1 Samuel 7:5

Gather all Israel to Mizpeh. Mizpah, for so the place should be spelt, means a watch tower ( Genesis 31:49 ), and so is a not uncommon name for spots among the hills commanding an extensive outlook. This was probably the Mizpah in the tribe of Benjamin, distant about five miles from Jerusalem (see Conder, 'Tent Work,' 1 Samuel 1:25 ); and though Samuel may have partly chosen it as a holy place ( 11:11 ; 20:1 ), yet the chief reason was probably its lofty situation, 500 feet above the neighbouring tableau, which itself was 2000 feet above the sea level. It was thus difficult to surprise, and admirably adapted for warlike purposes. The gathering of the people at Mizpah was the necessary result of the public insult offered to the Philistine gods, and virtually a declaration of war, as being an assertion of national independence.