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Bible Dictionaries
Ethiopia
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Ethiopia (ç'thi-ô'pi-ah), burnt-faces. Called Cash by the Hebrews, a country south of Egypt. Ezekiel 29:10. In the Scriptures "Ethiopia" usually refers to the region extending from Egypt southward beyond the junction of the White and Blue Nile. This was Seba, Isaiah 43:3, and known to the Romans as the kingdom of Meroe. The country is rolling and mountainous, the elevation increasing toward the south, until it reaches a height of about 8000 feet in Abyssinia. Frequent notices of this country and its people are found in the Bible. It was settled by the children of Ham, Genesis 10:6, dark-skinned men of stature. Jeremiah 13:23; Isaiah 45:14. They were selected as members of royal households. Jeremiah 38:7-13. The treasurer of its queen, Candace was baptized by Philip. Acts 8:27-38. It is noticed in, connection with Egypt, Isaiah 20:4; Isaiah 43:3; Isaiah 45:14; with Libya (Phut), Jeremiah 46:9 : Lydia and Chub (Lub and Lud), Ezekiel 30:5, and the Sukkiim. 2 Chronicles 12:3. Moses married an Ethiopian, Numbers 12:1; Ethiopians were in Shishak's army, 2 Chronicles 12:3; Zerah, an Ethiopian king, had an army of a million soldiers, 2 Chronicles 14:9-12 : Job mentioned the precious stones of Ethiopia, Job 28:19; the Israelites were familiar with the merchandise of that country, Isaiah 45:14; and Isaiah foretold the subjugation of Ethiopia by the Assyrians. Isaiah 20:4; Isaiah 20:6. Among the Assyrian inscriptions of Assurbanipal, now in the British Museum, George Smith deciphered several which especially illustrate and confirm the fulfillment of this prophecy. Among other prophecies in respect to Ethiopia are Psalms 68:31; Psalms 87:4; Isaiah 45:14; Ezekiel 30:4-9; Daniel 11:43; Habakkuk 3:7; Zephaniah 2:12; Nahum 3:8-10. The Romans in the reign of Augustus Caesar, b.c. 22, defeated Candace, queen of Ethiopia, and made the country tributary to Rome. Candace was an official title of the queens, one of whom is named in Acts 8:27.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Ethiopia'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/e/ethiopia.html. 1893.
