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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Laban took his men with him and pursued Jacob for seven days until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
Jacob camped on a mountain. So when Laban caught up with Jacob as he was camped in the hill country of Gilead, he set up his camp not far from Jacod's.
Laban said: This pile of stones stands as a witness between you and me today. This is why it was named Galeed, and also Mizpah (Watchtower), because he said: May Jehovah watch between you and me when we are unable to see each other.
and also Mizpah (Watchtower), because he said: May Jehovah watch between you and me when we are unable to see each other.
and to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.
Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Israel, who killed them. They chased them unto great Zidon, and to Misrephoth-maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they killed them. They did not leave any survivor remain.
East of the Jordan, on the desert plateau east of Jericho, they chose Bezer in the territory of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead, in the territory of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, in the territory of Manasseh.
Then the Ammonite army prepared camped in Gilead. They prepared for battle. The people of Israel gathered and camped at Mizpah in Gilead.
Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their ruler and leader. Jephthah stated his terms at Mizpah in Jehovah's presence.
Jephthah went back home to Mizpah. His daughter came out to meet him, dancing and playing the tambourine. She was his only child.
The people of Israel came from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east. They were united in Jehovah's presence at Mizpah.
Now the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah. The Israelites asked: Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?
The Israelites gathered at Mizpah. They made a solemn promise to Jehovah: None of us will allow a daughter to marry a Benjaminite.
They asked: Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in Jehovah's presence at Mizpah? (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.)
The Philistines heard that the Israelites gathered at Mizpah. So the Philistine rulers came to attack Israel. The Israelites heard about the Philistine plan and were afraid of them. The Israelites said to Samuel: Do not stop crying to Jehovah our God for us! Ask him to deliver us from the Philistines! read more. Samuel killed a young lamb and burned it whole as a sacrifice to Jehovah. Then he prayed to Jehovah to help Israel. Jehovah answered his prayer. While Samuel was offering the burnt sacrifice, the Philistines moved forward to attack. Just then Jehovah thundered from heaven against them. They became completely confused and fled in panic. The Israelites marched out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and drove them back as far as Bethcar. They killed them along the way. Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He said: Jehovah helped us all the way. He named it: Stone of Help.
David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was afraid when he met David. Why are you alone? He asked David. Why is no one with you?
David went from there to Mizpah in Moab. He said to the king of Moab: Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.
Doeg from Edom, standing with Saul's officials, answered him: I saw Jesse's son when he came to Ahimelech, Ahitub's son, in Nob. Ahimelech prayed to Jehovah for David. He gave him food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine. read more. Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub's and his entire family who were the priests in Nob. All of them came to the king. Saul said: Listen here, son of Ahitub! He responded: Here I am lord. Saul asked him: Why did you and Jesse's son plot against me? You gave him bread and a sword. You even prayed to God that he could rise up against me and ambush me, as he is doing now. Ahimelech asked the king: But whom among all your officials can you trust like David? Your Majesty, he is your son-in-law, the commander of your bodyguard. He is honored in your own household. Is this the first time I have prayed to God for him? Not at all! You should not blame my family or me for this. I knew nothing at all about this. The king said: Ahimelech, you and your entire family are going to die. The king said to the guards who were attending him: Turn around and kill the priests of Jehovah! They are also with David. They knew that he was fleeing and did not reveal it to me. But the servants of the king were not willing to lift a hand to attack the priests of Jehovah. The king said to Doeg: You turn around and attack the priests. Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He also killed the people of Nob, the city of the priests. Using his sword, he killed men and women, children and infants, cows, donkeys, and sheep.
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.)
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Laban said: This pile of stones stands as a witness between you and me today. This is why it was named Galeed, and also Mizpah (Watchtower), because he said: May Jehovah watch between you and me when we are unable to see each other.
This pile of stones and this marker stand as witnesses that I will not go past the pile of stones to harm you, and that you will not go past the pile of stones or marker to harm me.
Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. Jehovah showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan,
Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Israel, who killed them. They chased them unto great Zidon, and to Misrephoth-maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they killed them. They did not leave any survivor remain.
Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Israel, who killed them. They chased them unto great Zidon, and to Misrephoth-maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they killed them. They did not leave any survivor remain.
Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Israel, who killed them. They chased them unto great Zidon, and to Misrephoth-maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they killed them. They did not leave any survivor remain.
Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Israel, who killed them. They chased them unto great Zidon, and to Misrephoth-maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they killed them. They did not leave any survivor remain.
So they removed the foreign gods and worshiped Jehovah. He could bear the distress of Israel no longer. Then the Ammonite army prepared camped in Gilead. They prepared for battle. The people of Israel gathered and camped at Mizpah in Gilead.
The Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah. He went through Gilead and Manasseh and returned to Mizpah in Gilead and went on to Ammon.
Jephthah went back home to Mizpah. His daughter came out to meet him, dancing and playing the tambourine. She was his only child.
The people of Israel came from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east. They were united in Jehovah's presence at Mizpah.
Now the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah. The Israelites asked: Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?
The Israelites gathered at Mizpah. They made a solemn promise to Jehovah: None of us will allow a daughter to marry a Benjaminite.
They asked: Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in Jehovah's presence at Mizpah? (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.)
When they asked if some group out of the tribes of Israel had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there.
Samuel called all the Israelites to meet at Mizpah. He told them: I will pray to Jehovah for you there.
Samuel called all the Israelites to meet at Mizpah. He told them: I will pray to Jehovah for you there. The Israelites gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water, poured it out in front of Jehovah and fasted that day. They confessed: We have sinned against Jehovah. So Samuel judged Israel in Mizpah.
The Israelites gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water, poured it out in front of Jehovah and fasted that day. They confessed: We have sinned against Jehovah. So Samuel judged Israel in Mizpah.
David went from there to Mizpah in Moab. He said to the king of Moab: Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.
He made three hundred smaller body-covers of hammered gold. Three pounds of gold was in every cover. The king put them in the house of the Woods of Lebanon. The king made a great ivory throne plated with the best gold. read more. There were six steps going up to it. The top of it was round at the back. There were arms on the two sides of the throne and two lions by the side of the arms. Twelve lions were placed on one side and on the other side on the six steps: there was nothing like it in any kingdom. All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold. All the vessels of the house of the Woods of Lebanon were of the best gold. Not one was of silver, for no one gave a thought to silver in the days of King Solomon. For the king had Tarshish-ships at sea with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the Tarshish-ships came with gold and silver and ivory and apes (monkeys) and peacocks. King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom. They came from all over the earth to see Solomon and to listen to his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. Everyone took presents such as vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and robes, and coats of metal, and spices, and horses, and beasts of transport, regularly year by year.
Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah. Every man came to carry away the stone and the timber Baasha used to fortify Ramah. King Asa used them for building Geba in the land of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
Working by their side included: Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah from the seat of the ruler across the river.
And Shallun, the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the division of Mizpah, made good the doorway of the fountain, building it up and covering it and putting up its doors, with their locks and rods, with the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, as far as the steps which go down from the town of David.
And by his side was working Ezer, the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, making good another part opposite the way up to the store of arms at the turning of the wall.
I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart has melted within me like wax (I am weak).
Let them vanish as water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
He gives strength to those who grow tired and increases the strength of those who are weak. Even young people grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
All the army commanders and their men who were in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, to govern the country and some of the country's poorest men, women, and children who had not been taken away to Babylon. These are the commanders who went with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai from Netophah, and Jezaniah, who was the son of a man from Maacah. read more. Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men. He said: Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Live in this country, serve the king of Babylon, and you will prosper. I am going to live in Mizpah and represent you when the Babylonians come to us. Gather grapes, summer fruit, and olive oil, and put them in storage jars. Live in the cities you have taken over.
In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a descendant of the royal family and of the king's officers went with ten men to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. They ate together at Mizpah. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him got up, drew their swords, and killed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. So they assassinated the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land.
When they came into the city, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and his men slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.
Rise up! Cry out in the night at the beginning of the night watches. Let your heart be flowing out like water before the face of Jehovah. Lift up your hands to him for the life of your young children who are falling down starving in every street.
Hear this, O you priests and pay attention, O house of Israel. Give ear (listen)! O house of the king the judgment is about you. You have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon Tabor.
I will destroy the lock (bar) at the gate of Damascus, and annihilate the inhabitant from the valley of Aven. He who holds the scepter (imperial authority) from the house of Eden and the people of Syria will go into captivity to Kir, said Jehovah.
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/nsb'>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.
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and also Mizpah (Watchtower), because he said: May Jehovah watch between you and me when we are unable to see each other.
and to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.
Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Israel, who killed them. They chased them unto great Zidon, and to Misrephoth-maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they killed them. They did not leave any survivor remain.
