just knew it went somewhere past a city called Meroé in what is now Sudan.
Most of Ethiopia was desert land east of the Nile River. The land's rough features made it very dangerous to travel through. The river itself was dangerous, too. Large rocks stuck out of the water, forcing the river into narrow paths. This created rough waters that could easily sink boats. These natural barriers helped protect Egypt from attacks from the south. However, they also made Ethiopia a very difficult place to live.
The land in Egyptian Nubia and northern Sudan was mostly good for farming, but it was often flooded. Because of this flooding, the Nubian people had to move to an area between two cities called Aswan and Kom Ombo.
Because Nubia is mostly desert, it gets very little rain. Only the areas farther up the river receive more rainfall. The city of Meroé was once the capital of this region. It sits in a special area between two rivers, the Nile River on one side and the Atbara River on the other. People called this area the "island of Meroé." In ancient times, this land had good soil for growing plants and may have been covered with many trees because it got rain at certain times of the year.
Ancient Ethiopia in the Bible
The book of Esther tells us that Ethiopia (Cush) was the farthest southwest province in the Persian Empire (Esther 1:1; 8:9). Ethiopia's "rivers" were probably the Nile and the Atbara Rivers (compare Isaiah 18:1; Zephaniah 3:10). Many valuable things came from Ethiopia (Job 28:19; Isaiah 45:14). Egyptian records tell us these included valuable stones, animals, and farm products.
Some of God's prophets wrote about Ethiopia in different ways. Some said that Jewish people who were forced to live in Ethiopia would return home (Psalm 87:4; Isaiah 11:11). Other prophets warned that God would judge Ethiopia (Isaiah 20:3; Ezekiel 30:4; Zephaniah 2:12). But because Ethiopia was under God's control, it could receive both God's punishment and blessing. Some prophets wrote that the Ethiopian people would one day believe in the God of Israel (Psalm 68:31; Isaiah 45:14; Zephaniah 3:10).
The Ethiopia mentioned in Acts 8:27 was the kingdom of Candace. "Candace" was the title given to all queens who ruled Ethiopia. The queen ruled from a city called Meroé. Around 300 BC, Meroé had become the new capital of Ethiopia.