Tell en-Nasbeh is one of three sites often identified with Mizpah of Benjamin, and is located about 12 kilometers north of
Jerusalem. The other suggested locations are
Nabi Samwil,[1] which is some 8 kilometers north-west of the
Old City of Jerusalem (situated on the highest hill in the vicinity, above the plain of
Gibeon),[2] and
Sh'afat, a village situated on a flat spur to the northwest of Jerusalem and where Jerusalem is visible from the village.[3]
Biblical references
The first mention of Mizpah (although this Mizpah is in
Gilead, southeast of the
Sea of Galilee) was in
Genesis where
Laban and his son-in-law
Jacob made an agreement that God will watch over them while they were apart from each other. It was marked by the piling of rocks.[4] It was a reminder of peace where each would not go beyond these rocks to attack the other.[5]
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.[6] At the same time, the decision was made not to permit marriage between Israelite women and Benjaminite men.[7]
After the return of the
Ark of the Covenant,
lost to the
Philistines following the Israelites' defeat at the
Battle of Aphek,
Samuel gathered all Israel at Mizpah to offer a
sacrifice to the Lord and ask Him to forgive their sin. The Israelites fought off a raid by the Philistines, taking advantage of the assembly, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. 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.[8]
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.[9]
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.[10]
Mizpah is mentioned in the
Book of Nehemiah as one of the towns resettled by the Jewish exiles returning from the
Babylonian captivity and who helped to construct the walls of Jerusalem during the reign of
Artaxerxes I (Xerxes).[11][12] Nehemiah further records that those returnees were the very descendants of the people who had formerly resided in the town before their banishment from the country, who had all returned to live in their former places of residence.[13]
The suggested site of Shuafat is based on its etymology, meaning "prospect," which is thought to be a corruption of the old name Mizpah or Sapha. In addition, the place fits the description of being "over against Jerusalem" (I Macc. III 46)[3]
Mizpah was located right next to Gibeon.[2] (Some suggest that if Mizpah was Tell en-Nasbeh on the
Nablus road, Ishmael would not have fled to
Ammon via
Gibeon[15] which is located to the West near
Neby Samwil which overlooks Jerusalem.)
Mizpah is where
Judas Maccabeus and his rebel army camped before the
Battle of Emmaus during the
Maccabean Revolt according to the book of
1 Maccabees. "Then they gathered together and went to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because Israel formerly had a place of prayer in Mizpah."[16] Mizpah was in the hills, while the nearby Greek Syrian camp in Emmaus was on the plain. Judas proceeded to hold a religious ceremony at Mizpah where he picked a smaller force with which to ambush the Seleucid camp the next day.[17]
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 the First
Books of Kings (
1 Kings 15:22).
^Josephus (1981). Josephus Complete Works. Translated by
William Whiston. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications. p. 236 (Antiquities 11.5.7.).
ISBN0-8254-2951-X.
^Aharoni, Y. (1979). The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography (2 ed.). Philadelphia: Westminster Press. p. 439.
ISBN0664242669.
OCLC6250553. (original Hebrew edition: 'Land of Israel in Biblical Times - Historical Geography',
Bialik Institute, Jerusalem (1962))