Meshech

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

MESHECH. 1 . The name of a people of Asia Minor mentioned after Tubal as among the sons of Japbeth (  Genesis 10:2 ). These two peoples, possibly kindred, appear almost always in conjunction in OT; so even in   Isaiah 66:18 , where read ‘Meshech’ instead of ‘that draw the bow’ (the word for ‘bow’ being a supplementary gloss). In   Psalms 12:6 Meshech and Kedar appear as types of barbarous and warlike people, just as Meshech and Tubal are represented in   Ezekiel 32:28;   Ezekiel 38:2;   Ezekiel 39:1 . In the Assyrian annals the Tabalî and Mushkî , who are undoubtedly the same as Tuhal and Meshech, are found again together (as fierce opponents of Assyria in the 12th cent. b.c.), the former lying to the north-east of Cilicia and the latter eastward between them and the Euphrates. The Tibareni and Moschi of the classical writers must stand for the same two peoples.   Ezekiel 27:13 names them as trading in slaves and articles of bronze.

2 . In   1 Chronicles 1:17 ‘Meshech’ is written by mistake for ‘Mash’ (cf.   Genesis 10:23 )

J. F. M‘Curdy.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

Country Of Meshech was the sixth son of Japheth, and is generally mentioned in conjunction with his brother Tubal; and both were first seated in the north-eastern angle of Asia Minor, from the shores of the Euxine, along to the south of Caucasus; where were the Montes Moschisi, and where, in after times, were the Iberi, Tibareni, and Moschi; near to whom also, or mingled with them, were the Chalybes, who, it is probable, derived their Grecian appellation from the general occupation of the families of Tubal and Meshech, as workers in brass and iron, as the inhabitants of the same countries have been in all ages, for the supply of Tyre, Persia, Greece, and Armenia. There appears also to have been in the same neighbourhood, namely, in Armenia, a river and country termed Rosh: for so, Bochart says, the river Araxes is called by the Arabs; and that there was a people in the adjoining country called Rhossi. That passage in Ezekiel , 38, also, which in our Bibles is rendered "the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal," is, in the Septuagint, "the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal." These Rossi and Moschi, who were neighbours in Asia, dispersed their colonies jointly over the vast empire of Russia; and preserve their names still in those of Russians and Muscovites.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Me'shech. (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;  Ezekiel 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.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Son of Japheth, and his descendants.  Genesis 10:2;  1 Chronicles 1:5;  Ezekiel 27:13;  Ezekiel 32:26;  Ezekiel 38:2,3;  Ezekiel 39:1 . Probably the progenitors of the Moschi and Muscovites.

2. Grandson of Shem.   1 Chronicles 1:17 . Called MASH in  Genesis 10:23 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:2 1 Chronicles 1:5 Ezekiel 27:13 Ezekiel 32:26 Ezekiel 38:2-3 Ezekiel 39:1 Mushki Moschoi  Psalm 120:5  1 Chronicles 1:17 Genesis 10:23

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 10:2 1 Chronicles 1:5 Ezekiel 27:13 38:2,3 Psalm 120:5

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

(See Mesech .)

