AFRICA. One of the seven continents of the world. The name as such does not occur in the Bible.

It is uncertain what knowledge the ancients had of the continent as a whole though Herodotus (Hist. iv. 42) is convinced of its being washed by the sea on all sides. Israel’s greatest acquaintance was, of course, with Egypt, the latter having provided grain for the patriarchs (Gen 42ff.) and later, oppression and slavery for the children of Israel. Other African peoples such as the Lubim (Libyans) and Put also are referred to. Cush is referred to quite frequently and indicates the land beyond Egypt, esp. Ethiopia.

During the diaspora, large numbers of Jews settled in various parts of N Africa. In the NT, therefore, one is not surprised to find Egypt appearing as the place in which Mary and Joseph took refuge to preserve the life of the infant Jesus (Matt 2:13ff.). The man who bore Jesus’ cross was one Simon of Cyrene, a port in N Africa (Mark 15:21), and there were many Jews from Egypt and Cyrene present at Pentecost (Acts 2:10). Similarly, converted Cyrenians helped to evangelize Antioch (11:20) while the eloquent Appollos was a native of Alexandria (18:24). The Ethiopian eunuch, converted under Philip, may well have been responsible for carrying the Gospel back to his own country. Eusebius (EH, ii. 16) states that Mark evangelized Alexandria, and, indeed some of the strongest churches were found in Egypt and N Africa by the end of the 2nd cent.

Bibliography C. P. Groves, The Planting of Christianity in Africa, I (1948) 31ff.