King of Moab who rebelled against Israel.
Mesha
Named in 1 verse of 2 Kings, first in 2 Kings 3:4.
מֵישַׁעMesha
The name means “burden; salvation.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869
- People
- Moab
About Mesha Written by AI
Mesha was the king of Moab who paid tribute to the kings of Israel. He was a sheep breeder and used to supply the king of Israel with a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams (2 Kings 3:4). However, after the death of Ahab, king of Israel, Mesha rebelled against Israelite rule. In response, Jehoram, the king of Israel, allied with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and the king of Edom to wage war against Moab (2 Kings 3:6 to 7). During the battle, when Mesha saw that the battle was going against him, he took his firstborn son and offered him as a burnt offering on the city wall, causing great wrath against Israel and forcing the Israelite army to withdraw (2 Kings 3:26 to 27).
Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.
Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897
This entry is on the name Mesha, and may cover more than one person or place by that name.
Middle district, Vulgate, Messa. (1.) A plain in that part of the boundaries of Arabia inhabited by the descendants of Joktan (Gen. 10:30).
(2.) Heb. meysh’a, “deliverance,” the eldest son of Caleb (1 Chr. 2:42), and brother of Jerahmeel.
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(3.) Heb. id, a king of Moab, the son of Chemosh-Gad, a man of great wealth in flocks and herds (2 Kings 3:4). After the death of Ahab at Ramoth-Gilead, Mesha shook off the yoke of Israel; but on the ascension of Jehoram to the throne of Israel, that king sought the help of Jehoshaphat in an attempt to reduce the Moabites again to their former condition. The united armies of the two kings came unexpectedly on the army of the Moabites, and gained over them an easy victory. The whole land was devastated by the conquering armies, and Mesha sought refuge in his last stronghold, Kir-harasheth (q.v.). Reduced to despair, he ascended the wall of the city, and there, in the sight of the allied armies, offered his first-born son a sacrifice to Chemosh, the fire-god of the Moabites. This fearful spectacle filled the beholders with horror, and they retired from before the besieged city, and recrossed the Jordan laden with spoil (2 Kings 3:25-27).
The exploits of Mesha are recorded in the Phoenician inscription on a block of black basalt found at Dibon, in Moab, usually called the “Moabite stone” (q.v.).
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.
Where the Bible names him
- 2 Kings 3:4
Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he would render to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams.
From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.