ting Cush, Ethiopian; the nearest Ethiopian to Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful and capable of opposing him, were the Ethiopian shepherds of the Thebaid, and these were not accessible to ships; and the shepherds, so posted near to the scene of destruction to be committed by Nebuchadnezzar, were enemies to the Cushites living in towns, and they had
repeatedly themselves destroyed them, and therefore had no temptation to be other than spectators.
In several other places, the same prophet speaks of Cush as the commercial nation, sympathising with their countrymen dwelling in the towns in Egypt, independent of the shepherds, who were really their enemies, both in civil and religious matters. "And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt *[1]." Now Ethiopia, as I have before said, that is, the low country of the shepherds, nearest Egypt, had no common cause with the Cushites that lived in towns there; it was their countrymen, the Cushites in Ethiopia, who mourned for those that fell in Egypt, who were merchants, traders, and dwelt in cities like themselves.
I shall mention but one instance more: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? †[2]" Here Cush is rendered Ethiopian, and many Ethiopians being white, it does not appear why they should be fixed upon, or chosen for the question more than other people. But had Cush been translated Negro, or Black-moor, the question
Ezek. chap. xxx. ver. 4. † Jerem. chap. xiii. ver. 23.
