Cush was both a person and a people
Cush first appears as one of Ham’s sons in the family record after the flood (Genesis 10:6). The chapter then names Cush’s descendants, showing how an ancestor’s name could become connected with a wider people and region (Genesis 10:7).
Cush also appears in the early description of Eden. The Gihon River is said to flow around the land of Cush, although the passage does not give enough information for every modern geographical question to be settled (Genesis 2:13).
And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.
Where was Cush?
In much of the Old Testament, Cush refers to a powerful region south of Egypt, associated with the Nile and the lands now often connected with Sudan and parts of Ethiopia. The Hebrew name behind the KJV word “Ethiopia” is Cush. That is why a Cushite may be called an Ethiopian in the KJV.
Ancient names and modern borders are not the same thing. So it is best not to assume every reference to biblical Ethiopia means the present-day country alone. Isaiah describes Cush as a distant land marked by rivers, known to Judah as a distinct people beyond Egypt (Isaiah 18:1-2).
Cushites appear in Israel’s story
Cush was a real part of the political world around Israel. During Asa’s reign in Judah, Zerah the Ethiopian led a huge army against Judah. Asa asked God for help, and the account credits the Lord with giving Judah victory (2 Chronicles 14:9-12).
One of the clearest individual examples is Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian serving in King Zedekiah’s palace. When Jeremiah was left in a muddy cistern, Ebed-melech spoke up to the king and arranged for Jeremiah to be brought out safely (Jeremiah 38:7-13). God later promised to preserve Ebed-melech because he had put his trust in him (Jeremiah 39:15-18).
Moses’ Cushite wife is mentioned when Miriam and Aaron criticised Moses (Numbers 12:1-3). The story’s focus quickly falls on the Lord’s defence of Moses and the unique work entrusted to him (Numbers 12:4-10).
Now when Ebed–melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;
A Cushite seeker met Jesus’ good news
In Acts, an Ethiopian eunuch served Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had travelled to Jerusalem to worship and was reading Isaiah while returning home (Acts 8:27-28). Philip came alongside him, listened to his question, and began from the passage he was reading to tell him about Jesus (Acts 8:30-35).
The man responded in faith and was baptised, then continued his journey with joy (Acts 8:36-39). It is a beautiful reminder that the good news of Jesus was never limited to one ethnic group or nation. A man from Cush was not treated as a distant outsider, but as someone invited to know Christ.
And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,