Reference: Mizpah
Easton
or Miz'peh, watch-tower; the look-out. (1.) A place in Gilead, so named by Laban, who overtook Jacob at this spot (Ge 31:49) on his return to Palestine from Padan-aram. Here Jacob and Laban set up their memorial cairn of stones. It is the same as Ramath-mizpeh (Jos 13:26).
(2.) A town in Gilead, where Jephthah resided, and where he assumed the command of the Israelites in a time of national danger. Here he made his rash vow; and here his daughter submitted to her mysterious fate (Jg 10:17; 11:11,34). It may be the same as Ramoth-Gilead (Jos 20:8), but it is more likely that it is identical with the foregoing, the Mizpeh of Ge 31:23,25,48-49.
(3.) Another place in Gilead, at the foot of Mount Hermon, inhabited by Hivites (Jos 11:3,8). The name in Hebrew here has the article before it, "the Mizpeh," "the watch-tower." The modern village of Metullah, meaning also "the look-out," probably occupies the site so called.
(4.) A town of Moab to which David removed his parents for safety during his persecution by Saul (1Sa 22:3). This was probably the citadel known as Kir-Moab, now Kerak. While David resided here he was visited by the prophet Gad, here mentioned for the first time, who was probably sent by Samuel to bid him leave the land of Moab and betake himself to the land of Judah. He accordingly removed to the forest of Hareth (q.v.), on the edge of the mountain chain of Hebron.
(5.) A city of Benjamin, "the watch-tower", where the people were accustomed to meet in great national emergencies (Jos 18:26; Jg 20:1,3; 21:1,5; 1Sa 7:5-16). It has been supposed to be the same as Nob (1Sa 21:1; 22:9-19). It was some 4 miles north-west of Jerusalem, and was situated on the loftiest hill in the neighbourhood, some 600 feet above the plain of Gibeon. This village has the modern name of Neby Samwil (Illustration: Neby Samwil), i.e., the prophet Samuel, from a tradition that Samuel's tomb is here. (See Nob.)
Samuel inaugurated the reformation that characterized his time by convening a great assembly of all Israel at Mizpeh, now the politico-religious centre of the nation. There, in deep humiliation on account of their sins, they renewed their vows and entered again into covenant with the God of their fathers. It was a period of great religious awakening and of revived national life. The Philistines heard of this assembly, and came up against Israel. The Hebrews charged the Philistine host with great fury, and they were totally routed. Samuel commemorated this signal victory by erecting a memorial-stone, which he called "Ebenezer" (q.v.), saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us" (1Sa 7:7-12).
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Then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued after him, a seven-day journey, and he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his kinsmen pitched [their tents] in the hill country of Gilead.
Then Laban said, "This pile of stones [is] a witness between me and you today." Therefore its name is called Galeed, and Mizpah, because he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you when {we are out of sight of each other}.
and Mizpah, because he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you when {we are out of sight of each other}.
to the Canaanites in [the] east and [west], the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites {at the foot of} Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor.
and from Heshbon up to Ramah-Mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim up to the territory to Debir;
Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.
And the {Ammonites} were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the {Israelites} gathered and camped at Mizpah.
So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah.
Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her.
All the {Israelites} went out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and they gathered as one body to Yahweh [at] Mizpah.
(The descendants of Benjamin heard that the {Israelites} had gone up [to] Mizpah.) And the {Israelites} said, "Tell us, how did this evil act occur?"
The men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, "None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife."
And the {Israelites} said, "Who in the assembly has not come up from all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?" For a solemn oath was [taken] concerning whoever did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, "He will certainly be put to death."
[Now] when [the] Philistines heard that the {Israelites} had gathered at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the {Israelites} heard [of it], {they were afraid of the Philistines}. Then the {Israelites} said to Samuel, "{You must not cease} from crying out to Yahweh our God, so that he will deliver us from the hand of [the] Philistines." read more. So Samuel took a single {nursing lamb} and sacrificed [it] as a whole burnt offering to Yahweh. Then Samuel cried out to Yahweh on behalf of Israel, and Yahweh answered him. {While} Samuel [was] sacrificing the burnt offering, [the] Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against [the] Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel. Then the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued [the] Philistines and they struck them down as far as below Beth Car. So Samuel took a single stone and put [it] between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer and said, "Up to here Yahweh has helped us."
Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and he said to him, "Why are you alone and there are no men with you?"
And David went up from there to Mizpah of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and my mother {stay} with you until I know what God will do for me."
But Doeg the Edomite, who [was] stationed among the servants of Saul, answered and said, "I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. And he inquired of Yahweh for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine." read more. So the king sent to summon Ahimelech the son of Ahitub the priest, and all his father's household, the priests who [were] at Nob. So all of them came to the king. Saul said, "Listen please, son of Ahitub." He said, "Here I [am], my lord." Then Saul said to him, "Why did you conspire against me, you and the son of Jesse, when you gave to him bread and a sword, and by inquiring of God for him so that he might arise against me to ambush [me] as [has been done] this day?" But Ahimelech answered the king and said, "And who among all your servants [is] as faithful as David? He [is] the son-in-law of the king who moves [quickly] to safeguard you and is honored in your house. [Only] today I began to inquire of God for him. Far be it from me that {the king should impute anything against his servant} or against my father's household, for your servant has not known any of this matter, little or much." Then the king said, "You must certainly die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's household!" So the king said to the runners [who were] stationed around him, "Turn and kill the priests of Yahweh, because {they also support David} and because they knew that he was fleeing and {did not disclose it to me}." But the servants of the king [were] not willing to raise their hand to attack the priests of Yahweh. Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn and attack the priests!" So Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests himself, and on that day he killed eighty-five men who wore [the] linen ephod. And {he put to the sword} Nob, the city of the priests, from man to woman, from child to infant, and ox and donkey and sheep; [all] {to the sword}.
Fausets
Hebrew "the Mizpah," generally a "watchtower". Mizpeh (masculine) expresses rather the town; Mizpah (feminine) the district (Jos 11:8,8).
1. In Gilead E. of Jordan. The name Laban gave to Galeed, the "heap of witness," the memorial of his covenant with Jacob, and the boundary landmark between them (Ge 31:48-49,52), "for he said, Jehovah watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another." (See GALEED.) Herein he adopts Jacoh's language (Hebrew) and religion (Jehovah's worship). In Ho 5:1, "ye house of the king, ye have been a snare on Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor," the sense is, Ye ought to have been "watchers" guarding Israel from evil, but ye have been as hunters entrapping them into it. Mizpah in the E. and Tabor in the W. include the high places of the whole kingdom in which the rulers set up idol altars. Here Israel assembled to choose a leader in its "misery" when Ammon, having oppressed eastern Palestine, was threatening also to attack Judah and Ephraim W. of Jordan.
Jephthah passed Mizpah on his way from Gilead to fight Ammon (Jg 10:16-17; 11:29). Here on the hallowed ground he "uttered all his words before Jehovah in the Mizpah." Thenceforth his home was there; and at Mizpah the sad meeting with his daughter took place (Jg 11:34). Seemingly identical with Ramoth Gilead, or Ramath ("high place") Mizpeh (Jos 13:26); now es Salt, or else Mizpah is the Mount Jebel Osha, to the N.W. Here too Israel met, as being the ancient sanctuary, to determine what was to be done after the outrage perpetrated at Gibeah (Jg 20:1,3; 21:1,5,8).
2. Mizpeh Moab, where the Moabite king lived when David entrusted his parents to him (1Sa 22:3). Possibly Kir Moab, now Kerak, S.E. of the Dead Sea. More probably a mountain fastness on the high land bounding the Arboth Moab on the E. of the Dead Sea; on the mountains Abarim or Pisgah (De 34:1), which David could easily reach from Bethlehem by crossing the Jordan near its entrance into the Dead Sea. Mount Pisgah was the most commanding eminence in Moab, and contained the sanctuary Nebo, of which part was called Zophim (derived from the same root as Mizpeh).
3. The land of Mizpah, the abode of the Hivites, "under Hermon," who joined Jabin against Joshua (Jos 11:8). To "the valley of Mizpah eastward" Joshua chased Jabin's conquered hosts (Jos 11:8). The valley is probably part of the great hollow, Coelo-Syria, now Buka'a (Am 1:5, margin), containing Baalbek; near which on the N. is the hill Haush tell Safiyeh.
