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Wikipedia's first sentence called it "eldest son of ham". Today it says "oldest son of ham and a grandson of noah". We saved the article's opening at 6 moments between 2005 and 2025, and every claim links the exact revision.

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Cush (Bible)

Wikipedia's first sentence called it “eldest son of ham”. Today it says “oldest son of ham and a grandson of noah”.

Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.

Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.

We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since. Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now. ¹ tap a number or a side note to jump between them

The opening as it read in 2005

Cush. Another person named Cush in the Bible was a Benjamite, mentioned only in Psalm 7, and believed to be a follower of Saul . Josephus gives an account of the nation of Cush, who is the son of Ham and the grandson of Noah . "For of the four sons of Ham, time has not at all hurt the name of Chus; for the Ethiopians, over whom he reigned, are even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in Asia, called Chusites." (AotJ I:6.) The wife of Moses was a Kushite according to the Book of Numbers .¹ The locality of this area has been questioned, with some believing it refers to countries south of the Israelites , and others stating it refers to part of Africa , such as Ethiopia , in ancient inscriptions written as Kesh . Samuel Bochart maintained that it was exclusively in Arabia; Friedrich Schulthess and Heinrich Gesenius held that it should be sought in Africa.² Others again, like Johann Michaelis and Rosenmuller, have proposed that the name Cush was applied to tracts of country on both sides of the Red Sea, in Arabia (Yemen) and in Africa. In the 5th century AD the Himyarites , in the south of Arabia, were styled by Syrian writers as Cushaeans and Ethiopians , and it is certain that the present-day areas of Yemen and Eritrea were both ruled together by one dynasty (see Aksumite Kingdom ) at that time.³ The existence of a historical Kush between Egypt and Nubia cannot reasonably be questioned, though the term is employed in the Old Testament with some latitude. The African Kush covered Upper Egypt, and extended southwards from the first cataract. In addition, the Cushitic peoples, who live around the Horn region of Africa and today comprise the Somali , Afar , Oromo and several other tribes, are popularly asserted to be the offspring of the Biblical Cush. That the Biblical term was also applied to parts of Arabia is suggested by Genesis, where Cush is the eponymous father of certain tribal and ethnic designations that tend to point to Arabia (though Sheba may be an exception, held by some to refer to Shewa in Africa).⁴ Babylonian inscriptions mention the Kashshi or Kassites , and it was once held that this signified a possible explanation of Cush, the ancestor of Nimrod in Genesis chapter 8. Although decisive evidence is lacking, it is still alleged by some that the several references to Cush in the Old Testament do not refer to Ethiopia; however, its frequent inclusion with Libya and Mizraim (Egypt) strongly suggests that it was at least considered to be African. Views on their precise location generally depend on how willing certain scholars are to concede that Ethiopia could have enjoyed the prominence claimed for it by others.⁵ It is logical to assume that the Black Cushites of East Africa, including Aksum in Ethiopia, branched out and settled in Arabia or elsewhere - thus forming an extra-African civilization - from the fact that one can find references to "Cushites" outside of Africa. This is taken seriously by those that feel that Black Cushites were able to venture outside of Africa. It seems fairly certain that many Cushites intermingled with other peoples, both at home, with Semitic peoples from Yemen, and in other lands where they settled. Until certain eurocentric scholars also accept it as a serious possibility that Biblical Cush refers to Africa proper, some skeptics continue to assert that it refers to a "non" Black Cushite race of dark-skinned caucasians. Obviously, the biased assumption that historically, Blacks cannot settle independently outside of Africa except as slaves or soldiers, has yet to be debunked. If we pretended for a moment that the Cushites were Asian or Nordic, it would not be an argument of whether Cush is "in" Africa or "in" Arabia. It might then have been acknowledged that throughout history, the civilization of "Cushites" in that region crossed the Red Sea and settled on both sides. But alas, we must continue with the "all or nothing" approach to reason in regards to Black African people. Please see Eurocentrism for a more detailed explaination of this psychological problem that interferes with reasonable historical investigations.⁶ The rhetorical question "Can the Cushite change his skin?" in Jeremiah 13:23 implies people of a markedly different skin color from the Israelites, probably an African race; also, the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament, made by Greek-speaking Jews between ca. 250 BC and 100 BC, uniformly translates Cush as "Ethiopia".⁷

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16269156.

