Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
Yet that identity cannot be proved by any ancient record. In form the lake is not far from a triangle,
base being at the north and the apex at the south. It measures about three miles in each direction,
and eleven feet deep. The water is clear and sweet; it is covered in parts by a broad-leaved plant,
and abounds in water-fowl. (The northern part is a dense swamp of papyrus reeds, as large as the
lake itself. See “Rob Roy on the Jordan.”—ED.)
Meronothithe, The
that is, the native of the place called probably Meronoth, of which, however, no further traces
have yet been discovered. The Meronothites are named in the Bible—
•Jehdeiah, (1 Chronicles 27:30)
•Jadon, (Nehemiah 3:7)
Meroz
(refuge), a place, (Judges 5:23) denounced because its inhabitants had refused to take any part
in the struggle with Sisera. Meroz must have been in the neighborhood of the Kishon, but its real
position is not known. Possibly it was destroyed in the obedience to the curse.
Mesech, Meshech
(drawing out), a son of Japhet, (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5) and the progenitor of a race
frequently noticed in Scripture in connection with Tubal, Magog and other northern nations. They
appear as allies of God, (Ezekiel 38:2,3; 39:1) and as supplying the Tyrians with copper and slaves.
(Ezekiel 27:13) In (Psalms 120:5) they are noticed as one of the remotest and at the same time
rudest nations of the world. Both the name and the associations are in favor of the identification of
Meshech with the Moschi, a people on the borders of Colchis and Armenia.
Mesha
(freedom).
•The name of one of the geographical limits of the Joktanites when they first settled in Arabia.
(Genesis 10:30)
•The king of Moab who was tributary to Ahab, (2 Kings 3:4) but when Ahab fell at Ramoth-gilead,
Mesha refused to pay tribute to his successor, Jehoram. When Jehoram succeeded to the throne
of Israel, one of his first acts was to secure the assistance of Jehoshaphat, his father’s ally, in
reducing the Moabites to their former condition of tributaries. The Moabites were defeated, and
the king took refuge in his last stronghold, and defended himself with the energy of despair. With
700 fighting men he made a vigorous attempt to cut his way through the beleaguering army, and
when beaten back, he withdrew 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. His bloody sacrifice had so far the desired effect that the besiegers retired from
him to their own land. (At Dibon in Moab has lately been discovered the famous Moabite Stone,
which contains inscriptions concerning King Mesha and his wars, and which confirms the Bible
account.—ED.)
•The eldest son of Caleb the son of Hezron by his wife Azubah, as Kimchi conjectures. (1 Chronicles
2:42)
•A Benjamite, son of Shabaraim by his wife Hodesh, who bore him in the land of Moab. (1
Chronicles 8:9)
Meshach
(guest of a king), the name given to Mishael, one of the companions of Daniel, who with three
others was taught, (Daniel 1:4) and qualified to “stand before” King Nebuchadnezzar, (Daniel 1:5)
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William Smith