4. Mizpah of Benjamin (Jos 18:26). Fortified by Asa against the invasions of northern Israel (1Ki 15:22). The residence and scene of Gedaliah's murder (Jer 40:7-10; 41:1-2), At Mizpah Israel repented at Samuel's call (1Sa 7:5-6), and "drew water and poured it out before the Lord," pleading symbolically their misery, powerlessness, and prostration by the Philistines, that so God might strengthen them. An act of deepest humiliation and confession of misery, the result of sin. (Ps 22:14; 58:7; 2Sa 14:14; Isa 40:29-30; 2Co 12:9-10; La 2:19, "pour out thine heart like water before the face of Jehovah.") Here Samuel appointed Saul king (1Ki 10:17-25). Mizpah with Bethel and Gilgal were the three cities which Samuel as judge visited on circuit.
Men of Mizpah on the return from Babylon helped in rebuilding the wall; "the ruler of the district of Mizpah" and "the ruler of Mizpah" took part in it (Ne 3:7,15,19). Judas Maccabeus (1Ma 3:44) assembled the Jews at Maspha, as being "aforetime a place of prayer over against (implying Mizpah was in full sight of) Jerusalem." Josephus (Ant. 11:8, section 5; B. J. v. 2-3; 2:19, section 4; 5:2-3) mentions Sapha (a corruption of Maspha, Mizpah) as the place of Alexander's meeting Jaddua the high priest; and elsewhere calls it Scopus, i.e. the look-out place, from whence on the broad ridge (the continuation of Olivet), seven stadia N. of the city, one gains the first view of Jerusalem. The Septuagint twice renders Mizpah skopia. Nebi Samwil, on the W. bound of Benjamin toward the Philistines, with whom Israel was about to war (1Sa 7:5-6), Robinson identifies with Mizpah.
But it is five miles off, though in view of the Sakhrah of the temple and the Church of the Sepulchre; and this is at variance with 1 Maccabees, "over against Jerusalem." Moreover it is out of the way of the pilgrims from Samaria to Jerusalem, murdered by Ishmael; whereas Scopus is in the direct road (Jer 41:7). Sennacherib at Nob first caught the full view of "the house of Zion and hill of Jerusalem"; Nob therefore is probably Mizpah. Condor (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, January, 1875) identifies Nob with Nebi Samwil, the Arabs mistaking Nob "high place" for Nebi "prophet." Nebi Samwil is so near Gibeon that it must have been the high place visited by Solomon; the view from it is splendid. Traces of the outer court of the tabernacle are yet discoverable, and a curious rock cut approach. (but, see NOB.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then Laban said, "This pile of stones [is] a witness between me and you today." Therefore its name is called Galeed, and Mizpah, because he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you when {we are out of sight of each other}.
This pile of stones [is] a witness, and the pillar [is] a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile of stones to you, and that you will not pass beyond this pile of stones and this pillar to me intending harm.
Then Moses went up from the desert plateau of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, {which is opposite} Jericho, and Yahweh showed him all of the land, Gilead [all the way] up to Dan,
And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor.
And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor.
And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor.
And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor.
and from Heshbon up to Ramah-Mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim up to the territory to Debir;
So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and {he could no longer bear} the misery of Israel. And the {Ammonites} were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the {Israelites} gathered and camped at Mizpah.
And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through [to] the {Ammonites}.
Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her.
All the {Israelites} went out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and they gathered as one body to Yahweh [at] Mizpah.
(The descendants of Benjamin heard that the {Israelites} had gone up [to] Mizpah.) And the {Israelites} said, "Tell us, how did this evil act occur?"
The men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, "None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife."
And the {Israelites} said, "Who in the assembly has not come up from all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?" For a solemn oath was [taken] concerning whoever did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, "He will certainly be put to death."
They asked, "Which one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?" And behold, no one came from Jabesh-gilead to the camp, to the assembly.
Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to Yahweh for you."
Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to Yahweh for you." So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured [it] out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against Yahweh!" So Samuel judged the {Israelites} at Mizpah.
So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured [it] out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against Yahweh!" So Samuel judged the {Israelites} at Mizpah.
And David went up from there to Mizpah of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and my mother {stay} with you until I know what God will do for me."
