Mizpah in Benjamin

Mizpah ("watch-tower; the look-out") was a city of the tribe of Benjamin referred to in the Hebrew Bible.

Tell en-Nasbeh is one of two sites often identified with Mizpah of Benjamin, and is located about 8 miles north of Jerusalem. The other suggested location is Neby Samwil, which is some 4 miles north-west of Jerusalem, and situated on the loftiest hill in the vicinity, some 600 feet above the plain of Gibeon.^[1]

Biblical references

When a Levite traveler's concubine was raped by the men of Gibeah, the other tribes of Israel met at Mizpah of Benjamin, where they decided to attack the men of Benjamin for this grievous sin.^[2] At the same time, the decision was made not to permit marriage between Israelite women and Benjaminite men.^[3]

After the debacle at Aphek, where the Hebrews lost the Ark to the Philistines, Samuel gathered all Israel to Mizpah to offer sacrifices to the Lord and ask Him to forgive their sin. To memorialize this event, Samuel set up a stone between Mizpah and Shen and named it Eben-Ezer ("stone of help"), because the Lord had helped them.^[4]

Samuel also gathered the people of Israel to Mizpah for the Lord to identify their first king. There, Saul was chosen by lot from all the tribes and families of Israel.^[5]

After the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem, they appointed Gedaliah governor in Mizpah over the remaining residents. Many returned to Mizpah from where they had fled. The prophet Jeremiah came to Mizpah from Ramah, where the Babylonians had released him. Later Ishmael, a member of the royal family, assassinated Gedaliah. Despite Jeremiah's warning that the people would be a reproach and die if they went to Egypt, they persisted in going there.^[6]

Identification

The main contenders for the site of Mizpah are Tell en-Nasbeh and nearby Nebi Samwil.

• If Mizpah was Tell en-Nasbeh on the Nablus road, Ishmael would not have fled to Ammon via Gibeon ^[7] which is located to the West near Neby Samwil which overlooks Jerusalem.
• Moreover, Mizpah was located right next to Gibeon.^[8]
• Furthermore, Judas Machabeus, preparing for war with the Syrians, gathered his men "to Maspha, over against Jerusalem: for in Maspha was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel".^[9]
• On the other hand, Nebi Samwil has produced no remains of the Iron Age I, nor any remains of the 6th century, both periods in which Mizpah was occupied. By contrast, Tell en-Nasbeh has produced abundant remains from both periods, and moreover, has a massive fortification system which matches well with the building campaign of King Asa of Judah in the early 9th century BC. Its location on the main road leading out of Jerusalem fits well with the reference to Mizpah in 1 Kings xv, 22.

References

Coordinates: 31°53′07″N 35°12′59″E / 31.88528°N 35.21639°E / 31.88528; 35.21639