the north, while afterwards the allied armies entered it from the south. Accordingly a number of places are named as

such which the king of Israel had fortified and Mesha recaptured. All these towns are north of the Arnon. The deep

gorge, and the rapid current of that river, would render its passage by a hos tile army extremely difficult. Hence the

invading army of Omri seems to have been arrested by that obstacle, and Jahaz, which lay north of the Arnon, is the

most southern point mentioned in the inscription, as held and fortified by the king of Israel.

But while Northern Moab was thus occupied by Israel, the southern part of the country seems to have preserved its

independence during the reign both of Omri and of Ahab. After the death of the latter, "Moab rebelled" (2 Kings 3:5),

under the leadership of their brave king Mesha - a name which is connected with the word "deliverance." He styles his

father Chemosh-Gad, which is a compound of the names of the two gods, Chemosh and Gad (the latter the god of

fortune). The first intimation of the movement for the recovery of their independence seems to have been the sudden

invasion of Judaea by Moab, in alliance with the Ammonites and a tribe of Edomites (2 Chronicles 20). Probably the

Moabites had not yet felt themselves sufficiently strong for an attack on the Is raelitish stronghold in Northern Moab,

and accordingly resolved on making a raid across the undefended boundary of Judah, while at the same time they

sought to combine into an anti-Israelitish alliance all the tribes along the eastern line of Palestine. We know that

through the Divine help to Jehoshaphat, this expedition signally failed, while in the mutual slaughter which ensued the

Edomite allies of Moab were the first to suffer. Hence, the projected anti-Israelitish league was not only broken up, but

Edo m was drawn into what seems to have been a Palestinian counter league, the pathetic story of which is connected

with the so-called "Moabite stone." It is impossible to find words for the varied feelings which rise as we realize that

after the lapse of 2,500 years a monumental stone should in such unexpected manner have been found to bear testimony

to Holy Scripture, and especially to its record of that event from which Mesha dates the recovery of the independence

of Moab,150 - all the more that he ascribes t he glory of it to Chemosh, his god.151

When from the Moabite inscription we turn to the Biblical narrative, we learn that Mesha, like his predecessors, had

been under heavy annual tribute to Israel, which was paid in kind. We read that he "was a sheepmaster." The extensive

downs of Moab were covered by numberless flocks, and the tribute which he had to pay consisted of "a hundred

thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand wethers - the wool." The wording in the original is not very clear, but as the

term used for "lambs" generally designates "fed lambs," we conclude that if it is intended to convey that the wool

formed the tribute, it must have been that of "the wethers," and that to this the hundred thousand fed lambs were added.

It need scarcely be said that this tribute ceased when Mesha cast off the yoke of Israel.

The events previously related will sufficiently account for the anxiety of Jehoshaphat that the growing power of Moab

should be checked, and a counter league formed effectually to oppose the common enemies of Palestine. As regards

any religious scruples to an alliance with Israel, he may have argued that Joram was not like Ahaziah, nor even like

Ahab (2 Kings 3:2), and that since God Himself had given such signal victory over Moab, a common invasion of their

land might even be pleasing in His sight. We rarely fail to find a satisfactory or even a religious reason for doing that

on which we set our hearts. But it does seem strange, that the answer which Jehoshaphat returned to the invitation of

Jora m to join him in the campaign against Moab should have been precisely the same as that which he had given on the

disastrous occasion when Ahab asked him to go up against Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22:4). Perhaps, however, it was a

common mode of expression in such circumstances, or else the sacred historian may have wished to emphasize the

folly and wrong of Jehoshaphat's conduct by using the same terms as formerly in the unhappy alliance with Ahab. The

plan agreed upon by the two monarchs was to make invasion of Moab from the south. This, not only in order to ensure

the co-operation of the king of Edom, who had now joined the anti-Moabite league, and to protect their rear and their

communications, but also for important strategic reasons. Northern Moab was, indeed, subject to Israel, but the Arnon

marked the boundary, and no prudent commander would attempt to force such a position as the line of the Arnon in the

face of a general like Mesha. On the other hand, by fetching "a seven days' compass," and advancing front the south

and through Edom, alike their retreat was covered and supplies would be secured. And if Mesha could be drawn into

the wilderness which separated Edom from Southern Moab, and belonged partly to the one, partly to the other country,

the whole of Moab might be overrun, and the invading army from the south join hands with the Israelitish garrisons

north of the Arnon.

But once more the incapacity, if not the treachery, of Edom defeated the plans of the allies. Mesha refused to be drawn

into the wilderness of Edom. As we understand it, his army was posted on the Moabite side of the boundary, which is

here formed by the Wady 'el Ahsa,152 while higher up it passes into the Wady Tufileh.