Also [he made] three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went up over each of the small shields; and the king put them [into] the House of the Forest of Lebanon. The king also made a large ivory throne, and he overlaid it [with] fine gold. read more. Six steps [led up] to the throne, and [there was] a circular top to the throne behind it, and armrests were {on each side of the seat}, with two lions standing beside the armrests. Twelve lions [were] standing there, six on each of the six steps {on either side}; nothing like this was made for any of the kingdoms. All of the drinking vessels of King Solomon [were] gold, and all the vessels for the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver; [it was] not considered as something valuable in the days of Solomon. For the fleet of Tarshish belonged to the king [and was] on the sea with the fleet of Hiram; once every three years the fleet of Tarshish used to come carrying gold and silver, ivory, apes, and baboons. King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and wisdom. All of the earth [was] seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. They [were] each bringing his gift; objects of silver and objects of gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. {This used to happen year after year}.
Then King Asa proclaimed among all of Israel that there was no one free from obligation, so they carried the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had built, and King Asa rebuilt Geba in Benjamin with them, and the Mizpah.
{Next to them} Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah who were under the rule of the governor of [the province] Beyond the River, repaired.
Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, the commander of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and erected its doors, its bolts, its bars, and [he built] the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, right up to the steps going down from the city of David.
{next to him} Ezer son of Jeshua, commander of Mizpah, repaired a second section of a wall opposite of the ascent of the armory at the angle.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted {within me}.
Let them run [away] like water [that] runs off. [When] he bends [the bow], let his arrows [be] as though they were cut off.
[He] gives power to the weary, and he increases power for {the powerless}. Even young people will be faint and grow weary, and [the] young will stumble, exhausted.
When all the commanders of the armies who [were] in the open country and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam [in an official position] in the land, and that {he had put him in charge of} men, and women, and little children, and of the poor of the land, of [all those] who had not been deported [to] Babylon, then they went to Gedaliah [at] Mizpah--Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, and Jehonathan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. read more. And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, {saying}, "You must not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. {As for me}, look, I [am] staying at Mizpah to represent [you] {before} the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, and put [them] in your vessels, and live in your towns that you have seized."
{And then} in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, from the offspring of the kingship, and [one of] the chief officers of the king, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam [at] Mizpah, {along with} ten men. And they ate bread together there at Mizpah. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah got up, {along with} the ten men who were with him, and they struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed him whom the king of Babylon had appointed [in an official position] over the land.
{And then}, the moment of their coming to the middle of the city, then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, {along with} the men who [were] with him, slaughtered them [and threw them] to the middle of the pit.
"Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches; pour out your heart like water, before the face of the Lord. Lift to him your hands, for the life of your children, who faint in starvation, at the head of all streets."
Hear this, priests! Give heed, house of Israel! Listen, house of the king! Because the judgment [applies] to you; because you have been a snare for Mizpah, and a net spread out on Tabor;
I will break the gate bars of Damascus and I will cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven and the one who takes hold of the scepter of Beth Eden, and the people of Aram will go into exile to Kir," says Yahweh.
Morish
Miz'pah Mizpeh. Miz'peh
1. The place where Jacob and Laban parted, after making a covenant and raising a heap of stones as a witness of the covenant and as a landmark between them. It was on the east of the Jordan, somewhere in Gilead. Ge 31:49; Jg 10:17; 11:11,29,34. It is probably the place mentioned in Jg 20:1,3; 21:1,5,8. Some suppose it to be identical with RAMATH-MIZPEH in Jos 13:26; and this to be the same as RAMOTH-GILEAD. Others judge these to be all different places and that No. 1 is identified with Suf, 32 18' N, 35 50' E.
2. LAND OF MIZPEH, the resort of the Hivites, who joined with Jabin to attack Joshua. It was 'under Hermon,' and therefore in the north of Palestine, Jos 11:3; this is possibly the same as
3. VALLEY OF MIZPEH to which Joshua chased the allies. Jos 11:8. Probably the extensive valley on the east of Mount Lebanon.
