Mizpah (מִצְפָּה ''miṣpāh'', ''mitspah'') is

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

for "watchtower". As mentioned in the biblical story of

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

and

Laban Laban is a French surname. It may refer to: Places * Laban-e Olya, a village in Iran * Laban-e Sofla, a village in Iran * Laban, Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * 8539 Laban, main-belt asteroid People Surname *Ahm ...

, making a pile of stones marked an agreement between two people, with God as their watching witness.

Biblical narrative

had secretly fled the house of

, his father-in-law, in the middle of the night, taking flocks of animals, all his other assets, and his two wives and their children (the daughters and grandchildren of Laban) with him, intending never to return. Laban discovered this and pursued Jacob. After discussion, the two decided to formalize the separation. Laban admitted that his daughters had voluntarily left, saying, "Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?"
Genesis 31:43 (NIVUK)
. He agreed to let Jacob go in peace, but exacted a promise from Jacob to never abuse his daughters or take additional wives (Genesis 31:50). The two men then determined to erect a pile of stones, a figurative watchtower, called a mizpah, to commemorate this promise, even though no person was present other than the two men when it was made, for "God is witness between you and me". Both of the men also agreed that they would consider the mizpah a border between their respective territories, and that they would not pass the watchtower to visit one another "to do evil".

Usage

Since that time, the mizpah has come to connote an

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. ...

al bond between people who are separated (either physically or by death). Mizpah jewelry is often made in the form of a coin-shaped pendant cut in two with a zig-zag line bearing the words "The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another". This is worn to signify the bond. Additionally, the word "mizpah" is often used as the name for a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

and can often be found on headstones in cemeteries and on other memorials:

And t was calledMizpah (Watchtower); for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.Genesis 31:49

References

External links

NASB Version of the Covenant of Mizpah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizpah (Emotional Bond) Interpersonal relationships Book of Genesis