Mesha
Four distinct figures in the UPDV bear the name Mesha: a king of Moab who paid tribute to Israel and revolted at Ahab's death, the firstborn of Caleb, a Benjamite son of Shaharaim, and a place that anchors the eastern edge of Joktanite settlement.
Mesha King of Moab
Mesha is named in 2 Kings as the Moabite ruler whose pastoral wealth made him a vassal of the northern kingdom: "Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master; and he rendered to the king of Israel the wool of a hundred thousand lambs, and of a hundred thousand rams" (2Ki 3:4). His tribute, expressed in livestock rather than coin, fixes his economic base and his political relation to Samaria in a single clause. The arrangement does not survive the next reign: "But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel" (2Ki 3:5). The pivot is Ahab's death, not Mesha's; the rebellion is dated to the change of throne in Israel.
Mesha Son of Caleb
In the Judahite genealogy of 1 Chronicles, Mesha appears as the eldest son of Caleb, head of a line tied to the southern hill country: "And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron" (1Ch 2:42). The note "father of Ziph" places this Mesha at the head of a clan associated with one of the Judean towns by that name; he is not the Moabite king and shares with him only the personal name.
Mesha the Benjamite
A third Mesha appears in the Benjamite genealogy of 1 Chronicles 8 among the children Shaharaim fathered by Hodesh: "And he begot of Hodesh his wife, Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha, and Malcam" (1Ch 8:9). The verse offers no further detail; the name surfaces in the list and is not picked up again.
Mesha the Place
The Table of Nations sets Mesha as a geographic marker for the descendants of Joktan: "And their dwelling was from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east" (Ge 10:30). The verse uses Mesha and Sephar as the western and eastern bounds of the Joktanite settlement zone; no further description of the place is given in the UPDV.