4. Town in the lowlands of Judah. Jos 15:38. Not identified.
5. City of Moab, where David placed his parents for safety. 1Sa 22:3. Not identified.
6. City of Benjamin, in the vicinity of Ramah and Gibeon. Jos 18:26. It was the city to which Samuel gathered the people, as 'to the Lord,' and where he judged Israel, and where also he presented Saul to them as their king. 1Sa 7:5-16; 10:17. The city was rebuilt by Asa king of Judah, and, after the destruction of Jerusalem, Gedaliah the governor established himself there. 1Ki 15:22; 25/23/type/leb'>2Ki 25:23,25; 2Ch 16:6; Jer 40:6-15; 41:1-16; Ho 5:1. Probably the same place is alluded to in Ne 3:7,15,19. Identified by some with Neby Samwil, 31 50' N, 35 10' E.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
and Mizpah, because he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you when {we are out of sight of each other}.
to the Canaanites in [the] east and [west], the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites {at the foot of} Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor.
and from Heshbon up to Ramah-Mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim up to the territory to Debir;
And the {Ammonites} were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the {Israelites} gathered and camped at Mizpah.
So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh at Mizpah.
And the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh. He passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed through [to] the {Ammonites}.
Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her.
All the {Israelites} went out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and they gathered as one body to Yahweh [at] Mizpah.
(The descendants of Benjamin heard that the {Israelites} had gone up [to] Mizpah.) And the {Israelites} said, "Tell us, how did this evil act occur?"
The men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, saying, "None of us will give his daughter to Benjamin as a wife."
And the {Israelites} said, "Who in the assembly has not come up from all the tribes of Israel to Yahweh?" For a solemn oath was [taken] concerning whoever did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah, saying, "He will certainly be put to death."
They asked, "Which one is there from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to Yahweh at Mizpah?" And behold, no one came from Jabesh-gilead to the camp, to the assembly.
Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to Yahweh for you." So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured [it] out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against Yahweh!" So Samuel judged the {Israelites} at Mizpah. read more. [Now] when [the] Philistines heard that the {Israelites} had gathered at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the {Israelites} heard [of it], {they were afraid of the Philistines}. Then the {Israelites} said to Samuel, "{You must not cease} from crying out to Yahweh our God, so that he will deliver us from the hand of [the] Philistines." So Samuel took a single {nursing lamb} and sacrificed [it] as a whole burnt offering to Yahweh. Then Samuel cried out to Yahweh on behalf of Israel, and Yahweh answered him. {While} Samuel [was] sacrificing the burnt offering, [the] Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against [the] Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel. Then the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued [the] Philistines and they struck them down as far as below Beth Car. So Samuel took a single stone and put [it] between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer and said, "Up to here Yahweh has helped us." So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come into the territory of Israel again, and the hand of Yahweh was against [the] Philistines all the days of Samuel. The towns which [the] Philistines had taken from Israel [were] returned to Israel from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territories from the hand of [the] Philistines. Then there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He used to go [on the circuit] {from year to year}. He went around Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel [in] all these places.
Then Samuel summoned the people to Yahweh at Mizpah,
And David went up from there to Mizpah of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and my mother {stay} with you until I know what God will do for me."
Then King Asa proclaimed among all of Israel that there was no one free from obligation, so they carried the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had built, and King Asa rebuilt Geba in Benjamin with them, and the Mizpah.
{Next to them} Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah who were under the rule of the governor of [the province] Beyond the River, repaired.
Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, the commander of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate. He rebuilt it and covered it and erected its doors, its bolts, its bars, and [he built] the wall of the Pool of Shelah of the king's garden, right up to the steps going down from the city of David.
{next to him} Ezer son of Jeshua, commander of Mizpah, repaired a second section of a wall opposite of the ascent of the armory at the angle.
So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, [at] Mizpah and stayed with him in the midst of the people who were left in the land. When all the commanders of the armies who [were] in the open country and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam [in an official position] in the land, and that {he had put him in charge of} men, and women, and little children, and of the poor of the land, of [all those] who had not been deported [to] Babylon, read more. then they went to Gedaliah [at] Mizpah--Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan, and Jehonathan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, {saying}, "You must not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. {As for me}, look, I [am] staying at Mizpah to represent [you] {before} the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, and put [them] in your vessels, and live in your towns that you have seized." And also all the Judeans who [were] in Moab, and among the {Ammonites}, and in Edom, and who [were] in all the lands, [when] they heard that the king of Babylon had given a remnant to Judah and that he had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, [in an official position] over them, then all the Judeans returned from all the places [to] which they were scattered. And they came [to] the land of Judah, to Gedaliah [at] Mizpah, and they gathered wine and summer fruit that yielded {in great abundance}. And Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who [were] in the open country came to Gedaliah [at] Mizpah and said to him, "{Are you at all aware} that Baalis, the king of the {Ammonites}, has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, to kill you?" But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam would not believe them. Then Johanan the son of Kareah said to Gedaliah in secrecy at Mizpah, {saying}, "Please let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and {nobody} will know. Why should he kill you, so that all of Judah who are gathered to you will be scattered, and the remnant of Judah will perish?"
