2. Mizpah (npypn).—The events related in Jg 19 to 21 concerning the extermination of all the Benjamites save 600 by united Israel, though placed chronologically after the time of the Judges, are, from the mention of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron (20%), usually considered (so far as the account is historical) to have occurred about 20 years after the death of Joshua, at a time when there were no Judges in the land and the Israelites forsook the Lord and served Baal and Astarte (2°), Josephus also places these events at the commencement of his account of the Judges (Ant. v.).
The tabernacle with the ark had been set up at Shiloh in Ephraim, 10 miles north of Bethel, before the death of Joshua, and remained there as its chief and permanent residence until the death of Eli; but it would a from the account here given (Jg 20. 21) that the ark of the covenant was carried about from place to place in time of war to the spot where the people assembled, and
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in later years to where the Judge resided (Speaker’s Comm. on Jg 20). The positions of the places mentioned, so far as they are at present identified, are: Gibeah (Tell “l-Fidd), 4 miles north of Jeru- salem ; Bethel (Beitin), 6 miles north of Gibeah; and Shiloh (Seilzén), some 10 miles north of Bethel. A Levite was on his way to the house of the Lord, probably at Shiloh (Jg 1851 918), possibly at Bethel, when he turned aside to spend the night at Gibeah of Benjamin close to Ramah (er-Rdm), and here his concubine was outraged to death by Benjamites of that city. This deed united all Israel against Benjamin, and they ἐλ τς together as one man unto the Lord at Mizpah (in AY it is given as Mizpeh throughout), Jg 20),
In order to understand the account, the question ‘where was Mizpah?’ requires to be answered. It has usually been understood * that the Mizpah here spoken of and that where Samuel gathered the people together (1S 7) were identical. But there is no necessity for this conclusion: and the confusion of the two places renders the account. of the occurrences unintelligible. The Mizpah ol Samuel was in the heart of Benjamin near to Jerusalem, and it would have been impracticable for all Israel to have gathered together on this occasion before the Lord, at such a crisis, in the midst of the Beople with whom they were about to wage a war of extermination (but see Budde, ‘Richter,’ in Kurzer Hdcomm. ad loc.). The two Mizpahs may have been quite distinct: they were the places of assembly of the people in solemn con- clave near a sanctuary or where the tabernacle and ark were, and in this particular case Mizpah would appear to have been some place of assembly between Shiloh and Bethel, probably close to Shiloh, where the tabernacle was. This is accentuated by the statement (208) that the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel had gone up to Mizpah : suggesting certainly that Mizpah was out- side the boundaries of Benjamin.
. The Mizpeh (Jos 18”), elsewhere the Miz- pah.—Mizpah of Benjamin is first (?) mentioned in the early days of Samuel (1S 7°). At this time Shiloh had fallen from its position as the itil of J” (1S 44, Jer 7!? 26°) on account of the wicked- ness of Israel, the ark of the covenant had been captured by the Philistines, had been released by them, and abode in Kiriath-jearim twenty ek (1S 7%), during which time the children of Israel had fallen into idolatry and suffered severely at the hands of the Philistines, and then repented, and at the exhortation of Samuel put away the baals and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only. Then Samuel with all the authority of judge and prophet gathered all the children of Israel to Mizpah to ΡΙΑΥ͂ for them unto the Lord, as Joshua had gathered the tribes together to Shechem (Jos 24°).
The question again arises, Where was this Miz-
ah where the tribes gathered together before the
ord, and drew water and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted and confessed their sins? There is diversity of opinion as to the position of Samuel’s residence, Ramah or Ramathaim- zophim (?); but that which lends itself most readily to the account of Samuel’s life is a few miles north of Jerusalem, either Nebi Samil or some point on the high ridge north of Shdfat (so van de Velde, Dillm., Tristram, G. A. Smith, ete.); and here Samuel built an altar, which may have been in connexion with the tabernacle, and this Mizpah may have been in close proximity to Samuel’s residence. If this were so, the position near Shafat is most suitable, as it will be shown that in after- years Mizpah appeses to have been located not very far north of Jerusalem and overlooking it.
* 4.5. by Moore (Judges, p. 423), Budde (op. cit. supra), Buhl (GAP 168), and the majority of recent scholars.
MIZPAH AND MIZPEH
We can now follow the changes which, upon the views adopted in this article, took place in the position of the Mizpah. First, it named the spot of the covenant between Jacob and Laban in Gilead ; secondly, we find it attached to the place of gathering of the people before the Lord in Shiloh, where the tabernacle was; then again we find the people gathering together bane the Lord at the original ‘heap of witness’ in Gilead in the time of Jephthah ; and, lastly, it names the spot where Samuel gathered Israel before the recently-erected tabernacle near Ramah to serve God and resist the Philistines, and subsequently to choose the first king over Israel. Here the tabernacle remained for about fifty-seven years, until the dedication of the temple of Jerusalem ; and in process of time the name Mizpah appears to have clung to this spot, for we find that king Asa built Geba and Mizpah (2 Ch 16°) ; and it is to be noted that the LXX call it in one case Μασφά and in the other τὴν σκοπιάν (1K 15%). During the days of the temple of Jerusalem the sanctuary at Mizpah would lose prestige; but it must have retained the affection of the people, for during the Captivity, when Jeru- salem lay desolate, Mizpah became the seat of government of the ruler of Judza (Gedaliah) under the king of Babylon, 2 K 25%, Jer 40° 411,