Can a Cushite Change His Skin? An Examination of Race, Ethnicity, and Othering in the Hebrew Bible (Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies | LHBOTS)
Overview
How did the authors of the Hebrew Bible perceive the Cushites? Sadler demonstrates that the answer to this question provides insights into the way differences that modern scholars would classify as “racial” were understood in ancient Israel/Judah. By examining explicit biblical references to Cush and Cushites, a nation and people most modern scholars would deem racially “black,” this book explores the manner by which the authors of the Hebrew Bible represented the Cushite, and determines whether differences in human phenotypes facilitated legitimating ideologies that justified the subjugation of this foreign Other.
In order to ground this analysis, this study investigates how contemporary scholars have understood “race” and “ethnicity” and proposes working definitions for these contested terms. In this vein, it offers a list of constituent elements of racial thought, which were sought in biblical references to Cush-related terms to determine if they govern the way biblical authors thought about the Cushites. Sadler uses historical critical methodologies in the exegesis of biblical passages containing references to Cush-related terms, often producing new interpretations of these texts. Sadler’s study reveals that though there were on occasion constituent elements of racialist thought employed in biblical representations of the Cushites, there does not appear to have been a coherent system of racial thought in the Hebrew Bible.
Often esteemed by biblical authors, Cushites were viewed as an ethnic group like most of the nations mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In fact, this study also reveals that there was considerable contact between Cushites and the people of Judah throughout the biblical period. It concludes by suggesting that biblical scholars need to critically reassess their understanding of Cushites and the role this people played in the history of the Levant.
In the Logos edition, all Scripture references in Can a Cushite Change His Skin? link to the original language texts and the Bibles in your library. By employing Logos’ advanced search features, you can find the exact topics or passages you’re looking for. Whether you are encountering the cultural context of the Bible for the first time, or you’re working on advanced archaeological, historical, or textual research, the Logos edition is right for you.
- Brief literature review of the topic
- Analysis of the term “Cush”
- Bibliographical references and indexes
Top Highlights
“Also, throughout the history of biblical translation, the term Cush found its way into Greek in the lxx as ‘Ethiopian,’61 a word whose denotation implicitly has potentially racialist implications since it means ‘burnt face.’ Hence, the people known to the Hebrew Bible’s authors as Cushites were known by those author’s Greek-speaking descendants not by their place of origin or ethnicity (Cush), but by an essentialist assessment of their phenotypical presentation, ‘burnt face.’” (Pages 16–17)
“First, her presence in this narrative implies that Hebrew authors presumed a Cushite element in the initial migration from Egypt to Israel. Second, as the narrative affirms, a Cushite woman’s connection with so significant a character in the unfolding historical narrative in no way diminished his stature and standing in subsequent generations. Third, the lack of a negative response from Yhwh to Miriam’s complaint about Moses’ marriage precludes the existence of a narrative prohibiting such unions. Fourth, following Bailey and reading the combined extant passage, it seems that Moses’ association with this Cushite woman elevated not diminished his social standing, since the affirmation of Moses’ humility in v. 3 would be irrelevant were the marriage perceived as demeaning.” (Page 39)
“Deutero-Isaiah’s use of the Cushites in his prophecies, though establishing a hierarchy of human beings and representing the Cushites negatively, neither represents the racialization of Cushites or ‘Africans.’ The Cushites and their allies are included in these texts because they were nations not under the dominion of Babylon and Persia during the author’s lifetime. They represented the final, unconquered frontier of the known world; because they are autonomous, their subjugation represents a marked change in world affairs. Their subjugation could only come at the hand of Yhwh; only with the intervention of Judah’s God could Cyrus hope to gain sovereignty over them. But their ultimate fate is as vassals not to Cyrus but to Yhwh (45:14), represented in this text by Judah.” (Page 88)
Sadler’s goal is clearly to correct misconceptions about the profile of Cush in biblical literature, and he succeeds in this endeavor.
—Interpretation
Those expert enough to follow the author’s examination and argument will be greatly rewarded.
—Dianne Bergant, The Bible Today
- Title: Can a Cushite Change His Skin? An Examination of Race, Ethnicity, and Othering in the Hebrew Bible
- Author: Rodney S. Sadler Jr.
- Volume: 425
- Publisher: T&T Clark
- Print Publication Date: 2005
- Logos Release Date: 2010
- Pages: 192
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible. O.T. › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Blacks in the Bible
- ISBNs: 9780567029706, 0567029700
- Resource ID: LLS:CANCUSHCHANGE
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:16:46Z