1 Kings 15:22

Then king Asa made a proclamation [Heb. made all to hear ] throughout all Judah; none was exempted [Heb. none free ] , and they took away [Heb. took up ] the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha [It is noticeable that it is generally "king Asa," but never "king Baasha"] had bullded; and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin [Sometimes " the Geba," i.e; height ; in Joshua 18:24 , Gaba ; now Jeba, only 45' northeast of Ramah. This was the northern limit of the southern kingdom ( 2 Kings 23:8 ). It occupied a striking position, standing on a rocky knoll on the south side of the great gorge of Michmash (now known as the Wady Suweinit ), a "great crack or fissure in the country, with vertical precipices some 800 feet high". As Geba would command the pass, it is easy to understand why Asa fortified it, the more so as this defile "appears to have been more than once the meeting place between the Jews and their enemies" (Conder)], and Mizpah. [Heb. the Mizpah , i.e; watch tower ( Genesis 31:49 ). The name points to an eminence, but it is remarkable that while so many sites of minor importance have been recovered, this old gathering place of the tribes ( 21:1 ; 1 Samuel 7:5 ; 1 Samuel 10:17-25 ), and the seat of Gedaliah's government ( Jeremiah 40:6 ), cannot be identified with certainty. It has been conjectured that it is now represented by the commanding eminence of Nebi Samwil ,but Stanley and Grove argue in favour of Seopus, and "the survey has done little to throw light on this question". It is to be hoped that the "pit," or well, which Asa made ( Jeremiah 41:9 ), probably "to provide Mizpah with a plentiful supply of water in ease of a siege" (Ewald), may yet be brought to light.