Mearah - a cave, a place in the northern boundary of Palestine ( Josh. 13:4). This may be the cave of Jezzin in Lebanon, 10 miles east of Sidon, on the Damascus road; or probably, as others think, Mogheirizeh, north-east of Sidon.

Measure - Several words are so rendered in the Authorized Version. (1.) Those which are indefinite. (a) Hok, Isa. 5:14, elsewhere "statute." (b) Mad, Job 11:9; Jer. 13:25, elsewhere "garment." (c) Middah, the word most frequently thus translated, Ex. 26:2, Ex. 26:8, etc. (d) Mesurah, Lev. 19:35; 1 Chr. 23:29. (e) Mishpat, Jer. 30:11, elsewhere "judgment." (f) Mithkoneth and token, Ezek. 45:11. (g) In New Testament metron, the usual Greek word thus rendered ( Matt. 7:2;Matt 23:32; Mark 4:24).

(2.) Those which are definite. (a) 'Eyphah, Deut. 25:14, Deut. 25:15, usually "ephah." (b) Ammah, Jer. 51:13, usually "cubit." (c) Kor, 1 Kings 4:22, elsewhere "cor;" Greek koros, Luke 16:7. (d) Seah, Gen. 18:6; 1 Sam. 25:18, a seah; Greek saton, Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21. (e) Shalish, "a great measure," Isa. 40:12; literally a third, i.e., of an ephah. (f) In New Testament batos, Luke 16:6, the Hebrew "bath;" and choinix, Rev. 6:6, the choenix, equal in dry commodities to one-eighth of a modius.

Meat-offering - (Heb. minhah), originally a gift of any kind. This Hebrew word came latterly to denote an "unbloody" sacrifice, as opposed to a "bloody" sacrifice. A "drink-offering" generally accompanied it. The law regarding it is given in Lev. 2, and 6:14-23. It was a recognition of the sovereignty of God and of his bounty in giving all earthly blessings (1 Chr. 29:10-14; Deut. 26:5-11). It was an offering which took for granted and was based on the offering for sin. It followed the sacrifice of blood. It was presented every day with the burnt-offering ( Ex. 29:40,Ex. 29:41), and consisted of flour or of cakes prepared in a special way with oil and frankincense.

Mebunnai - construction, building of Jehovah, one of David's bodyguard (2 Sam. 23:27; comp. 21:18); called Sibbechai and Sibbecai (1 Chr. 11:29;1 Chr 27:11).

Medad - love, one of the elders nominated to assist Moses in the government of the people. He and Eldad "prophesied in the camp" ( Num. 11:24-29).

Medan - contention, the third son of Abraham by Keturah ( Gen. 25:2).

Mede - (Heb. Madai), a Median or inhabitant of Media ( Dan. 11:1). In Gen. 10:2 the Hebrew word occurs in the list of the sons of Japheth. But probably this is an ethnic and not a personal name, and denotes simply the Medes as descended from Japheth.

Medeba - waters of quiet, an ancient Moabite town ( Num. 21:30). It was assigned to the tribe of Reuben ( Josh. 13:16). Here was fought the great battle in which Joab defeated the Ammonites and their allies (1 Chr. 19:7-15; comp. 2 Sam. 10:6-14). In the time of Isaiah 2 Sam 15:2) the Moabites regained possession of it from the Ammonites. (See HANUN.)

The ruins of this important city, now Madeba or Madiyabah, are seen about 8 miles south-west of Heshbon, and 14 east of the Dead Sea. Among these are the ruins of what must have been a large temple, and of three cisterns of considerable extent, which are now dry. These cisterns may have originated the name Medeba, "waters of quiet." (See OMRI.)

Media - Heb. Madai, which is rendered in the Authorized Version (1) "Madai," Gen. 10:2; (2) "Medes," 2 Kings 17:6;2 Kings 18:11; (3) "Media," Esther 1:3; Esther 10:2; Isa. 21:2; Dan. 8:20; (4) "Mede," only in Dan. 11:1.

We first hear of this people in the Assyrian cuneiform records, under the name of Amada, about B.C. 840. They appear to have been a branch of the Aryans, who came from the east bank of the Indus, and were probably the predominant race for a while in the Mesopotamian valley. They consisted for three or four centuries of a number of tribes, each ruled by its own chief, who at length were brought under the Assyrian yoke (2 Kings 17:6). From this subjection they achieved deliverance, and formed themselves into an empire under Cyaxares (B.C. 633). This monarch entered into an alliance with the king of Babylon, and invaded Assyria, capturing and destroying the city of Nineveh (B.C. 625), thus putting an end to the Assyrian monarchy ( Nah. 1:8;Nah 2:5,Nah. 1:6;Nah 3:13,Nah. 1:14).