{And then} in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, from the offspring of the kingship, and [one of] the chief officers of the king, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam [at] Mizpah, {along with} ten men. And they ate bread together there at Mizpah. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah got up, {along with} the ten men who were with him, and they struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed him whom the king of Babylon had appointed [in an official position] over the land. read more. Then Ishmael killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, {along with} the Chaldeans who were found there, {the soldiers}. {And then} on the second day of the killing of Gedaliah--and {no one} knew-- then men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men [with] shaven beards and torn garments, [who had] cut themselves with blades, {having} grain offerings and frankincense in their hands to bring [to] the {temple} of Yahweh. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out to meet them from Mizpah, {weeping as he came}. {And then} as [he was] meeting them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam." {And then}, the moment of their coming to the middle of the city, then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, {along with} the men who [were] with him, slaughtered them [and threw them] to the middle of the pit. But ten men were found among them, and they said to Ishmael, "You must not kill us, for {we have} hidden treasures in the field, wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. So he refrained and he did not kill them in the midst of their fellow countrymen. Now the pit [into] which Ishmael threw all the corpses of the men whom he had killed {along with} Gedaliah [was the same one] that King Asa had made because of Baasha the king of Israel, [who was] against him. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled [it with] the slain ones. Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who [were] in Mizpah, the daughters of the king and all the people who were left at Mizpah, [over] whom Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael took them captive and set out to cross over to the {Ammonites}. When Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who [were] with him, heard all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, then they took all the men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. And they met him at [the] great pool that [is] in Gibeon. {And then}, the moment that all the people who [were] with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who [were] with him, they were glad. So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped with eight men {from} Johanan, and they went to the {Ammonites}. Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies who [were] with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, strong men, {soldiers}, and women, and little children, and eunuchs whom he brought back from Gibeon.
Hear this, priests! Give heed, house of Israel! Listen, house of the king! Because the judgment [applies] to you; because you have been a snare for Mizpah, and a net spread out on Tabor;
Smith
Miz'pah
and Miz'peh (a watch-tower), the name of several places in Palestine.
1. The earliest of all, in order of the narrative, is the heap of stones piled up by Jacob and Laban,
on Mount Gilead, ver.
to serve both as a witness to the covenant then entered into and as a landmark of the boundary between them. ver.
On this natural watch-tower did the children of Israel assemble for the choice of a leader to resist the children of Ammon.
There the fatal meeting took place between Jephthah and his daughter on his return from the war. ch.
It seems most probable that the "Mizpeh-gilead" which is mentioned here, and here only, is the same as the "ham-Mizpah" of the other parts of the narrative; and both are probably identical with the Ramath-mizpeh and Ramoth-gilead, so famous in the later history.
2. A second Mizpeh, on the east of Jordan, was the Mizpeh-moab, where the king of that nation was living when David committed his parents to his care.
3. A third was "the land of Mizpeh," or more accurately "of Mizpah," the residence of the Hivites who joined the northern confederacy against Israel, headed by Jabin king of Hazor.
No other mention is found of this district in the Bible, unless it be identical with --
4. The valley of Mizpeh, to which the discomfited hosts of the same confederacy were chased by Joshua,
perhaps identical with the great country of Coele-Syria.
5. Mizpeh, a city of Judah,
in the district of the Shefelah or maritime lowland.
6. Mizpeh, in Joshua and Samuel; elsewhere Mizpah, a "city" of Benjamin, not far from Jerusalem.
Jos 18:26; 1Ki 15:22; 2Ch 16:6; Ne 3:7
It was one of the places fortified by Asa against the incursions of the kings of northern Israel,
1Ki 15:22; 2Ch 16:6; Jer 41:10
and after the destruction of Jerusalem it became the residence of the superintendent appointed by the king of Babylon,
etc., and the scene of his murder and of the romantic incidents connected with the name of Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. It was one of the three holy cities which Samuel visited in turn as judge of the people,
the other two being Bethel and Gilgal. With the conquest of Jerusalem and the establishment there of the ark, the sanctity of Mizpah, or at least its reputation, seems to have declined. From Mizpah the city or the temple was visible. These conditions are satisfied by the position of Scopus, the broad ridge which forms the continuation of the Mount of Olives to the north and cast, from which the traveller gains, like Titus, his first view, and takes his last farewell, of the domes, walls and towers of the holy city.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his kinsmen pitched [their tents] in the hill country of Gilead.
