3. (Heb. Meysha', K'i"^^, retreat ; Sept. Mwtra v. r. M((T«, Yulg. Mosa.) One of the sons of Shaharaim of the tribe of Benjamin, by the latter of his two wives, Baara or Hodesh (1 Chron. viii, 9). B.C. cir. 1012. See Shaharaim.
4. (Heb. Meyslia', --'TIJ^-, deliverance ; Sept. Mftra V. r. Mwaa, A'ulg. Mesa.) A king of Moab, who pos- sessed an immense number of flocks and herds (2 Kings iii, 4). Probably the allegiance of Moab, with that of the tribes east of the Jordan, was transferred to the northern kingdom of Israel upon the division of the monarchy, for there is no account of any subjugation of the country subsequent to the war of extermination with which it was visited by David, when Benaiah dis- played his prowess (2 Sam. xxiii, 20), and " the Moab- ites became David's servants, bearers of gifts" (2 Sam. viii, 2). When Ahab had fallen in battle at Kamotli Gilead, Mesha seized the opportunity aiforded by the confusion consequent upon this disaster, and the fee-
* Lie reign of Ahaziah, to shake off the yoke of Israel, ' and free himself from the burdensome tribute of a " hun- dred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand rams with their wool." These numbers may seem exagger- ated if understood as the amount of yearly tribute. It is therefore more probable that the greedy and implaca- ble Ahab had at some one time levied this enormous impost upon the Jloabites; and it is likely that it was the apprehension of a recurrence of such ruinous exac- tions which incited the revolt (2 Kings i, 1 ; iii, 5). The country east of the Jordan was rich in pasture for cattle (Numb, xxii, 1), the chief wealth of the Jloabites con- sisted in their large Hocks of sheep, and the king of this pastoral people is described as nokcd (Hl^is), " a sheep- master," or owner of herds. About the signification of this word naked there is not much doubt, but its ori- I gin is obscure. It occurs but once besides in Amos i, 1, I where the jirophet Amos is described as " among the herdmen (D^"Ip13j nokedim) of Tekoah." On this Kim- chi remarks that a herdsman was called naked, because most cattle have black or white spots (comp. llpS, nakod. Gen. xxx, 32, A.V. "speckled"), or, as Buxtorf explains it, because sheep are generally marked with certain signs so as to be known. But it is highly im- probable that any such etymology should be correct, and Piirst's conjecture that it is derived from an obso- lete root, signilying to keep or feed cattle, is more like- ly to be true {( 'oncord. s. v.). See Hiinn.
"When, upon the death of Ahaziah, his brother Jeho- ram succeeded to the throne of Israel, one of his first acts was to secure the assistance of Jehoshaphat, his fa- ther's ally, in reducing the Jloabites to their former condition of tril)utarics. The iniited armies of the two kings marched l)y a circuitous route round the Dead Sea, and were joined by the forces of the king of Edom. See Jkhokam. The disordered soldiers of Moab, eager only for spoil, were surprised by the warriors of Israel
MESHA
125
MESHA
and their allies, and became an easy prey. In the panic which ensued they were slauglitered without mercy, their country was made a desert, and the king took refuge in his last stronghold and defended himself with the energy of despair. AVith 700 fighting men he made a vigorous attempt to cut his way through the beleao-ueriiig army, and, when beaten back, he with-
drew to the wall of his city, and there, in sight of the allied host, offered his first-born son, his successor in the kingdom, as a burnt-offering to Chemosh, the ruthless fire-god of Moab. There appears to be no reason for supposing that the son of the king of Edom was the victim on this occasion, whether, as R. Joseph Kimchi supposed, he was already in the power of the king of
^ywy^ :^w4i zyl^^<^ ^^x(^ j^^y.^ w^Y'tsiTN
The Moabitic Stone.
(The numbers in the mnrgin designate the lines correspondinfc to the verses below. The dots over some of the characters show that the decipherment is doubtful. The small letters, ah,c. e, indicate the two large fragments rescued irom the Arabs, who had broken the stone after impressions had been taken from it by the discoverer. The whole stone was about three feet seven inches long, by one foot eleven inches wide.)
'///
MESHA
12G
MESHECH
Bloab, and was the cause of the Edomites joining; the arnnt-s of Israel and Judali : or ^vliether, as K. Moses Kimchi suggested, he was taken prisoner in the sally of the Moabites, and sacriticcd out of revenge for its fail- ure. These conjectures appear to have arisen from an j attempt to lind in this incident tlie event to which al- lusion is made in Amos ii, 1, where the Moabite is charged with l)urning the bones of the king of Edoni into lime. It is more natural, and renders the narra- tive more vivid and consistent, to suppose that the king of Moab, finding his last resource fail him, endeavored to avert the wrath and obtain the aid of his god by the most costly sacrifice in his power. On beholding this fearful sight, the besiegers withdrew in horror, lest some portion of the monstrous crime might attach to their own souls (comp. Josephus, A nt. ix, 3, 2 ; Ewald, Js)\ Gesch. iii, 226 sq.). By this withdrawal they, how- ever, afforded the king the relief he desired, and this was, no doubt, attributed by him to the efficacy of his offering, and to the satisfaction of his god therewith. The invaders, however, ravaged the countrj' as they withdrew, and returned with much spoil to their own land (2 Kings iii, 25-27). B.C. cir. 891.— Kitto ; Smith. See jMoAiiiTE.