CUN

[firm, upright].

One of the cities of King Hadadezer of Zobah from which David took large amounts of copper, later used in the temple construction. (1 Chron. 18:8) In the parallel account at 2 Samuel 8:8 the name Berothai appears in its place and may refer to the same place. Others suggest that modern Kuna, some distance N of Bereitan, the suggested location of Berothai, is possibly to be identified with the Biblical Cun.—See BEROTHAH, BEROTHAI.

CUP

See VESSELS.

CUPBEARER

An official of the royal court who served wine or other drinks to the king. (Gen. 40:1, 2, 11; Neh. 1:11; 2:1) The duties of the chief cupbearer sometimes included testing wine by tasting it before giving it to the king. This was because the possibility always existed that an attempt might be made on the king’s life by poisoning his wine.

The historian Xenophon describes the procedure of the wine service of the Persian and Median kings. Cupbearers would bring the wine to the chief cupbearer, who washed the cup in the king’s presence, pourer a little of the wine into his left hand and drank it. Then, lightly holding the cup between thumb and fingers, he handed it to the king. Because of such care, Egyptian cupbearers were often called “pure of hands.”

Thorough trustworthiness was a chief qualification for the office, since the life of the king was at stake. The position was one of the most honorable in the court. The chief cupbearer was often present at royal conferences and discussions. Being in a close and usually confidential relationship with the king, he often had considerable influence with the monarch. It was Pharaoh’s cupbearer who recommended Joseph. (Gen. 41:9-13) King Artaxerxes of Persia had a high regard for his cupbearer, Nehemiah. (Neh. 2:6-8) When Nehemiah traveled to Jerusalem, Artaxerxes provided him with a military escort.—Neh. 2:9.

The fact that cupbearers are often present in ancient illustrations indicates the importance of their position. The queen of Sheba was greatly impressed by Solomon’s “drinking service and their attire.”—2 Chron. 9:4.

CURSE

The desiring, threatening or pronouncing of evil upon someone or something is the basic idea of a number of Hebrew and Greek words in the Bible that are translated by the word “curse,” or similar expressions.

The first curse employed was, logically, at the time of the Edenic rebellion and was directed by God against the instigator of the rebellion through the agent that one employed, the serpent. (Gen. 3:14, 15) This curse was to end in his destruction. At the same time the ground was cursed on Adam’s account, resulting in its producing thorns and thistles but not in its destruction. (Gen. 3:17, 18; 5:29) The curse that Jehovah placed on Cain condemned him to a fugitive life. (Gen. 4:11, 12) Following the Flood, the first curse pronounced by a human was that which Noah directed against Canaan, son of Ham, condemning him to slave for Shem and Japheth, a curse that saw its major realization some eight centuries later with the conquest of Canaan by the Shemite nation of Israel. (Gen. 9:25-27) Thus the Gibeonites, descendants of Canaan, were told by Joshua that they were a “cursed people,” in view of which they were assigned to a slave’s postition.—Josh. 9:23.

Such cursing, therefore, should not be confused with mere profanity, nor does it necessarily imply violent anger, as is evident from the case of the Gibeonites. In the above texts the Hebrew word ʼa·rarʹ is used. This word is found eighteen times in the formal declaration of pronouncements at Deuteronomy 27:15-26; 28:16-19, and, also, in solemn pronouncement, such as those at Exodus 22:28; Jeremiah 11:3; 17:5, and 48:10. The related noun m^ee·rahʹ is used at Deuteronomy 28:20; Malachi 3:9, and other texts. The Bible usage of these words indicates a solemn pronouncement or prediction of evil and, when made by God or by an authorized person, has a prophetic value and force. Joshua’s curse made against any man who, in the future, might rebuild devastated Jericho was fulfilled many centuries later. (Josh. 6:26; 1 Ki. 16:34) King Balak’s requests for Balaam to curse Israel, however, were disapproved by Jehovah, and he caused blessings to be pronounced instead.—Num. 22:6–24:25.

ʼA·lahʹ, another Hebrew word rendered “oath” as well as “curse,” implies an oath that carries with it a curse as its penalty for violation of the oath, or because of the oath’s proving to be false.—Num. 5:21, 23, 27; Deut. 29:19-21; 2 Chron. 34:24; 1 Ki. 8:31, 32; see OATH.

In the Greek Scriptures the two basic words translated “curse” are a·raʹ and a·naʹthe·ma, along with intensified forms such as ka·taʹra, e·pi·ka·taʹra·tos, ka·ta·raʹo·mai, ka·taʹthe·ma (or ka·ta·naʹthe·ma), and ka·ta·na·the·ma·tiʹzo.

