Biblical Blackness

Biblical Blackness (Black = African)

• Actual “Black” Skin Color
  • Cush (Genesis 10:6)
  • Simon Called Niger (Acts 13:1)
•  Negroid Characteristics
  • Hair Type, Skeletal Structure, Cranial Shape and Size Etc..
• Traceable African Ancestry (Black Blood)
  • Hamitic Lineage
  • This is directly in line with the “American” concept of Blackness given during
    slavery.

*For this study, the words Black and African will be used interchangeably. This definition is
to simply identify “otherness” or “non-whiteness” as a whole. *

Ham (Africa)

• The Father of African/Black people
• 2nd Oldest Son of Noah
• Ham means “hot” or “Black” in Hebrew
• Ham and his wife bore four sons who became the fathers of the nations of Africa.

1. Cush (The Ethiopians) settled in Ethiopia south of Egypt. Early in their history, they also
migrated to an area north of the Persian Gulf (Gen. 10:8-10).

2. Mizraim (The Egyptians) is the Biblical name for Egypt. This group settled in
northeastern Africa.

3. Put (The Libyans) is often translated as Libya. This group settled in northern Africa.

4. Canaan (The Canaanites) settled above Africa east of the Mediterranean. Ham’s fourth
son, Canaan, was prophetically cursed because he gazed upon his father’s “nakedness.” The fruition of this curse would leave the descendants of Canaan homeless and subservient to the descendants of Shem, their distant relatives. (Genesis 9:25)

1. Cush
a. Nimrod (Genesis 10:8-12) “The most politically Ambitious son of Ethiopia (Cush).”

i. King/Kingdom Builder – Laid the foundation for the Babylonia and Assyrian kingdoms.

ii. Pioneer – Viewed scripturally as the first mighty man.

b. King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1:1-4) “The most renowned potentate in scripture.”

i. Mesopotamian Cushite – Those Cushites that resided in Mesopotamia as opposed to Cush (Ethiopia) or Arabia

ii. Ruled Babylon from 605 – 562 B.C.E.

c. The Queen of Sheba (1st Kings 10:1-13) “The most enchanting Cushite politician in all of scripture.”

i. The Ancient Jewish historian Josephus credits her rule to both Sheba/Saba. (modern-day Yemen and home to the Sabeans)

ii. Jesus references her as the “Queen of the South” in Matthew 12:42.

2. Mizraim (Egypt)
a. Egyptian Pharaohs (From Abraham to Joseph)

b. Hagar (Genesis 16:1-15) The handmaiden of Sarah that bore Ishmael for Abraham

i. She became the mother of a great nation through her son.

3. Canaan
a. Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-22)
i. Canaanite King of Salem (modern-day Jerusalem)
ii. Both King and Priest (A typology of Jesus Christ)

b. Uriah the Hittite (2nd Samuel 11:3)

i. Heth, the 2nd-born of Canaan, is the progenitor of these people.

ii. Husband of Bathsheba

c. Tamar (Genesis 38)

Notable Mentions

• Prophet Zephaniah (Zephaniah 1:1) – Cush
• Asenath Joseph’s Wife (Genesis 41:45) – Mizraim/Egypt
• Solomon’s Egyptian Wife (1st Kings 7:8,9:16,24) – Mizraim/Egypt
• Keturah Abraham’s 2nd Wife (Genesis 25:1-4) – Canaanite

1. Ethiopian Eunuch (Act 8:26-40)

1. A court Official of the African Queen or Candace [Kandake] (Queen Regent or
   Queen Mother) of the land of Kush/Ethiopia… Meroe was the capital city.
2. This was the very first gentile convert in the entire New Testament.
3. This conversion set the precedent for the conversion of the entire world.

5. Jesus – ?!? (Matthew 1:1-16, Luke 3:23-38)

1. In the written lineage of Christ, 3 of 4 women listed are of Hamitic lineage.
   Tamar (Canaanite), Rahab (Canaanite), Bathsheba (Implicitly Hittite) …
2. Some scholars argue that Matthew presents Joseph’s lineage while Luke
   presents Mary’s lineage. What we know through scripture is that Jesus is a direct
   descendant of the Davidic line, whether traced through Joseph, Mary, or both.
   (Romans 1:3)

Notable Mentions

• Mark The Evangelist – Founder of the African Church and author of Mark’s Gospel
• Joseph & Mary – Mother and Father of Jesus
  • By virtue of their lineage, they were at least of a mixed ancestral heritage.
• The Canaanite Woman
  • Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30
• Apostle Paul?!? – Writer of 13/27 books in the New Testament
  • Acts 21:37-40

1. Tertullian of Carthage (155 – 230 AD)

1. African Church Father who founded the Carthaginian Theological School. (c. 155-
   230)
2. It was the church father, Tertullian, who first introduced the term Trinity (trinitas)
   into the Christian vocabulary.6 This was coupled with the teaching that we serve one
   God in three persons. (tres personae)
3. Tertullian was rather Pentecostal in his expression of faith as he joined the
   Montanist sect of Christianity. This group spoke in tongues and encouraged the gift
   of prophecy.
   1. His affiliation with this group has led many to consider him “The most
      misunderstood individual in all of church history.”
4.  He is considered the father of Latin Christianity as he was the first to write in Latin.
   1. Roman Catholic Church (Western Church)

Notable Mentions

• 3 African Popes
  • Pope Victor I (AD 189-199) – Popularized Latin as the common language of the
    church, thereby making Christianity more democratic and accessible to ordinary
    people.
  • Pope Melchaides/Meltiades (311-314) – Persecuted prior to his reign as pope. He
    was considered one of the African Christian martyrs.
  • Pope Gelasius I (A.D. 492-496) – Worked to settle conflicts in the church and
    believed that “both civil and sacred powers are of divine origin, and independent,
    each in its own sphere.”

• Walter Arthur McCray, The Black Presence in The Bible, (Chicago, Ill.: Black Light Fellowship, 2000), 3.
• Ibid., 13.
• Ibid., 14.
• Ibid., 14-15.
• Ibid., 25.
• Keith Augustus Burton, The Blessing of Africa, (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2008), 131-132.
• Ibid.
• David Wilhite, Ancient African Christianity: An Introduction to a Unique Context and Tradition, (New York, NY:
  Routledge, 2017), 108.