Then the Ammonite army prepared camped in Gilead. They prepared for battle. The people of Israel gathered and camped at Mizpah in Gilead.
Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead. The people made him their ruler and leader. Jephthah stated his terms at Mizpah in Jehovah's presence.
The Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah. He went through Gilead and Manasseh and returned to Mizpah in Gilead and went on to Ammon.
Jephthah went back home to Mizpah. His daughter came out to meet him, dancing and playing the tambourine. She was his only child.
The people of Israel came from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, as well as from the land of Gilead in the east. They were united in Jehovah's presence at Mizpah.
Now the people of Benjamin heard that all the other Israelites had gathered at Mizpah. The Israelites asked: Tell us, how did this wicked deed happen?
The Israelites gathered at Mizpah. They made a solemn promise to Jehovah: None of us will allow a daughter to marry a Benjaminite.
They asked: Is there any group out of all the tribes of Israel that did not go to the gathering in Jehovah's presence at Mizpah? (They had taken a solemn oath that anyone who had not gone to Mizpah would be put to death.)
When they asked if some group out of the tribes of Israel had not gone to the gathering at Mizpah, they found out that no one from Jabesh in Gilead had been there.
Samuel called all the Israelites to meet at Mizpah. He told them: I will pray to Jehovah for you there. The Israelites gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water, poured it out in front of Jehovah and fasted that day. They confessed: We have sinned against Jehovah. So Samuel judged Israel in Mizpah. read more. The Philistines heard that the Israelites gathered at Mizpah. So the Philistine rulers came to attack Israel. The Israelites heard about the Philistine plan and were afraid of them. The Israelites said to Samuel: Do not stop crying to Jehovah our God for us! Ask him to deliver us from the Philistines! Samuel killed a young lamb and burned it whole as a sacrifice to Jehovah. Then he prayed to Jehovah to help Israel. Jehovah answered his prayer. While Samuel was offering the burnt sacrifice, the Philistines moved forward to attack. Just then Jehovah thundered from heaven against them. They became completely confused and fled in panic. The Israelites marched out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and drove them back as far as Bethcar. They killed them along the way. Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He said: Jehovah helped us all the way. He named it: Stone of Help. The Philistines were defeated. Jehovah prevented them from invading Israel's territory as long as Samuel lived. The cities between Ekron and Gath that the Philistines took from Israel were returned to Israel. Israel recovered the territory controlled by these cities from the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. Samuel judged Israel as long as he lived. Every year he went around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah in order to judge Israel in all those places.
Samuel called the people to come into the presence of Jehovah at Mizpah.
David went from there to Mizpah in Moab. He said to the king of Moab: Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.
Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah. Every man came to carry away the stone and the timber Baasha used to fortify Ramah. King Asa used them for building Geba in the land of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
Working by their side included: Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah from the seat of the ruler across the river.
And Shallun, the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of the division of Mizpah, made good the doorway of the fountain, building it up and covering it and putting up its doors, with their locks and rods, with the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, as far as the steps which go down from the town of David.
And by his side was working Ezer, the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, making good another part opposite the way up to the store of arms at the turning of the wall.
Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, at Mizpah and lived with him among the people who were left in the land. All the army commanders and their men who were in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, to govern the country and some of the country's poorest men, women, and children who had not been taken away to Babylon. read more. These are the commanders who went with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai from Netophah, and Jezaniah, who was the son of a man from Maacah. Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men. He said: Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Live in this country, serve the king of Babylon, and you will prosper. I am going to live in Mizpah and represent you when the Babylonians come to us. Gather grapes, summer fruit, and olive oil, and put them in storage jars. Live in the cities you have taken over. All the Jews who were in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and in all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a few survivors in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, to govern them. So all the Jews returned from all the places where they had been scattered. They came to Judah and to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They gathered a large harvest of grapes and summer fruit. Kareah's son Johanan and all the army commanders who were still in the country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They asked him: Do you know that King Baalis of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael, Nethaniah's son, to kill you? However, Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, did not believe them. Then Johanan, Kareah's son, secretly asked Gedaliah at Mizpah: Let me kill Ishmael, Nethaniah's son. No one will know about it. Why should he kill you? All the Jews who have gathered around you would scatter. What is left of Judah would disappear.
