MIZPAH, or MIZPEH  , the name of several places referred to in the Old Testament, in each case probably derived from a " commanding prospect,". the Hebrew name having that significance . (I) MIZPAH OF GILEAD, where Jacob was reconciled to Laban (Gen. xxxi . 49); apparently the site of the camp of the Israelites when about to attack the Ammonites under Jephthah's leadership (Judges x . 17) . This ancient sanctuary was probably the scene of Jephthah's vow (Judges xi . 29; cf. v . II) . The identification of this Mizpeh is a difficult problem: it is supposed to be the same as Ramoth Gilead, but the evidence is scarcely conclusive . It is referred to in Hos. v . I . (2) MIZPAH OF BENJAMIN . It has been suggested, on hardly sufficient grounds, that the Mizpeh where the Hebrews assembled before the extermination of the Benjamites (Judges xx .

I) was not the

shrine where Samuel made his headquarters (1 Sam. vii . 5) . It was fortified by Asa (1 Kings xv . 22), and after the destruction of Jerusalem was the seat of government under the viceroy Gedaliah (2 Kings xxv . 23): here Gedaliah was murdered (ibid . 25) . After the exile it retained the tradition of being a seat of government (Neh. iii . 7) and a holy place (i Mace. iii . 46) . It is probably to be identified with the mountain, Neby Samwil, north of Jerusalem, still considered sacred by the Moslems: a Crusaders' church (now a mosque), covers the traditional tomb of Samuel . (3) A territory near Mount Hermon, a seat of the Hivites, which joined the coalition of Jabin against Joshua (Joshua xi . 3) .

In the territory was the "valley of Mizpeh" (v . 8) where the Canaanites were routed . (4) A

town in the tribe of Judah (Joshua xv . 38) . (5) MIZPEH OF MOAB, where David interviewed the king of Moab and found an asylum for his parents (I Sam. xxii . 3) . (R . A . S .