Αἰθίοψ G0128
Ethiopian, a person from the region south of Egypt
This noun designates an Ethiopian—a person from the region south of Egypt known to Greeks as 'burnt-face' people due to their dark skin. In Acts 8, it appears twice describing the Ethiopian eunuch: a court official of the Ethiopian queen Candace who was reading Isaiah when Philip encountered him (8:27). The term carries both geographical and ethnic significance, marking this man as from distant Africa. His conversion represents the gospel's reach to 'the ends of the earth,' fulfilling Jesus' commission as the message moves beyond Mediterranean lands to Africa.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Cross-linguistic glosses show slight variation—Spanish 'Etíope' and 'de los Etíopes' (of the Ethiopians), French 'Éthiopien,' German preserving Greek forms. Both Acts 8:27 occurrences identify this court official by his ethnic-geographical origin. The multilingual evidence supports this as a straightforward designation: a person from Ethiopia/Cush, the region south of Egypt. Luke emphasizes this man's identity as a God-fearing Gentile from distant lands, whose conversion marks the gospel's geographical expansion toward the ends of the earth. 2×
AR["الحَبَشَةِ", "حَبَشِيٌّ"]·ben["ইথিওপীয়", "ইথিওপীয়দের"]·DE["Αἰθίοψ", "Αἰθιόπων"]·EN["Ethiopian", "of-Ethiopians"]·FR["Éthiopien"]·heb["כּוּשִׁי", "כּוּשִׁים"]·HI["इथियोपियों-की", "इथियोपी"]·ID["Etiopia", "orang-Etiopia"]·IT["Etiope"]·jav["tiyang-Etiopia,"]·KO["에디오피아-사람", "에디오피아-사람들-의"]·PT["dos-etíopes", "etíope"]·RU["эфиоп", "эфиопской"]·ES["Etíope", "de-los-Etíopes"]·SW["Mwethiopia", "wa-Waethiopia"]·TR["Etiyopyalı", "Etiyopyalıların"]·urd["حبشی", "حبشیوں-کی"]
Related Senses
H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)H1471a 1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) (466×)G3326 1. with (368×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)H4150 1. meeting (tent of meeting) (151×)G2992 1. people/nation (an ethnic or political community) (142×)G4862 1. (129×)G1484 1. Gentiles, non-Jewish nations (128×)H1471a 2. nation, people-group (singular) (98×)H3162b 1. together (97×)H1616 1. sojourner, resident alien (92×)H0567 1. Amorite (people group) (87×)H3064 1. Jew, Jewish person (81×)H3669a 1. Canaanite (ethnic designation) (70×)G1122 1. scribe / expert in the Law (63×)H2114a 1. stranger, foreigner (person) (54×)H5608b 1. scribe, royal secretary (48×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
Αἰθίοψ, οπος, ὁ, feminine Αἰθιοπίς, ίδος, ἡ (Αἰθίοψ as feminine, Refs 4th c.BC+: plural ΑἰθιοπῆεςRefs 8th c.BC+: (αἴθω, ὄψ):—properly, Burnt-face, i.e. Ethiopian, negro, Refs 8th c.BC+; proverbial, Αἰθίοπα σμήχειν 'to wash a blackamoor white', Refs 2nd c.AD+ __2 a fish, Refs 2nd c.BC+ __II adjective, Refs 5th c.BC+substantive Αἰθιοπίς, ἡ, title of Epic poem in the Homeric cycle; also name of a…