Mesha Stele

2025-06-28

The Mesha Stele was found in 1868 in Dibon, in modern day Jordan. It dates from the ninth century B.C. The stele records the account of Mesha king of Moab of Dibon. It records the dedication to Chemosh his god; the king alleged that this god delivered him from the people of Israel.

He related how Omri king of Israel as well as his son had oppressed him. Mesha then recovered the lost territory and rebuilt cities from the people of Gad. He defeated and slew 7,000 people at Nebo, taking spoils of vessels devoted to Jehovah and devoting them to his god Chemosh.

The glowing report from the king of Moab is not as smooth in the Biblical account. The son Omri that Mesha speaks of would be Ahab and probably also his sons, Ahaziah and Jehoram. Moab was a vassal state during the reign of Ahab, and it was after that Mesha rebelled. “Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab” (2 Kings 1:1). And again, “And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel” (2 Kings 3:4-5).

Jehoram elicited help from Jehoshaphat king of Judah and the king of Edom. When they saw that they would perish because of lack of water, they called for the prophet Elisha, who said, “Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand” (2 Kings 3:16-18).

Though the Word of the Lord came to pass, Israel left in shame after the king of Moab sacrificed his heir to the throne. “And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not. Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land” (2 Kings 3:26-27).

Here are some additional treasures we receive from this stele.

• The earliest extrabiblical references to Jehovah (Yahveh) is on this stele. “I took from it the vessels of Jehovah, and offered them before Chemosh.”
• The name of the Moabite god Chemosh is mentioned just like in the Bible.
• Ataroth was one of the cities on the east side of the Jordan assigned to the tribes there. “And the men of Gad dwelled in the country of Ataroth from ancient times, and the king of Israel fortified Ataroth. I assaulted the wall and captured it, and killed all the warriors of the city for the well-pleasing of Chemosh and Moab, and I removed from it all the spoil, and offered it before Chemosh in Kirjath.” Compare this with the Scriptures in the days of Moses: “And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer” (Numbers 32:34).