Cush @ black. (1.) A son, probably the eldest, of Ham, and the father of Nimrod Genesis:10:8; 1Chronicles:1:10). From him the land of Cush seems to have derived its name. The question of the precise locality of the land of Cush has given rise to not a little controversy. The second river of Paradise surrounded the whole land of Cush Genesis:2:13, R.V.). The term Cush is in the Old Testament generally applied to the countries south of the Israelites. It was the southern limit of Egypt Ezekiel:29:10, A.V. "Ethiopia," Heb. Cush), with which it is generally associated Psalms:68:31; Isaiah:18:1; Jeremiah:46:9, etc.). It stands also associated with Elam Isaiah:11:11), with Persia Ezekiel:38:5), and with the Sabeans Isaiah:45:14). From these facts it has been inferred that Cush included Arabia and the country on the west coast of the Red Sea. Rawlinson takes it to be the country still known as Khuzi-stan, on the east side of the Lower Tigris. But there are intimations which warrant the conclusion that there was also a Cush in Africa, the Ethiopia (so called by the Greeks) of Africa. Ezekiel speaks (29:10; comp. 30:4-6) of it as lying south of Egypt. It was the country now known to us as Nubia and Abyssinia Isaiah:18:1; Zephaniah:3:10, Heb. Cush). In ancient Egyptian inscriptions Ethiopia is termed _Kesh_. The Cushites appear to have spread along extensive tracts, stretching from the Upper Nile to the Euphrates and Tigris. At an early period there was a stream of migration of Cushites "from Ethiopia, properly so called, through Arabia, Babylonia, and Persia, to Western India." The Hamite races, soon after their arrival in Africa, began to spread north, east, and west. Three branches of the Cushite or Ethiopian stock, moving from Western Asia, settled in the regions contiguous to the Persian Gulf. One branch, called the Cossaeans, settled in the mountainous district on the east of the Tigris, known afterwards as Susiana; another occupied the lower regions of the Euphrates and the Tigris; while a third colonized the southern shores and islands of the gulf, whence they afterwards emigrated to the Mediterranean and settled on the coast of Palestine as the Phoenicians. Nimrod was a great Cushite chief. He conquered the Accadians, a Tauranian race, already settled in Mesopotamia, and founded his kingdom, the Cushites mingling with the Accads, and so forming the Chaldean nation. (2.) A Benjamite of this name is mentioned in the title of Psalms:7. "Cush was probably a follower of Saul, the head of his tribe, and had sought the friendship of David for the purpose of 'rewarding evil to him that was at peace with him.'"
Cushan @ probably a poetic or prolonged name of the land of Cush, the Arabian Cush Habakkuk:3:7). Some have, however, supposed this to be the same as Chushan-rishathaim Judges:3:8-10), i.e., taking the latter part of the name as a title or local appellation, Chushan "of the two iniquities" (= oppressing Israel, and provoking them to idolatry), a Mesopotamian king, identified by Rawlinson with Asshur-ris-ilim (the father of Tiglathpileser I.); but incorrectly, for the empire of Assyria was not yet founded. He held Israel in bondage for eight years.
Cushite @ (1.) The messenger sent by Joab to David to announce his victory over Absalom ( 2Samuel: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.