Meaning of TABLE

MESA (geographical and proper name). (A) Place of Arabia, bordering the country occupied by the descendants of Joktan (Gen. 10:30).

It seems that it is, as opposed to Sefar, a territory towards the West. Some authors suggest Jebel Shammar and, as a plausible alternative, the date palm region of Gõf.

(B) Benjamite son of Saharaim (1 Chron. 8:8-9).

(C) Member of the tribe of Judah, of the family of Hezron, of the house of Caleb. Ancestor of the inhabitants of Ziph (1 Chr. 2:42).

(D) King of Moab, son of Chemos-melech; He paid Ahab an annual tribute of one hundred thousand lambs and one hundred thousand rams with his fleece (2 Kings 3:4).

Around 853 BC, Ahab was killed at the battle of Ramoth Gilead, which probably took place before spring, "the time when kings go to war"; He succeeded his son Ahaziah.

The defeat of Israel and Judah, together with the death of Ahab, encouraged Mesha to refuse to pay tribute the following year, the second of Ahaziah's reign (Ant. 9:2, 1; 2 Kings 1:1). .

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, returned from Ramoth Gilead to Jerusalem, probably in May, and undertook his religious reform (2 Chron. 19). But soon afterward the Ammonites and Moabites, allied with the Edomites, invaded Judah (2 Chron. 20:1).

Jehoshaphat defeated them, subdued Edom, and the kingdom of Judah rested (2 Chron. 20:30). After Ahaziah died, Joram, his brother, ascended the throne of Israel (2 Kings 1:17). The following year (852 B.C. or later) Jehoram, eager to subject Moab to tribute again, requested Jehoshaphat's aid (2 Kings 3:7).

He, probably eager to punish the Moabites for having participated in the previous invasion of Judah, agreed. The king of Israel, accompanied by his allies, Jehoshaphat and an Edomite king whose name is unknown, surrounded the southern boundary of the Dead Sea.

The allies risked dying of thirst. The prophet Elisha claimed that there would be water if ponds were made in advance to collect it; In the morning, the valley filled with water that was illuminated by the light of dawn.

The king of the Moabites (Mesha, no doubt), believed that it was blood, and came to the hasty conclusion that the enemy armies had annihilated each other.

He attempted to plunder the camp of the Israelites, which put Moab to flight and destroyed its cities (2 Kings 3:24, 25). Seeing himself defeated at Kir-hareseth, the king of Moab sacrificed his firstborn son to his god Chemosh, burning him on the wall.

The Israelites, horrified, lifted the siege and returned to their places without having forced Mesha to pay the tribute (2 Kings 3:25-27). The desire to commemorate this event was one of the reasons that prompted Mesa to raise the famous stone that bears the name of the Stele of Mesa or Stone of Moab.