Media now rose to a place of great power, vastly extending its boundaries. But it did not long exist as an independent kingdom. It rose with Cyaxares, its first king, and it passed away with him; for during the reign of his son and successor Astyages, the Persians waged war against the Medes and conquered them, the two nations being united under one monarch, Cyrus the Persian (B.C. 558).

The "cities of the Medes" are first mentioned in connection with the deportation of the Israelites on the destruction of Samaria (2 Kings 17:6;2 Kings 18:11). Soon afterwards Isaiah 2 Kings 13:17;2 Kings 21:2) speaks of the part taken by the Medes in the destruction of Babylon (comp. Jer. 51:11, Jer. 51:28). Daniel gives an account of the reign of Darius the Mede, who was made viceroy by Cyrus ( Dan. 6:1-28). The decree of Cyrus, Ezra informs us ( Dan 6:2-5), was found in "the palace that is in the province of the Medes," Achmetha or Ecbatana of the Greeks, which is the only Median city mentioned in Scripture.

Mediator - one who intervenes between two persons who are at variance, with a view to reconcile them. This word is not found in the Old Testament; but the idea it expresses is found in Job 9:33, in the word "daysman" (q.v.), marg., "umpire."

This word is used in the New Testament to denote simply an internuncius, an ambassador, one who acts as a medium of communication between two contracting parties. In this sense Moses is called a mediator in Gal. 3:19.

Christ is the one and only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:6; Heb 9:15; Heb 12:24). He makes reconciliation between God and man by his all-perfect atoning sacrifice. Such a mediator must be at once divine and human, divine, that his obedience and his sufferings might possess infinite worth, and that he might possess infinite wisdom and knowlege and power to direct all things in the kingdoms of providence and grace which are committed to his hands ( Matt. 28:18; John 5:22, John 5:25, John 5:26, John 5:27); and human, that in his work he might represent man, and be capable of rendering obedience to the law and satisfying the claims of justice ( Heb. 2:17,Heb. 2:18;Heb 4:15,Heb. 2:16), and that in his glorified humanity he might be the head of a glorified Church ( Rom. 8:29).

This office involves the three functions of prophet, priest, and king, all of which are discharged by Christ both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation. These functions are so inherent in the one office that the quality appertaining to each gives character to every mediatorial act. They are never separated in the exercise of the office of mediator.

Meekness - a calm temper of mind, not easily provoked ( James 3:13). Peculiar promises are made to the meek ( Matt. 5:5; Isa. 66:2). The cultivation of this spirit is enjoined ( Col. 3:12; 1 Tim. 6:11; Zeph. 2:3), and is exemplified in Christ ( Matt. 11:29), Abraham ( Gen. 13; 16:5,Gen. 13; 16:6) Moses ( Num. 12:3), David ( Zech. 12:8; 2 Sam. 16:10,2 Sam. 16:12), and Paul (1 Cor. 9:19).

Megiddo - place of troops, originally one of the royal cities of the Canaanites ( Josh. 12:21), belonged to the tribe of Manasseh ( Judg. 1:27), but does not seem to have been fully occupied by the Israelites till the time of Solomon (1 Kings 4:12;1 Kings 9:15).

The valley or plain of Megiddo was part of the plain of Esdraelon, the great battle-field of Palestine. It was here Barak gained a notable victory over Jabin, the king of Hazor, whose general, Sisera, led on the hostile army. Barak rallied the warriors of the northern tribes, and under the encouragement of Deborah (q.v.), the prophetess, attacked the Canaanites in the great plain. The army of Sisera was thrown into complete confusion, and was engulfed in the waters of the Kishon, which had risen and overflowed its banks ( Judg. 4:5).

Many years after this (B.C. 610), Pharaohnecho II., on his march against the king of Assyria, passed through the plains of Philistia and Sharon; and King Josiah, attempting to bar his progress in the plain of Megiddo, was defeated by the Egyptians. He was wounded in battle, and died as they bore him away in his chariot towards Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chr. 35:22-24), and all Israel mourned for him. So general and bitter was this mourning that it became a proverb, to which Zechariah 2 Chr 12:11,2 Chr 12:12) alludes. Megiddo has been identified with the modern el-Lejjun, at the head of the Kishon, under the north-eastern brow of Carmel, on the south-western edge of the plain of Esdraelon, and 9 miles west of Jezreel. Others identify it with Mujedd'a, 4 miles south-west of Bethshean, but the question of its site is still undetermined.

