Black and African People in the Bible
From Egypt and Cush to Simon of Cyrene and the Ethiopian official, Scripture names Africans in God's story. A look at who they were.
Yes. Scripture names Africans and people from dark-skinned nations in both Testaments, and it does so without apology. Egypt and Cush (the region south of Egypt, roughly modern Sudan) appear in the table of nations in Genesis 10, and Cush’s descendants are listed right alongside the ancestors of Israel. A Cushite woman is part of Moses’ own household. A Cushite soldier carries news to David. An Ethiopian official believes in Jesus on a desert road. These are not footnotes. They are people God placed in His story on purpose.
If you have ever wondered whether the Bible is a book for one ethnicity, the answer Scripture gives is no. From the beginning, God’s plan has gathered people from every nation, and the Bible shows us some of them by name. Whoever you are, you are welcome to come to Christ; He turns no one away who comes to Him.
Who were the Cushites, and why does the Bible mention them?
Genesis 10:6 lists Cush among the sons of Ham, and Genesis 10:8 names Cush as the father of Nimrod. The land of Cush lay south of Egypt, in the Nile valley. When Jeremiah wanted a picture of something that cannot change by effort, he asked:
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil. — Jeremiah 13:23 (BSB)
The Hebrew word behind “Ethiopian” there is Cushite. The point of the verse is moral, not racial, but it shows the biblical writers knew and named a people by that name. The Bible never treats their nation as a problem. Cush is simply one of the nations.
Which specific people in the Old Testament came from Africa?
Several are named, and the details are worth noticing.
The Cushite woman in Moses’ household. Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of his Cushite wife (Numbers 12:1). God’s response was swift and severe: He defended Moses, and Miriam became leprous (Numbers 12:10) until Moses interceded. The text does not tell us her name, but it does show God answering on Moses’ behalf.
The Cushite messenger. When Absalom’s rebellion ended, Joab sent a Cushite to carry the news to David (2 Samuel 18:21), and the Cushite bore the report to the king (2 Samuel 18:31).
Does the Old Testament expect Africans to worship God?
The prophets say yes, and they say it with joy.
Psalm 68:31 speaks of envoys coming from Egypt and Cush stretching out her hands to God. Isaiah pictures a day when gifts are brought from a land of whirring wings beyond the rivers of Cush (Isaiah 18:1, 7), and Zephaniah looks to worshipers from beyond the rivers of Cush (Zephaniah 3:10). The Bible’s horizon is not one nation. It is all of them.
Who are the African figures in the New Testament?
The New Testament continues the pattern.
The Ethiopian official. An angel directed Philip to a desert road, where he met a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had come to Jerusalem to worship (Acts 8:26-27). The man was reading Isaiah. Philip explained the passage, and the official believed and was baptized (Acts 8:35-38). Here is an African man, a foreigner and a eunuch, brought into the church by God’s own arrangement.
Simeon called Niger. Among the prophets and teachers at Antioch were Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, and Saul (Acts 13:1). Niger is a Latin word meaning black. The church’s leaders in that city included men from North Africa.
Simon of Cyrene. He was compelled to carry Jesus’ cross (Mark 15:21). Cyrene was a city in North Africa, in modern Libya, and Mark names his sons, Alexander and Rufus, which suggests the family was known to the early church.
Men of Cyrene who preached. After Stephen’s death, some believers from Cyprus and Cyrene began speaking to Greeks in Antioch about the Lord Jesus, and a great number believed (Acts 11:20-21).
Rufus and his mother. Paul sends greetings to Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and to his mother, who has been a mother to Paul too (Romans 16:13). Many connect this Rufus with the son of Simon of Cyrene.
Does the Bible say anything about race itself?
It says less about skin color than we might expect, and more about the human heart. Every person shares the same origin in Adam and the same problem in sin: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Every believer shares the same standing: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). And the end of the story is a crowd no one can number, “from every nation and tribe and people and tongue,” standing before the throne (Revelation 7:9).
That is worth saying plainly, because history is not clean here. Some Christians misused Scripture to defend the slave trade and to justify contempt for people of other nations. Other Christians, reading the whole Bible, led the fight against slavery and against antisemitism. William Wilberforce is one well-known example. The Bible itself never authorizes treating any people group as less than human. It condemns kidnapping and the trading of human beings, and it commands love of neighbor without a boundary line.
How should this shape the way I read Scripture?
Read the names. When you come to Cush, Egypt, Cyrene, and Ethiopia in your Bible, slow down. These are not decoration. They are evidence that God has always been gathering a people from everywhere, and that He does not measure anyone by ancestry.
If you are reading this and wondering whether you belong, the answer is the same one Philip gave on that desert road. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you are His. Talk to a pastor or a trusted believer in your local church. Read Acts 8 this week and notice who God sent Philip to find. Pray that your own heart would see people the way Scripture does, as image-bearers and as neighbors. Then keep reading, because the story is not finished, and the crowd at the end is still being gathered.
Common questions
Was Moses’ wife African?
Numbers 12:1 says Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of his Cushite wife. Cush was the region south of Egypt, in the Nile valley. The text does not name her, but God defended Moses and judged Miriam for her complaint.
Who was the Ethiopian in Acts 8?
He was a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had traveled to Jerusalem to worship. Philip explained Isaiah to him, and he believed and was baptized on the spot (Acts 8:26-38).
Does the Bible mention black people by name?
Several figures are connected to African regions, including the Cushite messenger in 2 Samuel 18, Simon of Cyrene and his sons in Mark 15, Simeon called Niger in Acts 13, and the Ethiopian official in Acts 8. The Bible names them without comment on their skin color.
What does the Bible say about race?
Scripture says all people descend from Adam and all have sinned (Romans 3:23), and that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek (Galatians 3:28). Revelation 7:9 pictures a countless multitude from every nation and tongue before God’s throne.