Numb. xii. 1. Heb. Hab. iii. 7. Heb. Exod. ii. 15, &c.II. MIDIAN; he was probably the Son of Cush, since Zipporah the Wife of Moses, who was a Midianite, was nevertheless called a Cushite; and since Habakkuk puts the Midianites with the Cushites as if they were synonomous, or at least Neighbours to each other. This Midian peopled the Countrey which bore his Name, to the East of the Red -Sea e. ‘Twas into this Countrey that Moses withdrew himself, and there married Zipporah the Daughter of Jethro. ‘Twas these Midianites that trembled for Fear, when they heard that the Hebrews had passed through the Red-Sea on dry Ground, Hab. iii. 7. See here what Abulfeda says of the City of Midian1. Madyan is a City, in Ruines, upon the2 Shore of the Red-Sea, on the Side opposite to Tabuc, from which it is distant about six Days Journey. ‘Tis at Midian that may be seen the famous Well, where Moses watered the Flocks of Schoaib. (For thus the Mahometans call Jethro) This City was the Capital of the Tribe of Midian among the Israelites. According to Ibusaid, the Bay of the Red-Sea in this Place, is about one hundred Thousand Paces wide. It should seem as if the Orientals knew no other Midianites but those that dwelt upon the Shore of the Red-Sea, near Mount Sinai, among whom Moses took Refuge, and where he married his Wife Zipporah. The Arabian Authors affirm, that the Midianites are a strange People, who came to settle in Arabia, and that they are not of the Number of the ancient People who inhabited this Countrey, and of whom the Authors now mentioned3 have given an exact Account in their Histories and Genealogies; which gives Countenance to the Opinion of those, who will have Midian to have been the Son of Cush. ‘Tis also affirmed, that the Midianites worshipped the Idols Abda and Hinda; and that the Prophet Jethro being sent by God to reclaim them from their Idolatry, they continued hardened and obstinate, and that God extirpated them, as we have seen under the Article JETHRO.
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