Then Laban said, "This pile of stones [is] a witness between me and you today." Therefore its name is called Galeed,
This pile of stones [is] a witness, and the pillar [is] a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile of stones to you, and that you will not pass beyond this pile of stones and this pillar to me intending harm.
to the Canaanites in [the] east and [west], the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites {at the foot of} Hermon in the land of Mizpah.
And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor.
And the {Ammonites} were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the {Israelites} gathered and camped at Mizpah.
Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her.
So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured [it] out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against Yahweh!" So Samuel judged the {Israelites} at Mizpah.
He used to go [on the circuit] {from year to year}. He went around Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and he judged Israel [in] all these places.
Then King Asa proclaimed among all of Israel that there was no one free from obligation, so they carried the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had built, and King Asa rebuilt Geba in Benjamin with them, and the Mizpah.
{Next to them} Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah who were under the rule of the governor of [the province] Beyond the River, repaired.
When all the commanders of the armies who [were] in the open country and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam [in an official position] in the land, and that {he had put him in charge of} men, and women, and little children, and of the poor of the land, of [all those] who had not been deported [to] Babylon,
Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who [were] in Mizpah, the daughters of the king and all the people who were left at Mizpah, [over] whom Nebuzaradan, [the] captain of [the] guard, had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael took them captive and set out to cross over to the {Ammonites}.
Watsons
MIZPAH, or MIZPEH, a city of the tribe of Benjamin, situated in a plain, about eighteen miles west of Jerusalem. Here Samuel dwelt; and here he called Israel together, to observe a solemn fast for their sins, and to supplicate God for his assistance against the Philistines; after which they sallied out on their enemies, already discomfited by the thunders of heaven, and gave them a total defeat, 1 Samuel 7. Here, also, Saul was anointed king, 1Sa 10:17-25. It appears that between this and the time of Asa, king of Judah, Mizpeh had suffered probably in some of the intervening wars, as we are told that Asa built it with the stones and timber of Ramah, 1Ki 15:22. There was another Mizpeh in Gilead; on the spot where Jacob set up the pillar or heap of stones, to commemorate the covenant there made between him and Laban, Ge 31:49. (See Gilead.) There was also a third Mizpeh, in the land of Moab, where David placed his father and mother, while he remained in his retreat at Adullam, 1Sa 22:3. It is to be observed, that Mizpeh implies a beacon or watch tower, a pillar or heap of commemoration; and at all the places bearing this name, it is probable that a single pillar, or a rude pile, was erected as the witness and the record of some particular event. These, subsequently, became altars and places of convocation on public occasions, religious and civil.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
and Mizpah, because he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you when {we are out of sight of each other}.
Then Samuel summoned the people to Yahweh at Mizpah, and he said to the {Israelites}, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that [were] oppressing you.' read more. But you today have rejected your God who always delivers you from all of your calamities and your distresses. You have said to him, 'No, but you must appoint a king over us!' So then present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans." So Samuel brought near all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected by lot. Then he brought near the tribe of Benjamin according to its families, and the family of Matri was selected by lot. Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen, and they sought him, but he could not be found. So they inquired again of Yahweh, "{Did the man come here}?" And Yahweh said, "Look, he [is] hiding himself among the baggage." So they ran and took him from there, and when he took his stand among the people, he was taller than all the people from his shoulders and up. Then Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people!" And all the people shouted and said, "Long live the king!" Then Samuel told the people the custom of the kingship, and he wrote [the rules] down on a scroll and laid [it] before Yahweh. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own house.
And David went up from there to Mizpah of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and my mother {stay} with you until I know what God will do for me."
Then King Asa proclaimed among all of Israel that there was no one free from obligation, so they carried the stones of Ramah and its wood with which Baasha had built, and King Asa rebuilt Geba in Benjamin with them, and the Mizpah.