Queen of Ethiopia (the island of Meroe, in upper Nubia, between the Nile on one side and the Atbara on the other). The name of the dynasty, not merely the individual. Her eunuch or treasurer was converted to Christ by Philip the evangelist, through the power of the word (Isaiah 53), and the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:27, etc.); named Judich in Ethiopian tradition, which represents him as having propagated the gospel in Arabia Felix and Ethiopia, and brought Candace herself to the faith. Pliny (6:35) and Strabo (17:820), pagan authors, confirm Scripture as to Candace being the name of the Ethiopian queens, as Pharaoh was common to the Egyptian kings. Ethiopian monuments singularly confirm the prominence given to females as queens and armed warriors; the more singular as not an instance of the kind occurs in the Egyptian remains.

(can' duh cee) In Acts 8:27 , the queen of Ethiopia whose servant became a believer in Christ and was baptized by Philip. It is generally agreed that Candace was a title rather than a proper name, though its meaning is uncertain. The title was used by several queens of Ethiopia.

CANDACE . Queen of Ethiopia. A eunuch belonging to her, in charge of her treasure, was baptized by Philip ( Acts 8:27 ). The name was borne by more than one queen of Ethiopia. The Candace who invaded Egypt in b.c. 22 (Strabo) is, of course, earlier than this. A Candace is perhaps named on one of the pyramids of Meroe. See Cush.

F. Ll. Griffith.

Name or title of a queen of the Ethiopians, whose eunuch was converted on his returning from a visit to Jerusalem. Acts 8:27 .

Candace (Κανδάκη) is mentioned in Acts 8:27 as ‘queen of the Ethiopians,’ i.e. of Meroë (see Ethiopia and Ethiopian Eunuch). It appears from various ancient authorities that this was a name always borne by the queen-mother of the Ethiopians, and that in many cases she reigned still as dowager: e.g. we read Κανδάκην Αἰθίοπες πᾶσαν τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως μητέρα καλοῦσιν (J. A. Cramer, Catena in Acta Apostolorum, 1844, p. 143), an extract from an anonymous author who proceeds to quote Bion (of Soli) thus: Αἰθίοπες τοὺς βασιλέων πατέρας οὐκ ἐκφαίνουσιν, ἁλλʼ ὡς ὄντας υἱοὺς ἡλίου παραδιδόασιν· ἑκάστου δὲ τὴν μητέρα καλοῦσι Κανδάκην; cf. Athen. xiii. 566 and Pliny, Historia Naturalis (Pliny) vi. 29. The name in its Egyptian form is said to occur on the monuments, and a queen so named tried conclusions with the Romans during the reign of Augustus 24-21 b.c. and obtained some measure of success. The expression in Acts 8:27 that the εὐνοῦχος δυνάστης, whom Philip baptized, ‘was over all her treasure’ suggests that this monarch was powerful and wealthy.

C. L. Feltoe.

Who possesses contrition

The queen of the Ethiopians whose "eunuch" or chamberlain was converted to Christianity by the instrumentality of Philip the evangelist (Acts 8:27 ). The country which she ruled was called by the Greeks Meroe, in Upper Nubia. It was long the centre of commercial intercourse between Africa and the south of Asia, and hence became famous for its wealth (Isaiah 45:14 ). It is somewhat singular that female sovereignty seems to have prevailed in Ethiopia, the name Candace (compare "Pharaoh," "Ptolemy," "Caesar") being a title common to several successive queens. It is probable that Judaism had taken root in Ethiopia at this time, and hence the visit of the queen's treasurer to Jerusalem to keep the feast. There is a tradition that Candace was herself converted to Christianity by her treasurer on his return, and that he became the apostle of Christianity in that whole region, carrying it also into Abyssinia. It is said that he also preached the gospel in Arabia Felix and in Ceylon, where he suffered martyrdom. (See PHILIP .)

Candace (kăn'da-sç or kan-dâ'sç, Eng.,kan'dâs), sovereign of slaves? The name is a title of Ethiopian queens. Acts 8:27. Her chamberlain or treasurer, a eunuch, was met by Philip the evangelist on the road between Jerusalem and Gaza, and converted. Her kingdom was Upper Nubia.

the name of an Ethiopian queen, whose eunuch coming to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, was baptized by Philip the deacon, near Bethsura, in the way to Gaza, as he was returning to his own country, Acts 8:27 . The Ethiopia here mentioned was the isle or peninsula of Meroe to the south of Egypt, which, as Mr. Bruce shows, is now called Atbara, up the Nile. Candace was the common name of the queens of that country. Strabo and Pliny mention queens of that name as reigning in their times. That the queen mentioned in the Acts was converted by the instrumentality of her servant, and that the country thus received Christianity at that early period, are statements not supported by any good testimony. See ABYSSINIAN CHURCH .

The name of an Ethiopian queen, whose high treasurer was converted to Christianity under the preaching of Philip the evangelist, Acts 8:27 . The Ethiopia over which she ruled was not Abyssinia, but that region of Upper Nubia called by the Greeks Meroe; and is supposed to correspond with the present province of Atbara, lying between thirteen and eighteen degrees north latitude. Extensive ruins found in this neighborhood, and along the upper valley of the Nile, indicate high civilization among the ancient Ethiopians. Pliny and Strabo inform us that for some time before and after the Christian era, Ethiopia Proper was under the government of female sovereigns, who all bore the appellation of Candace. Irenaeus and Eusebius ascribe to Candace's minister her own conversion to Christianity, and the promulgation of the gospel through her kingdom.