מִצְפָּה

Genesis 31:49 וְהַמִּצְפָּה֙ and <the> Mizpah

It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent from each other.

Joshua 11:3 הַמִּצְפָּֽה׃ <the> Mizpah

to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

Here: 'The Mizpah', with the article, so roughly 'the Lookout' or 'the Watchpost'. It is a northern place or district near Hermon (compare 'the valley of Mizpeh' in v.8), not the better-known Mizpah of Benjamin or Gilead. Its exact location is unknown.

Judges 10:17 בַּמִּצְפָּֽה׃ at <the> Mizpah

Then the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, and the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah.

Judges 11:11 בַּמִּצְפָּֽה׃ פ in <the> Mizpah

So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him their leader and commander. And Jephthah repeated all his terms in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah.

Here: The Mizpah in Gilead where Israel's forces were camped (10:17; 11:29). The Hebrew has the article, "the Lookout", and the place apparently had a sanctuary where oaths could be sworn. The paragraph marker (פ) after the verse closes the installation scene.

Judges 11:34 הַמִּצְפָּה֮ <the> Mizpah

And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.

Here: Mizpah of Gilead, east of the Jordan, where Jephthah had been made leader 'before the LORD' (11:11). The name means 'lookout post.' That fits a scene built around who comes into view first.

Judges 20:1 הַמִּצְפָּֽה׃ <the> Mizpah

Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.

Here: "At/to Mizpah": a place in Benjamin's own territory a few miles from Gibeah, where the crime took place. The name means "lookout point". The article ("the Mizpah") shows the name was still felt as an ordinary noun.

Judges 20:3 הַמִּצְפָּ֑ה <the> Mizpah

(Meanwhile the Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) And the Israelites asked, “Tell us, how did this wicked thing happen?”

Judges 21:1 בַּמִּצְפָּ֖ה at <the> Mizpah

Now the men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah, saying, “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”

Judges 21:5 הַמִּצְפָּ֛ה <the> Mizpah

The Israelites asked, “Who among all the tribes of Israel did not come to the assembly before the LORD?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah would surely be put to death.

Judges 21:8 הַמִּצְפָּ֑ה <the> Mizpah

So they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?” And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.

1 Samuel 7:5 הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה <the> Mizpah towards

Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD on your behalf.”

1 Samuel 7:6 הַ֠מִּצְפָּתָה בַּמִּצְפָּֽה׃ <the> Mizpah towards, at <the> Mizpah

When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

Here: 'To the Mizpah'. The ending -â marks movement toward a place. The name means 'watch-post' or 'lookout', and it is a hilltop town in Benjamin that served as a gathering place for the tribes.

1 Samuel 7:7 הַמִּצְפָּ֔תָה <the> Mizpah towards

When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers marched up toward Israel. And when the Israelites learned of this, they feared the Philistines

1 Samuel 7:11 הַמִּצְפָּ֔ה <the> Mizpah

Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth-car.

1 Samuel 7:12 הַמִּצְפָּה֙ <the> Mizpah

Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

Here: “The Mizpah”, a hilltop town in Benjamin where Israel had gathered to repent (vv. 5–6). It is usually identified with Tell en-Nasbeh, about 12 km north of Jerusalem. The name, meaning “lookout”, fits a high place.

1 Samuel 7:16 וְהַמִּצְפָּ֑ה and <the> Mizpah

Every year he would go on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all these places.

1 Samuel 10:17 הַמִּצְפָּֽה׃ <the> Mizpah

After this, Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah

1 Kings 15:22 הַמִּצְפָּֽה׃ <the> Mizpah

Then King Asa summoned all the men of Judah, with no exceptions, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials King Asa built up Geba of Benjamin, as well as Mizpah.

2 Kings 25:23 הַמִּצְפָּ֑ה <the> Mizpah

When all the commanders of the armies and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite, as well as their men.

2 Kings 25:25 בַּמִּצְפָּֽה׃ at <the> Mizpah

In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

2 Chronicles 16:6 הַמִּצְפָּֽה׃ ס <the> Mizpah

Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials he built up Geba and Mizpah.

Nehemiah 3:7 וְהַמִּצְפָּ֑ה and <the> Mizpah

Next to them, repairs were made by Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, who were under the authority of the governor of the region west of the Euphrates.

Nehemiah 3:15 הַמִּצְפָּה֒ <the> Mizpah

The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofed it, and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah near the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the City of David.

Nehemiah 3:19 הַמִּצְפָּ֖ה <the> Mizpah

And next to him, Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory, near the angle in the wall.

Jeremiah 40:6 הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה <the> Mizpah towards

So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

Jeremiah 40:8 הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה <the> Mizpah towards

they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of the Maacathite—they and their men.

Here: The name has the article ('the Lookout') and a Hebrew ending that means 'toward'. Mizpah in Benjamin, north of Jerusalem, escaped destruction and became Gedaliah's seat of government.

Jeremiah 40:10 בַּמִּצְפָּ֔ה at <the> Mizpah

As for me, I will stay in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine grapes, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have taken.”

Jeremiah 40:12 הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה <the> Mizpah towards

they all returned from all the places to which they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they gathered an abundance of wine grapes and summer fruit.

Jeremiah 40:13 הַמִּצְפָּֽתָה׃ <the> Mizpah towards

Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah

Jeremiah 40:15 בַּמִּצְפָּ֜ה at <the> Mizpah

Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah. “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah,” he said. “No one will know it. Why should he take your life and scatter all the people of Judah who have gathered to you, so that the remnant of Judah would perish?”

Jeremiah 41:1 הַמִּצְפָּ֑תָה בַּמִּצְפָּֽה׃ <the> Mizpah towards, at <the> Mizpah

In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and they ate a meal together there.

Here: "To the Mizpah." The name means a watchtower or lookout, and this town north of Jerusalem had become the new seat of government after the capital's destruction.

Jeremiah 41:3 בַּמִּצְפָּ֔ה at <the> Mizpah

Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were there.

Jeremiah 41:6 הַמִּצְפָּ֔ה <the> Mizpah

And Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When Ishmael encountered the men, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

Jeremiah 41:10 בַּמִּצְפָּ֗ה בַּמִּצְפָּ֔ה [was] in <the> Mizpah, at <the> Mizpah

Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people of Mizpah—the daughters of the king along with all the others who remained in Mizpah—over whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites.

Jeremiah 41:14 הַמִּצְפָּ֑ה <the> Mizpah

and all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah.

Jeremiah 41:16 הַמִּצְפָּ֔ה <the> Mizpah

Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him took the whole remnant of the people from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam: the soldiers, women, children, and court officials he had brought back from Gibeon.

Hosea 5:1 לְמִצְפָּ֔ה to Mizpah

“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O royal house! For this judgment is against you because you have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.

Here: 'At / for Mizpah': a place whose name means 'lookout, watchtower'. It is probably Mizpah in Gilead, east of the Jordan, though Mizpah in Benjamin is also proposed. Either way it was an old site tied to covenant, assembly and judging.