How come the Ethiopians (Cush) and the Canaanites both descend from Ham, yet speak a Semitic language?<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n\t
When God divided mankind’s language, nothing is stated about how that division took place. Nothing says all of Ham’s descendants spoke related languages. Linguists group similar languages. Thus, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Amharic, and many other languages are considered to be in the group of Semitic languages.<\/p>\n
As populations grew and people blended with their neighbors, languages also started to blend. For example, most of South America speaks forms of Spanish, but the people who lived there before the arrival of the Spaniards did not speak languages similar to Spanish. This could happen in many places as people move around.<\/p>\n
Ethiopia has over 77 local languages. Oromo is the most commonly spoken language. Amharic is the language chosen for government documents. Amharic is considered to be in the Semitic family of languages. Recall that the eunuch who was Queen Candice’s treasurer came from Ethiopia. He was a Jewish proselyte. There were also frequent ties between Ethiopia and Israel mentioned in the Old Testament, so it isn’t surprising that the language is similar in some groups.<\/p>\n
The Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Amorites, Amelekites, and the Arabs all descend from Abraham, so it is not surprising that their languages were similar. Abraham originated in Ur in Mesopotamia, so there would be other family groups speaking similar languages.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: How come the Ethiopians (Cush) and the Canaanites both descend from Ham, yet speak a Semitic language? Thank you. Answer: When God divided mankind’s language, nothing is stated about how that division took place. Nothing says all of Ham’s descendants spoke related languages. Linguists group similar languages. Thus, Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Amharic, and many…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[968],"class_list":["post-90477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-languages"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10768,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-apostles-speak-in-different-languages-or-did-the-people-hear-in-different-languages\/","url_meta":{"origin":90477,"position":0},"title":"Did the apostles speak in different languages or did the people hear in different languages?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When the apostles were speaking in tongues, were they actually speaking a different language or did each person hear them in their own language?\u00a0 Were they each speaking and different groups congregated toward the one who was speaking their particular language or did each apostle just speak and every\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1894,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-tongues-still-in-existence-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":90477,"position":1},"title":"Are tongues still in existence today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are tongues still in existence today? Answer: When the gift of speaking in tongues was first mentioned in the Bible, the people found it a wonder. \"And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?\" (Acts 2:8). Hence, the proper definition\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16780,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/didnt-paul-say-he-could-speak-in-the-language-of-angels\/","url_meta":{"origin":90477,"position":2},"title":"Didn’t Paul say he could speak in the language of angels?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In reading\u00a0the answer to the Azusa Street revival I was confused by your stance on that revival. A lot of the people quoted kept saying the \"tongues were in gibberish\" not another language like they thought it would be. But plainly in I Corinthians 13 it plainly says I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90346,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tongues-without-an-interpreter\/","url_meta":{"origin":90477,"position":3},"title":"Tongues Without an Interpreter","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong The gift of being able to speak in languages that one had not previously known is called the gift of tongues. There are only five references to this: Mark 16:16-20; Acts 2; Acts 10; Acts 19; and the longest one in I Corinthians 12-14. That such was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37362,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-kind-of-tongues-are-meant-in-i-corinthians-12\/","url_meta":{"origin":90477,"position":4},"title":"What Kind of Tongues Are Meant in I Corinthians 12?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clem Thurman in\u00a0Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 47, Nov. 20, 2009. The apostle Paul writes of various \"gifts of the Holy Spirit\" in I Corinthians 12-14. Notice the reading in I Corinthians 12:7-11: \"But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal. For to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/tongue-300x251.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41673,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-was-there-a-need-for-the-interpretation-of-tongues\/","url_meta":{"origin":90477,"position":5},"title":"Why was there a need for the interpretation of tongues?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings Brother, Thank you in advance for answering my question, which is: Why did the disciples, who received the Spiritual gift of speaking in tongues by the laying on of the hands of the apostles, need interpreters when employing that gift and the apostles did not? 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