En-mizpah

Overview

• Type: Region / Town
• Testament: Old
• Modern Location: The locale of Mizpah in Benjamin, north of Jerusalem (likely Tell en-Nasbeh)

Biblical Significance

“En-mizpah” denotes the spring or locale of Mizpah, whose name means “watchtower,” a height in the territory of Benjamin that served Israel for centuries as a place of assembly, prayer, and judgment. There all Israel gathered to take counsel and execute justice after the outrage at Gibeah (Judges 20:1; 21:1). There Samuel called the nation to repentance, drew water and poured it out before the Lord, and prayed as the Philistines were routed, after which he set up the stone Ebenezer (1 Samuel 7:5-12). Mizpah was also where Saul was presented to Israel as king (1 Samuel 10:17). After Jerusalem’s fall, the Babylonians made Mizpah the administrative seat of Gedaliah, whom they appointed governor over the poor of the land (2 Kings 25:23); it was there that Gedaliah was treacherously murdered by Ishmael (Jeremiah 40-41). Mizpah thus stands as a place of gathering before God, of righteous judgment, and of the troubled remnant after the exile.

Key Events

• Samuel’s intercession and the raising of Ebenezer (1 Samuel 7:5-12)
• Gedaliah governs the remnant at Mizpah after Jerusalem’s fall (2 Kings 25:23)

Key People Associated

• Samuel — judged Israel and prayed for victory at Mizpah
• Gedaliah — Babylon’s appointed governor, murdered here

Important Verses

• 1 Samuel 7:5-12
• Judges 20:1
• 2 Kings 25:23
• Jeremiah 40:6

Cross-References

• Judges — Israel assembled at Mizpah over the sin of Gibeah
• 1 Samuel — Samuel’s revival and Saul’s presentation as king

Notes

• The name “Mizpah” also marks covenant-watching, as in the heap Jacob and Laban raised (Genesis 31:49), “The Lord watch between me and thee.”