The word a·raʹ has the meaning of an imprecation or a prayer calling down evil from a divine source. John uses a form of this word in writing that the Pharisees viewed the common people who listened to Jesus as “accursed people” who did not know the Law. (John 7:49) By contrast, Paul showed that all the Jews needed to be redeemed from the curse of the Law covenant by Christ’s becoming a curse for them through his death on the torture stake. (Gal. 3:10, 13) At Galatians 3:10 Paul used e·pi·ka·taʹra·tos to translate the Hebrew word ʼa·rarʹ (the first word considered in this article), as found at Deuteronomy 27:26. In verse 13 he used the same word to translate the Hebrew word q^ela·lahʹ, as found at Deuteronomy 21:23.—See MALEDICTION.

A form of the word a·raʹ is used to describe Jesus’ action in cursing the “goat” class (Matt. 25:41), and also in instructing his followers to “bless those cursing you.” (Luke 6:28) Paul and James used similar forms in giving like counsel at Romans 12:14 and James 3:9, 10. Paul used an intensive form of the word in likening Christians who fall away after having partaken of holy spirit to the “ground” that is unresponsive to rain and that produces only thorns and thistles (Heb. 6:8), while Peter uses the same word to describe as “accursed children” those who are covetous, “have eyes full of adultery,” and who entice unsteady souls.—2 Pet. 2:14.

The word a·naʹthe·ma literally means that which is “laid up,” and originally applied to votive offerings laid up or set apart as sacred in a temple. (See Luke 21:5, where a related word is used.) In the Greek Scriptures the Bible writers use a·naʹthe·ma to apply to that which is accursed or subject to becoming accursed and, therefore, set apart as evil or execrated. Thus Paul wrote to the Galatians (1:8) that they should consider as “accursed” anyone (even angels) who declared to them as good news something contrary to that which they had received. Those who had “no affection for the Lord” were due to come under a similar designation. (1 Cor. 16:22) In his anguish over his fellow Israelites who had not accepted Christ, Paul said that he could even wish that he himself were “separated as the cursed one from the Christ” in their behalf. (Rom. 9:3) In other cases a·naʹthe·ma is evidently used to refer to the declaring of an oath that, if not carried out or if proved false, was intended to result in a curse, as in the case of the forty men who formed the oath-bound conspiracy to kill Paul (Acts 23:12-15, 21), and in Peter’s denial of Christ. (Matt. 26:74; Mark 14:71) In effect, Peter was here saying that he wished he ‘might be cursed or damned if he knew the man.’

At Revelation 22:3 the promise is made concerning the New Jerusalem that “no more will there be any curse [ka·taʹthe·ma].” This appears to serve as a contrast with earthly Jerusalem, which did come under God’s curse. It is likewise in sharp contrast to the cursed condition that results to the symbolic city of “Babylon the great” as a result of God’s judicial decree against her. The “anathema” pronounced against her is evident from the command given at Revelation 18:4-8.—See also 2 Corinthians 6:17.

In the Septuagint Version the translators generally used a·naʹthe·ma to translate the Hebrew hheʹrem, which is considered under the heading DEVOTE.

CUSH

[chaos, confusion].

1. The first-named son of Ham and father of six sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah Sabteca and Nimrod. (Gen. 10:6-8; 1 Chron. 1:8-10) Cush and his named descendants are included among those from whom “the nations were spread about in the earth after the deluge.” (Gen. 10:32) Thus, while no details are given concerning Cush as an individual in the Genesis account, his name is used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures as representing his descendants and the land or regions that they settled, as described in No. 2 below.

It may here be noted, however, that Cush is very evidently a principal progenitor (perhaps along with Put) of the Negroid or dark-complexioned branch of the human family (Jer. 13:23), as indicated by the areas of settlement of certain of his descendants. This fact disproves the theory advanced by some ‘racists’ who incorrectly endeavor to apply to the Negro peoples the curse pronounced on Canaan, for Canaan, the brother of Cush, did not produce any Negro descendants but, rather, was the forefather of the various Canaanite tribes of Palestine. (Gen. 9:24, 25; 10:6) There is, therefore, no Scriptural connection whatsoever between the dark complexion of certain descendants of Cush and the curse pronounced on Canaan.

2. Aside from the genealogical accounts at Genesis chapter 10 and 1 Chronicles chapter 1, and perhaps the use of the name in the introduction to Psalm 7, considered in No. 3 below, the name “Cush” is employed in all other texts to refer to the progeny of that son of Ham and the place of their habitation.