In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a descendant of the royal family and of the king's officers went with ten men to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. They ate together at Mizpah. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him got up, drew their swords, and killed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. So they assassinated the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land. read more. Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah as well as the Babylonian soldiers that he found there. The day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew about it, Eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Their beards were shaved off, their clothes were torn, and cuts were on their bodies. They brought grain offerings and incense to Jehovah's Temple. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, left Mizpah to meet them. He was crying as he went. When he met them, he said to them: Come to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. When they came into the city, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and his men slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. Ten men from the group pleaded with Ishmael: Do not kill us! We have wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey hidden in the country. So he left them alone and did not kill them along with the others. The cistern where Ishmael threw all the bodies of the men he had killed was the same one that King Asa made as a part of his defense against King Baasha of Israel. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, filled it with the bodies. Then Ishmael took captive the rest of the people who were at Mizpah. He captured the king's daughters and all the other people who had been left at Mizpah. They were the people whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had put under the control of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and left for Ammon. When Kareah's son Johanan and all the army commanders who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah did, they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael. They caught up with him at the large pool in Gibeon. When all the people who were with Ishmael saw Kareah's son Johanan and all the army commanders who were with him, they were glad. Then all the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and ran to Kareah's son Johanan. Ishmael and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to Ammon. Then Kareah's son Johanan and all the army commanders who were with him brought back the rest of the people of Mizpah whom he had rescued from Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. Johanan brought back men, women, children, soldiers, and commanders from Gibeon.
Hear this, O you priests and pay attention, O house of Israel. Give ear (listen)! O house of the king the judgment is about you. You have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread upon 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
Jacob camped on a mountain. So when Laban caught up with Jacob as he was camped in the hill country of Gilead, he set up his camp not far from Jacod's.
Laban said: This pile of stones stands as a witness between you and me today. This is why it was named Galeed,
This pile of stones and this marker stand as witnesses that I will not go past the pile of stones to harm you, and that you will not go past the pile of stones or marker to harm me.
and to the Canaanite on the east and on the west, and to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the mountains, and to the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.
Jehovah delivered them into the hand of Israel, who killed them. They chased them unto great Zidon, and to Misrephoth-maim, and to the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they killed them. They did not leave any survivor remain.
Then the Ammonite army prepared camped in Gilead. They prepared for battle. The people of Israel gathered and camped at Mizpah in Gilead.
Jephthah went back home to Mizpah. His daughter came out to meet him, dancing and playing the tambourine. She was his only child.
The Israelites gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water, poured it out in front of Jehovah and fasted that day. They confessed: We have sinned against Jehovah. So Samuel judged Israel in Mizpah.
Every year he went around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah in order to judge Israel in all those places.
Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah. Every man came to carry away the stone and the timber Baasha used to fortify Ramah. King Asa used them for building Geba in the land of Benjamin, and Mizpah.
Working by their side included: Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah from the seat of the ruler across the river.
All the army commanders and their men who were in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, to govern the country and some of the country's poorest men, women, and children who had not been taken away to Babylon.
Then Ishmael took captive the rest of the people who were at Mizpah. He captured the king's daughters and all the other people who had been left at Mizpah. They were the people whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had put under the control of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and left for Ammon.
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 also Mizpah (Watchtower), because he said: May Jehovah watch between you and me when we are unable to see each other.
Samuel called the people to come into the presence of Jehovah at Mizpah. He said to the Israelites: This is what Jehovah God of Israel says: 'I brought Israel out of Egypt and rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kings who were oppressing you. read more. You have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and distresses. You said to him: No! Place a king over us. Now then, stand in front of Jehovah by your tribes and family groups.' Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward. The tribe of Benjamin was chosen. He had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by families. The family of Matri (Matrites) was chosen. Then Saul, the son of Kish, was chosen. They looked for him but could not find him. They asked Jehovah again: Has he arrived here yet? Jehovah answered: He's hiding among the baggage. They ran and got him from there. He stood among the people and was a head taller than everyone else. Samuel asked the people: Do you see whom Jehovah has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people. Then all the people shouted: Long live the king! Samuel explained the laws concerning kingship to the people. He wrote the laws on a scroll, which he placed in front of Jehovah. Then Samuel sent the people back to their homes.
David went from there to Mizpah in Moab. He said to the king of Moab: Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.
Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah. Every man came to carry away the stone and the timber Baasha used to fortify Ramah. King Asa used them for building Geba in the land of Benjamin, and Mizpah.