Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he supplied the king of Israel with one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 4. Nourished. Hebrew noked, a term which the Septuagint leave untranslated, means literally, “marked” with some colour by the master.
Aut pecori signum, aut numeros impressit acervo. Georg. i.
Sheep, Sym. “large cattle.”—Fleeces; is it commonly supposed every year. This mode of tribute was more usual than paying money. The Moabites were chiefly employed in feeding sheep and cattle; so that it is not wonderful that they should have such great numbers. Dejotarus is represented not only as “a noble Tetrarch, but also as a diligent husbandman and herdsman,” pecuarius: (Cic.) which last is the idea which some attach to Mesa.