East were familiar with the disappointment of approaching a fountain or well with hope of getting refreshing water, only to find it dried up. In Palestine, in the month of August, there are occasional cirrostratus clouds from the W that do not bring rain. One who looked to these wispy, mistlike clouds as a promise of water for his crops would be bitterly disappointed. So with these false teachers, these immoral men, as Peter goes on to say: “For they utter swelling expressions of no profit, and by the desires of the flesh and by loose habits they entice those who are just escaping from people who conduct themselves in error. While they are promising them freedom, they themselves are existing as slaves of corruption.”—2 Pet. 2:1, 17-19.

Jude describes such ones as “waterless clouds carried this way and that by winds.” (Jude 12) Jesus’ half-brother James writes to Christians that (as far as the present life is concerned) “you are a mist appearing for a little while and then disappearing.” (Jas. 4:14) Certainly false teachers are like a mist, after a short while passing out of existence forever.—2 Tim. 3:8, 9; Jude 13.

MITHKAH

(Mithʹkah) [perhaps, sweetness].

One of Israel’s wilderness encampments. (Num. 33:28, 29) Its location is not known today. If Mithkah is correctly defined as “sweetness,” the name may allude to the good water of the region.

MITHNITE

(Mithʹnite).

A term applied to Joshaphat, one of the mighty men in David’s military forces. It is not known whether “Mithnite” refers to his place of origin or is his family designation.—1 Chron. 11:26, 43.

MITHREDATH

(Mithʹre·dath) [gift of (god) Mithra].

1. The treasurer of Cyrus who, under royal command, turned over some 5,400 temple utensils of gold and silver to the Israelites for return to Jerusalem.—Ezra 1:7, 8, 11.

2. An opposer of the postexilic temple reconstruction who shared with others in writing a letter to Persian King Artaxerxes falsely accusing the Jews.—Ezra 4:7.

MITYLENE

(Mit·y·leʹne).

The principal city of Lesbos, an island in the Aegean Sea off the W coast of Asia Minor. While en route to Jerusalem in the spring of 56 C.E., the apostle Paul sailed to Mitylene from Assos, a seaport on the mainland of Asia Minor about twenty-eight miles (45 kilometers) to the N-NW. (Acts 20:14) The fact that no mention is made of Paul’s going ashore may imply that the ship merely anchored at Mitylene, perhaps because the needed N winds had abated. On the following day the ship continued S-SW toward Chios.—Acts 20:15.

It is believed that Mitylene originally occupied a small island off the eastern coast of Lesbos. But as the city grew it may have been linked with Lesbos by a causeway and expanded along the coast. This would have created a harbor on the N side and also one on the S side of the causeway. The city was famed as a seat of literary learning and for the architectural beauty of its buildings.

MIXED COMPANY

A group of people who departed from Egypt with the nation of Israel. (Ex. 12:37, 38) Since they were prepared to leave Egypt with the Israelites, this suggests that they had not lost any of their firstborn. Otherwise they would have been occupied in burying their dead, as were the Egyptians. (Num. 33:3, 4) The mixed company must therefore have been in a fit condition to celebrate the Passover. (Compare Exodus 12:43-49; see ALIEN RESIDENT.) Some of these people may have been Egyptians or other foreigners who chose to follow the God and nation of Israel after witnessing a number of Jehovah’s blows against Egypt. Others of this group were likely Egyptians who had married Israelites also the offspring of such unions. The Israelitess Shelomith of the tribe of Dan, for example, had an Egyptian husband and at least one son by him.—Lev. 24:10, 11.

Doubtless both the non-Israelite background of the “mixed company” or “mixed crowd” and the rigors of the wilderness trek prompted a complaining spirit among them that became a source of contention. Their expression of selfish longing spread to the Israelites, so that they too began to weep and say: “How we remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers and the watermelons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic! But now our soul is dried away. Our eyes are on nothing at all except the manna.”—Num. 11:4-6.

At Nehemiah 13:3 and Jeremiah 25:20 the expression “mixed company” denotes non-Israelites. The Nehemiah reference pertains to such foreigners as Moabites and Ammonites. (Neh. 13:1) That the sons of these foreigners (half-Israelites) may also have been included is suggested by the fact that earlier the Israelites dismissed both their foreign wives and sons.—Ezra 10:44.

MIZPAH, MIZPEH

(Mizʹpah, Mizʹpeh) [watchtower].

1. A region inhabited by Hivites and situated at the base of Mount Hermon was known as the “land of Mizpah.” (Josh. 11:3) At least part, if not all of this area, may also have been called the “valley plain of Mizpeh.” (Josh. 11:8) The “land of Mizpah” possibly was the region around Banyas (Caesarea Philippi) to the S of Mount Hermon or the plain E of Mount Hermon along the Wadi et-Tem.

2. A Judean city in the Shephelah. (Josh. 15:33, 38) Its precise location, however, is in question. One suggested identification is Khirbet Safiyeh, about five and a half miles (9 kilometers) S of what is thought to have been the site of ancient Azekah.

3. A city in the territory of Benjamin. (Josh. 18:26, 28) Nebi Samwil (about 5 miles [8 kilometers] N-NW of Jerusalem) and Tell en-Nasbeh (some 8 miles [13 kilometers] N of Jerusalem) have often been suggested as possible locations for the ancient site. An interpretation of certain archaeological findings seems to favor Tell en-Nasbeh. For example, jar handles have been found bearing what some scholars consider to be the three Hebrew letters for m-s-p and hence a shortened form of Mizpah. But others reject this view and read the letters otherwise.

It was at Mizpah that all the fighting men of Israel assembled and decided to take action against those involved in a mass sex crime committed at Gibeah of Benjamin. When the Benjamites refused to hand over the guilty men of that city, full-scale war erupted. Finally, the tribe of Benjamin was almost annihilated, only six hundred able-bodied men escaping. (Judg. 20:1-48) Earlier, at Mizpah, the Israelites had sworn that they would not give their daughters in marriage to Benjamites. (Judg. 21:1) After the battle, therefore, measures had to be taken to preserve the tribe of Benjamin. One of these was the giving of four hundred virgin girls from Jabesh-gilead to the Benjamites. The rest of the population of that city had been destroyed, as none of its inhabitants had come to Mizpah and supported the fight against Benjamin.—Judg. 21:5-12.

At a later period the prophet Samuel congregated all Israel and prayed for them. On that occasion the Israelites fasted and confessed their sins. When word about their assembly at Mizpah reached the Philistines, they took advantage of the situation to launch an attack. But Jehovah threw the enemy into confusion, enabling the Israelites to subdue the foe. Apparently to commemorate this God-given victory Samuel erected a stone between Mizpah and Jeshanah, calling it Ebenezer (“the stone of help”). Thereafter Samuel continued judging Israel and, as he did so, made a yearly circuit of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah. (1 Sam. 7:5-16) Later, in 1117 B.C.E., another assembly at