Mizpah

Also called: Mizpeh

First named: Joshua 18:26

Town Canaan Israel Judges Exile

Traditional identification: Usually located at Tell en-Nasbeh north of Jerusalem, though the exact tell is debated. A separate Mizpah of Gilead, east of the Jordan (Judges 11:11, 29), is a different place — this entry covers the Benjaminite Mizpah where every person below is placed.

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A town in Benjamin's territory where Samuel gathered Israel to renew their commitment to God and won a decisive victory over the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:5-13), and where Saul was later chosen and presented to the nation as its first king by lot (1 Samuel 10:17-24). After Jerusalem's fall to Babylon, Mizpah became the seat of Gedaliah, the governor Babylon appointed over the remaining Judeans — an arrangement that collapsed when Ishmael assassinated Gedaliah there, prompting the frightened remnant to flee to Egypt against Jeremiah's warning (2 Kings 25:22-25; Jeremiah 40-41).

References: Joshua 18:26; 1 Samuel 7:5-13; 1 Samuel 10:17-24; 2 Kings 25:22-25; Jeremiah 40-41

People connected to Mizpah

Azariah (M) — accused Jeremiah of lying and helped lead the remnant to Egypt from here
Jeremiah 43:2-7
Baalis (M) — the Ammonite king who sent Ishmael to kill Gedaliah at this town
Jeremiah 40:14
Gedaliah (M) — Babylon's appointed governor, based and assassinated at this town
Jeremiah 40:6-7; Jeremiah 41:1-3
Ishmael (M) — assassinated Gedaliah and many others at this town
Jeremiah 41:1-3
Jezaniah (M) — a captain who submitted to Gedaliah and sought Jeremiah's counsel here
Jeremiah 40:8; Jeremiah 42:1
Johanan (M) — warned Gedaliah of the plot here, then avenged his murder
Jeremiah 40:13-16; Jeremiah 41:11-14
Samuel (M) — gathered Israel here to repent, and Israel routed the Philistines
1 Samuel 7:5-11

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