The opening as it stood in 2010 16 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The name is usually considered to be the eponym of the people of Kush. According to Genesis , Cush's other sons were Seba , Havilah , Sabtah , Raamah , and Sabtecah , names identified by modern scholars with Arabian tribes. Josephus gives an account of the nation of Cush, son of Ham and grandson of Noah : "For of the four sons of Ham, time has not at all hurt the name of Cush; for the Ethiopians , over whom he reigned, are even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in Asia , called Cushites." ( Antiquities of the Jews 1.6). The existence of the historical Kingdom of Kush in what is now Southern Sudan cannot be reasonably questioned, although the term may later have been employed with some latitude. In addition, the modern Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by various populations in the Horn of Africa , is named after the Biblical Cush. The Cushitic-speaking peoples today comprise the Somali , Afar , Oromo and several other tribes, and are considered offspring of Cush in Masudi's Meadows of Gold from 947 AD . The Beja people , who also speak a Cushitic language, have specific genealogical traditions of descent from Cush . Explorer James Bruce , who visited the Ethiopia highlands c. 1770, wrote of "a tradition among the Abyssinians, which they say they have had since time immemorial", that in the days after the Deluge, Cush, the son of Ham, travelled with his family up the Nile until they reached the Atbara plain, then still uninhabited, from where they could see the Ethiopian table-land. There they ascended and built Axum , and sometime later returned to the lowland, building Meroe . He also states that European scholars of his own day had summarily rejected this account on grounds of their established theory, that Cush must have arrived in Africa via Arabia and the Bab el Mandab . . Further, the great obelisk of Axum was said to have been erected by Cush in order to mark his allotted territory, and his son Ityopp'is was said to have been buried there, according to the Book of Aksum , which Bruce asserts was revered throughout Abyssinia equally with the Kebre Negest . The wife of Moses was a Cushite, according to the Book of Numbers 12:1. Exagoge 60-65 by Ezekiel the Tragedian (fragments reproduced in Eusebius ) has Zipporah describe herself to Moses as a stranger in the land of Midian, and proceeds to describe the inhabitants of her ancestral lands in Africa: "Stranger, this land is called Libya {an ancient name for the African continent}. It is inhabited by tribes of various peoples, Ethiopians, dark men. One man is the ruler of the land: he is both king and general. He rules the state, judges the people, and is priest. This man is my father {Jethro} and theirs." Scholars like Johann Michaelis and Rosenmuller have pointed out that the name Cush was applied to tracts of country on both sides of the Red Sea in the Arabia ( Yemen ) and in Africa. In the 5th century AD, the Himyarites in the south of Arabia were styled by Syrian writers as Cushaeans and Ethiopians . A page from Elia Levita 's 16th century Yiddish - Hebrew - Latin - German dictionary contains a list of nations, including the word "כושי" Cushite or Cushi , translated to Latin as "Aethiops" and into German as "Mor". Babylonian inscriptions mention the Kashshi or Kassites , and it was once held that this signified a possible explanation of Cush, the ancestor of Nimrod in Genesis chapter 8. Although decisive evidence is lacking, it is still alleged by some that the several references to Cush in the Old Testament do not refer to Ethiopia; however, its frequent inclusion with Phut and Mizraim ( Egypt ) strongly suggests that it was at least considered to be African. Views on their precise location generally depend on how willing certain scholars are to concede that Ethiopia could have enjoyed the prominence claimed for it by others. The rhetorical question "Can the Cushite change his skin?" in Jeremiah 13:23 implies people of a markedly different skin color from the Israelites, probably an African people; also, the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament made by Greek-speaking Jews between ca. 250 BC and 100 BC uniformly translates Cush as "Ethiopia." The Persian historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (c. 915) recounts a tradition that the wife of Cush was named Qarnabil, daughter of Batawil, son of Tiras , and that she bore him the "Abyssinians, Sindis and Indians". Another person named Cush in the Hebrew Bible is a Benjamite who is mentioned only in Psalm 7, and is believed to be a follower of Saul . The names Shem and Ham are current in linguistic classifications today, in the names for the dominant language families of the Middle East (Semitic) and North Africa (Hamitic), respectively. We can even find a Cushitic group of languages in Africa after Cush, one of the sons of Ham... Masudi 's The Meadows of Gold (947 AD); Wahb ibn Munabbih (738) included among Cush's offspring "the "Qaran" , the Zaghawa , the Habesha , the Qibt , and the Barbar ", none of whom are Cushitic speakers.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 365582156.

Today

Wikipedia's first sentence called it “eldest son of ham”. Today it says “oldest son of ham and a grandson of noah”. Read the current article and compare.

Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
	2005	2010	2015	2020	Oct '23	2025

What Wikipedia says this is

Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.

Then

eldest son of ham

Now

oldest son of ham and a grandson of noah

1. Removed 3 sentences: “Another person named Cush in the Bible was a Benjamite, mentioned only…” In the article until 2010 (rev), gone by 2015 (rev).

2. Removed 2 sentences: “The locality of this area has been questioned, with some believing it…” In the article until 2005 (rev), gone by 2010 (rev).

3. Removed 2 sentences: “Others again, like Johann Michaelis and Rosenmuller, have proposed that the name…” In the article until 2010 (rev), gone by 2015 (rev).

4. Removed 4 sentences: “The existence of a historical Kush between Egypt and Nubia cannot reasonably…” In the article until 2005 (rev), gone by 2010 (rev).

5. Removed 3 sentences: “Babylonian inscriptions mention the Kashshi or Kassites , and it was once…” In the article until 2010 (rev), gone by 2015 (rev).

6. Removed 9 sentences: “It is logical to assume that the Black Cushites of East Africa,…” In the article until 2005 (rev), gone by 2010 (rev).

7. Removed: “The rhetorical question "Can the Cushite change his skin?" in Jeremiah 13:23…” In the article until 2010 (rev), gone by 2015 (rev).

Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.

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