Mehetabeel - whose benefactor is God, the father of Delaiah, and grandfather of Shemaiah, who joined Sanballat against Nehemiah ( Neh. 6:10).

Mehetabel - wife of Hadad, one of the kings of Edom ( Gen. 36:39).

Mehujael - smitten by God, the son of Irad, and father of Methusael ( Gen. 4:18).

Mehuman - faithful, one of the eunchs whom Ahasuerus (Xerxes) commanded to bring in Vashti ( Esther 1:10).

Mehunims - habitations, (2 Chr. 26:7; R.V. "Meunim," Vulg. Ammonitae), a people against whom Uzziah waged a successful war. This word is in Hebrew the plural of Ma'on, and thus denotes the Maonites who inhabited the country on the eastern side of the Wady el-Arabah. They are again mentioned in 1 Chr. 4:41 (R.V.), in the reign of King Hezekiah, as a Hamite people, settled in the eastern end of the valley of Gedor, in the wilderness south of Palestine. In this passage the Authorized Version has "habitation," erroneously following the translation of Luther.

They are mentioned in the list of those from whom the Nethinim were made up ( Ezra 2:50; Neh. 7:52).

Me-jarkon - waters of yellowness, or clear waters, a river in the tribe of Dan ( Josh. 19:46). It has been identified with the river 'Aujeh, which rises at Antipatris.

Mekonah - a base or foundation, a town in the south of Judah ( Neh. 11:28), near Ziklag.

Melchi - my king. (1.) The son of Addi, and father of Neri ( Luke 3:28). (2.) Luke 3:24.

Melchizedek - king of righteousness, the king of Salem (q.v.). All we know of him is recorded in Gen. 14:18-20. He is subsequently mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in Ps. 110:4. The typical significance of his history is set forth in detail in the Epistle to the Hebrews, ch. 7. The apostle there points out the superiority of his priesthood to that of Aaron in these several respects, (1) Even Abraham paid him tithes; (2) he blessed Abraham; (3) he is the type of a Priest who lives for ever; (4) Levi, yet unborn, paid him tithes in the person of Abraham; (5) the permanence of his priesthood in Christ implied the abrogation of the Levitical system; (6) he was made priest not without an oath; and (7) his priesthood can neither be transmitted nor interrupted by death: "this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood."

The question as to who this mysterious personage was has given rise to a great deal of modern speculation. It is an old tradition among the Jews that he was Shem, the son of Noah, who may have survived to this time. Melchizedek was a Canaanitish prince, a worshipper of the true God, and in his peculiar history and character an instructive type of our Lord, the great High Priest ( Heb. 5:6,Heb. 5:7;Heb 6:20). One of the Amarna tablets is from Ebed-Tob, king of Jerusalem, the successor of Melchizedek, in which he claims the very attributes and dignity given to Melchizedek in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Melea - fulness, the son of Menan and father of Eliakim, in the genealogy of our Lord ( Luke 3:31).

Melech - king, the second of Micah's four sons (1 Chr. 8:35), and thus grandson of Mephibosheth.

Melita - ( Acts 27:28), an island in the Mediterranean, the modern Malta. Here the ship in which Paul was being conveyed a prisoner to Rome was wrecked. The bay in which it was wrecked now bears the name of "St. Paul's Bay", "a certain creek with a shore." It is about 2 miles deep and 1 broad, and the whole physical condition of the scene answers the description of the shipwreck given in Acts 28. It was originally colonized by Phoenicians ("barbarians ," 28:2). It came into the possession of the Greeks (B.C. 736), from whom it was taken by the Carthaginians (B.C. 528). In B.C. 242 it was conquered by the Romans, and was governed by a Roman propraetor at the time of the shipwreck ( Acts 28:7). Since 1800, when the French garrison surrendered to the English force, it has been a British dependency. The island is about 17 miles long and 9 wide, and about 60 in circumference. After a stay of three months on this island, during which the "barbarians" showed them no little kindness, Julius procured for himself and his company a passage in another Alexandrian corn-ship which had wintered in the island, in which they proceeded on their voyage to Rome ( Acts 28:13,Acts 28:14).