town or village

Mizpah

• Today Tell en Nasbeh
• Most likely location

Open on the map →

Battles and sieges

1. c. 1070 BCThe Philistines routed at Mizpah; the stone Ebenezer 1 Sam 7:7–12
   Israel gathered at Mizpah under Samuel against the lords of the Philistines. The Lord thunders on the Philistines; Israel pursues them below Beth-car, and Samuel sets up the stone Ebenezer.

History

Mizpah of Benjamin, whose name means "watchtower", is usually identified with Tell en-Nasbeh, a low hill beside the ancient road running north from Jerusalem, about 12 km from the city. The main alternative is Nebi Samwil, the high hill north-west of Jerusalem where a later tradition placed the tomb of Samuel. Tell en-Nasbeh was excavated in 1926–1935 by William F. Badè. A small village stood there about 3500–3300 BC; after a long gap settlement resumed in the Iron Age, and by the ninth century BC it was a town with a massive wall and gate on the border between Judah and Israel.

In Judges all Israel gathered "unto the LORD in Mizpeh" before making war on Benjamin. Samuel called the people here to fast and pray; when the Philistines attacked, they were routed, and Samuel set up the stone Eben-ezer between Mizpeh and Shen. Mizpah was one of the towns of his yearly circuit, and here Saul was chosen king by lot. When Baasha of Israel fortified Ramah, Asa of Judah carried off its stones and built Geba and Mizpah with them; the great wall of Tell en-Nasbeh is often linked with this work.

After Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 587 or 586 BC, Mizpah became the seat of Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon made governor, and Jeremiah came to live with him there. Ishmael son of Nethaniah, of the royal house, killed Gedaliah at Mizpah together with the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him. The excavations fit this picture: the town was not destroyed with Jerusalem and flourished in the sixth century BC. A seal found there names its owner as Jaazaniah, servant of the king; some identify him with the Jaazaniah who came to Gedaliah, but this is uncertain. In Nehemiah's day the men of Mizpah and its rulers helped to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

About 165 BC Judas Maccabeus gathered his men at Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, to fast and pray before the battle at Emmaus. Pottery and coins show that Tell en-Nasbeh was still lived on in Hellenistic times; later tombs and the floor of a Byzantine church point to a smaller settlement. By the fourth century the site of the biblical town seems to have been forgotten: Eusebius places the Mizpah where Samuel judged the people near Kiriath-jearim.

Scripture: Judg 20:1; 1 Sam 7:5–12; 1 Sam 7:16; 1 Sam 10:17–24; 1 Kgs 15:22; 2 Kgs 25:22–25; Jer 40:5–8; Jer 41:1–3; Neh 3:7; Neh 3:15; Neh 3:19

Checked against its sources; not yet read by a historian.

Verses (32)

Judg 20:1

Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh.

Judg 20:3

(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?

Judg 21:1

Now the men of Israel had sworn in Mizpeh, saying, There shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife.

Judg 21:5

And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death.

Judg 21:8

And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly.

1 Sam 7:5

And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.

1 Sam 7:6

And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

1 Sam 7:7

And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

1 Sam 7:11

And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Beth-car.

1 Sam 7:12

Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

1 Sam 7:16

And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.

1 Sam 10:17

And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh;

1 Kgs 15:22

Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.

2 Kgs 25:23

And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

2 Kgs 25:25

But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah.

2 Chr 16:6

Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha was building; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

Neh 3:7

And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, unto the throne of the governor on this side the river.

Neh 3:15

But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Col-hozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king’s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

Neh 3:19

And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another piece over against the going up to the armoury at the turning of the wall.

Jer 40:6

Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.

Jer 40:8

Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

Jer 40:10

As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.

Jer 40:12

Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

Jer 40:13

Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,

Jer 40:15

Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?

Jer 41:1

Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.

Jer 41:3

Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war.

Jer 41:6

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

Jer 41:9

Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain.

Jer 41:10

Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

2 more on the map

King James Version

Tours through this place

• Samuel and the ark →
• Saul, the first king →
• Jeremiah the prophet →
• The fall of Jerusalem and the exile →