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrews Me'shek, מֶשֶׁךְ , a Drawing out, as in  Psalms 136:6; or Possession , as in  Job 28:18; Sept. Μοσόχ , Vulg. Mosoch ; a pronunciation which the Samaritan codex also exhibits, מוֹשׁוֹךְ ; but in  Ezekiel 38:2-3;  Ezekiel 39:1, Sept. v. r. Μοσόκ and Μεσόχ ; in  Ezekiel 27:1, Τὰ Παρατείνοντα ; in  Psalms 120:5, Sept. Ἐμακρύνθη , Vulg. polongatus est, AuthVers. "Mesech"), the sixth son of Japheth, BC. cir. 2500 ( Genesis 10:2), and founder of a tribe mentioned among his descendants ( 1 Chronicles 1:5), and later ( Ezekiel 27:13) as engaged in traffic with Tyre, in connection with Gog ( Ezekiel 38:2-3;  Ezekiel 39:1). In nearly every instance they are coupled with Tubal or the Tibareni as neighbors ( Genesis 10:2;  Ezekiel 27:13;  Ezekiel 32:26;  Ezekiel 38:2-3;  Ezekiel 39:1 : so also Herodotus, 3:94; 7:78; comp. Hengstenberg, Moses , p. 206; Wilkinson, i,, 378 sq.); and from one passage at least ( Ezekiel 32:26) they appear to have lived near Assyria and Elymais. They are without doubt the same with the Moschi (Bochart, Phaleg , 3:12), a barbarous people of Asia, inhabiting what were known as the Moschian Mountains (Ptol. v. 6,1; 13, 5), between the Black and Caspian seas (Strabo, 11:344, 378, 498 sq. i Pliny, 6:11), in the later Iberia (comp. Josephus, Ant. 1:6,1), who are named by ancient authors as forming a single department of the Persian empire under a separate jurisdiction with the Tibarenians (Herod. 3:94; 7:78). In confirmation of the trade alluded to in  Ezekiel 27:13, Reineggs remarks ( Beschreib. Des Caucas . 1:6; 2:61) that the Moschian Mountains contain rich copper-mines, and this region has always been noted for the. export of slaves, especially females, whose beauty usually commands a ready market for the Turkish harems (see Rosenmiller, Alterth . I, 1:248 sq.). In  Psalms 120:5, the name occurs in connection with Kedar as a synonyme for foreigners or barbarians (Michaelis, Suppl. p. 1569), like the modern phrase "Turks and Hottentots." — Winer, 2:86. The same name. but in a plural form, appears. according to some, in  Isaiah 66:19 ( משְׁכֵי קֶשֶׁת , Sept. Μοσόχ ,Vulg. Tendentes Sagittam , Auth. Vers. "that draw the bow"), but it there is rather an appellation of the archers (comp.  Jeremiah 46:9); also, but with still less probability, in  Jeremiah 5:8 ( מִשְׁכַּים , Sept. Θηλυμανῖς ,Vulg. Emissarii , AuthVers. "fed"). "The Colchian tribes, the Chalybes more especially, were skilled in working metals, and hence arose the trade in the ‘ vessels of brass' with Tyre; nor is it at all improbable that slaves were largely exported thence as now from the neighboring district of Georgia. Although the Moschi were a comparatively unimportant race in classical times, they had previously been one of the most powerful nations of Western Asia. The Assyrian monarchs were engaged in frequent wars with them, and it is not improbable that they had occupied the whole of the district afterwards named Cappadocia. In the Assyrian inscriptions the name ‘ appears under the form of Muskai: a somewhat similar name, Mashoash, appears in an Egyptian inscription which commemorates the achievements of the third Rameses (Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. 1:398, Abridg.). The subsequent history of Meshech is unknown; Knobel's attempt to connect them with the Ligurians (Volkertaf. p. 119, etc.) is devoid of all solid ground." "The names of the Moschians and Tybarenians are also joined frequently on the Assyrian inscriptions (Rawlinson's Herodotus, 1:651; comp. Pliny, 6:4). The primitive seat of the Moschi appears to have been among the Caucasus Mountains, on the south-eastern shores of the Black Sea, immediately north of Armenia (Strabo, xi, p. 498 sq.); and, according to Strabo, a part of the great chain or group of mountains took their name (xi, p. 521). The Moschi were, however, a wild and warlike race, and extended their depredations and conquests far beyond the confines of their native hills. Cappadocia appears to have been, at least in part, occupied by them (Josephus, Ant. 1:6, 1), and probably from them its capital city took its name Mazaka (Strabo, xii, p. 538; Rawlinson's Herodotus , 4:222). In the time of the Hebrew prophets their power was felt even in Syria and Egypt in conjunction with their Scythic allies, Gog and Magog, under whose command they had. apparently placed themselves. It is interesting to observe how Ezekiel's description of their equipments bucklers, small shields ( מגן ), and swords' ( Ezekiel 38:1-5)- corresponds with that of Herodotus (vii. 78). During the ascendency of the Babylonians and Persians in Western Asia the Moschi were subdued; but it seems probable that a large number of them crossed the Caucasus range and spread over. the northern steppes, mingling with the Scythians. There they became known as Muskovs, and gave that name to the Russian nation, and its ancient capital, by which they are still universally known throughout the East (Rawlinson's Herod. 4:222)." (See Ethnology). :