The name of Cush is associated through his son Nimrod with Babel and the kingdom that Nimrod forged in post-Flood times. (Gen. 10:8-12) Some connect Cush’s name with the ancient city of Kish, revealed by excavations in lower Mesopotamia near Babylon, and said to be the city from which emperors of the third millennium B.C.E. in Babylonia assumed the title of “king of the world.” The “Sumerian King list,” an ancient record, though highly legendary, contains the statement: “After the Flood had swept over (the earth) (and) when kingship was lowered (again) from heaven, kingship was (first) in Kish.” (Quoted from Pritchard’s Ancient Near Eastern Texts, 1955 ed., p. 265.) Referring to this ancient city, Professor Albright comments: “Unless Kish is the prototype of the Cush of Gen. 10:8, as is quite possible, it is not mentioned in the Bible. Nimrod was in any case probably considered as the first ruler of Kish.” (“Recent Discoveries in Bible Lands,” p. 14, in Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, 22d edition) Thus, although Babylonia later came fully under Semitic domination, there seems to be some historical evidence harmonizing with the Biblical record of Cushite rule in that area at an early time.

THE “LAND OF CUSH”

The “land of Cush” referred to at Genesis 2:13 as the land originally encircled by the river Gihon, one of the four heads of the “river issuing out of Eden,” is of uncertain location. (Gen. 2:10, 13) The translators of the Septuagint rendered the Hebrew word for “Cush” by the Greek name “Ethiopia” in this text, as they did in all other cases where “Cush” appears, with the exception of the genealogical tables of Genesis and First Chronicles. The name “Cush” did become more or less synonymous with ancient Ethiopia at an early time, yet it cannot arbitrarily be said that such is necessarily the case at Genesis 2:13. Josephus and others, following the rendering of the Septuagint, associated the Gihon River with the Nile. However, the Gihon’s having had a common source with the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers certainly does not seem to allow for such identification, unless the topographical changes that logically resulted from the global deluge are assumed to have been of very extreme proportions.

The term “Cush” at Genesis 2:13 is, therefore, connected by some authorities with the Kassu or Kassites of the Assyrian inscriptions, a people of uncertain origin inhabiting the plateau region of central Asia. In an article in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies (1959, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, pp. 49-53) the author presents evidence of a Negro population in ancient times in the region of the SE corner of the Black Sea, and later in the Caucasus region farther N. He suggests a relationship between the name of the regions of Abkhazia and Khazaria, inhabited by such tribes, and the Biblical Cush. There is, of course, the possibility that the reference to “Cush” at Genesis 2:13 could apply to a region inhabited by Cushites prior to the dispersion of the people resulting from the events at Babel, as it is likewise possible that some segment of the Cushite family did not migrate southward with the main body of Cushites but settled in the region of Asia Minor described above.

Still others suggest that the “land of Cush” encircled by the Gihon was on the Arabian Peninsula, since the name “Cushan” (meaning “belonging to Cush”) is used to parallel the “land of Midian” at Habakkuk 3:7, Midian being located generally in the vicinity of the Gulf of Aqabah. It is probably with reference to such an Arabian “Cush” that Moses’ Midianite wife Zipporah is called a “Cushite.” (Ex. 18:1-5; Num. 12:1) The Hebrew lexicon by Koehler and Baumgartner (Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 429) points out that the tribe of Âl ʽAmran refer to the region of Zebid in Yemen along the Arabian coast of the Red Sea by the name of Kus.

AFTER THE TOWER OF BABEL

Following the breakup at Babel due to the confusion of language, the main body of Cush’s descendants appear to have migrated southward. Whether they reached Africa by first going into the Arabian Peninsula and then crossing over the narrow strait known as Bab el-Mandeb or whether they settled initially in Africa and then crossed over into Arabia is uncertain, although the basic association of “Cush” with Africa might favor the latter migratory movement. The name of Cush’s son Seba is related with E Africa, while those of Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca are generally associated with regions on the Arabian Peninsula. (See individual articles under names of sons.) It is of note that, while the names of these sons appear to have been perpetuated by tribes descended from them, this does not seem to be the case with the name of Nimrod, his name appearing in ancient history solely as that of an individual. This may indicate that Nimrod remained childless.

Though Cushites were to be found in Arabia, the name “Cush” as used in the Bible in most cases clearly refers to a region in Africa and, where the relationship is obvious, translators simply render “Cush” as “Ethiopia.” It is regularly associated with Egypt (Isa. 20:3-5; 43:3; Jer. 46:7-9) and also with Libya. (2 Chron. 12:2, 3; Dan. 11:43; Nah. 3:9) Isaiah 11:11 aptly presents the ancient geographical designations for the regional divisions running southward from the Nile Delta. “Egypt” (or “Mizraim,” here, Lower Egypt), “Pathros” (Upper Egypt), and “Cush” (Nubia-Ethiopia). Ezekiel 29:10 speaks of the devastation of Egypt “from Migdol to Syene and to the boundary of Ethiopia [Cush].” Thus, Cush or ancient Ethiopia appears to have been beyond Syene (modern Aswan) and, according to archaeological records, continued S perhaps as far as modern Khartoum. Cush thus embraced a more extensive and generally more southern area than that included in present-day