I. MIZPAH, called also GALEED (1911n1; lipao-is; omitted in Vulgate), one of the names given to the cairn' raised by Jacob and Laban as a memorial and testimony of the covenant they entered into at the time of their interview in Gilead (Gen. xxxi. 49). Details of the event have already been given in the article GILEAD. Laban gave the cairn the Chaldee name yegar-Sahadotha (ver. 47), and Jacob gave it the Hebrew name Gal-eed ; both signifying The Cairn of Witness.' It is probable that the interview took place on a commanding height, on the top of one of the hills of Gilead ; and the name of the hill or peak may have been Afizpah, or its conspicuous position may have suggested the name to the patriarchs. Be this as it may, after the completion of the covenant and the erection of the cairn, Laban gave the place another name, and introduced another cha racteristic play upon that name And ham tifizpah :` the watch-place '), for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another.'
The site of this Mizpah cannot now be deter mined. Some have thought it identical with Mizpeh of Gilead (see below), but the incidental remarks of the sacred writers show that the places must have been far apart. Jacob was travelling southward. After leaving Mizpah he went to Mahanaim (xxxii. 2), and then crossed the river Jabbok (ver. 22) to meet Esau. Consequently Mizpah must have been some distance north of the Jabbok ; whereas there is evidence to show that Mizpeh of Gilead' lay some miles south of that river (see below). If Mahanaim be identified with Gerasa, then Mizpah must be looked for on some hill-top north of that city. [MAHANADI]