Bible Strands
Genesis 31:49
It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are absent from each other.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Laban addresses Jacob at their parting boundary, explaining why the location receives a new name after they finalize their covenant agreement.
The words — The text highlights mitzpah (מִצְפָּה), meaning “watchtower,” and yitzef (יִצֶף), meaning “may he keep watch,” which directly form the etymological basis for the place name.
The thread — The name Mizpah reappears in Judges 10:17, Judges 11:29, and 1 Samuel 7:5 as a designated gathering point for Israel during covenant renewal or military mobilization.
Why it lands — The passage states that God replaces human presence as the guarantor of mutual obligations, requiring a reader to acknowledge divine oversight as the actual mechanism for boundary enforcement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Mizpah; for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.
Cross-references
- Judges 11:29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.
- Judges 10:17 Then the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, and the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah.
- 1 Samuel 7:5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD on your behalf.”
- Judges 11:11 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.
- 1 Kings 15:22 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.
- Hosea 5:1 “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.