Millo

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Hebrew "THE Millo." On taking the Jehusites' citadel David "built the city (Jerusalem) from the Millo round about" ( 2 Samuel 5:9;  1 Chronicles 11:8). Solomon raised his levy to repair Millo ( 1 Kings 9:15;  1 Kings 9:24;  1 Kings 11:27). So Hezekiah ( 2 Chronicles 32:5). It was part of "the city of David". (See Jerusalem .) Septuagint translated Millo "the citadel." Probably an aboriginal term adopted by Israel. Near the Tyropoeon valley, dividing Jerusalem ( 2 Kings 12:20). Probably a tower; for in  Judges 9:6;  Judges 9:46;  Judges 9:49 Millo is interchanged with Migdal, "a tower." The name may mean filling; it filled up (completed) the fortification of the city of David. On the N.W. corner of the wall, on the slope of the Tyropoeon valley, where Zion had least height and needed strengthening.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

MILLO. A place near Shechem (the name of which would be better rendered Beth-millo , without translating the first element [‘house of Millo,’ AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] ]), quite unknown, the inhabitants of which were associated in the coronation of Abimelech (  Judges 9:6;   Judges 9:20 ). Joash was slain at a ‘Beth-millo, on the way that goeth down to Silla’ (  2 Kings 12:20 ). Whether this be the same place, or whether (perhaps more likely) it was somewhere near Jerusalem, and (if so) where or what it may have been, are questions to which no answer can be given. On the ‘Millo’ of   2 Samuel 5:8 ,   1 Kings 11:27 etc., see Jerusalem, II, § 2.

R. A. S. Macalister.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Mil'lo. (A Rampart, Mound). A place in ancient Jerusalem. Both name and place seem to have been already in existence when the city was taken, from the Jebusites by David.  2 Samuel 5:9;  1 Chronicles 11:8. Its repair or restoration was one of the great works, for which Solomon raised his "levy,"  1 Kings 9:15;  1 Kings 9:24;  1 Kings 11:27, and it formed a prominent part, of the fortifications by which Hezekiah prepared, for the approach of the Assyrians.  2 Chronicles 32:5. The last passage seems to show that "the Milo" was part of the "city of David," that is, of Zion. Compare  2 Kings 12:20.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. 'House of Millo,' in connection with Shechem, apparently a family or clan.  Judges 9:6,20 .

2. A part of ancient Jerusalem, though afterwards said to be 'built' by Solomon; it was repaired by Hezekiah. The name always has the article, ' the Millo.' Various sites have been suggested for it, but its locality and its form are unknown.   2 Samuel 5:9;  1 Kings 9:15,24;  1 Kings 11:27;  1 Chronicles 11:8;  2 Chronicles 32:5 . In  2 Kings 12:20 Joash was slain in the 'house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla:' this may be another place, though apparently it was in Jerusalem.

Holman Bible Dictionary

2. The extension of Jerusalem beyond the original Jebusite city David captured stretched northward to include the Hill of Moriah, the site of the future Temple. A large open space between the hill and the main city below left ample room for added construction. To provide a level platform upon which to build, a series of retaining walls were raised along the slope of the hill. Loads of earth and rock were dumped behind the walls to form large terraces to support the royal halls and residences planned by Solomon. The area came to be called the Ophel, meaning “high” or “lofty.” It is probable that additional supporting terraces were built on the southern slopes in the city proper to extend the area available for general construction. Joash's murder by his own men near the Beth Millo “on the road to Silla” may refer to terraces in this portion of the city.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Millo ( Mĭl'Lo ), A Mound, Rampart. "Millo" is used for a part of the citadel of Jerusalem, probably the rampart, or entrenchment.  2 Samuel 5:9;  1 Kings 9:15-24;  1 Kings 11:27;  1 Chronicles 11:8. The same, or part of it, was probably the "house of Millo;" margin "Beth Millo."  2 Kings 12:20;  2 Chronicles 32:5. Some think it means the "stronghold of Zion."

Easton's Bible Dictionary

In  Judges 9:6,20 it is the name of a rampart in Shechem, probably the "tower of Shechem" (9:46,49).

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Millo'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/m/millo.html. 1897.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

a part or suburb of Jerusalem. "David built round about from Millo and inward,"  2 Samuel 5:9; that is, he built round about from the place where Millo was afterward erected by Solomon, or where more probably the senate house, or Millo of the Jebusites, had stood, which was pulled down to make room for the more sumptuous edifice of Solomon, to his own house; so that David built from Mount Zion, quite round to the opposite point. Hence, the residence of David, even in the reign of that renowned monarch, began to assume the size and splendour of a city.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. Probably a bastion of the citadel of Zion, at Jerusalem, mentioned in the history of David and Solomon,  2 Samuel 5:9   2 Kings 12:20   1 Chronicles 11:8   2 Chronicles 32:5 .

2. The name of a family or of a fortress at Shechem; in the latter case, the "house of Millo" would mean the garrison of that fortress,  Judges 9:6 .

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mil´ō . ( מלּוא , millō' generally interpreted to mean a "filling," e.g. a solid tower or an earth embankment; in   Judges 9:6 ,  Judges 9:20;  2 Kings 12:20 , we get מלּוא בּית , bēth millō' , translated in English Versions of the Bible "House of Millo," which Winckler thinks may have been the original Jebusite temple-shrine of Jerusalem (see Beth-Millo ); Septuagint reads Βηθμααλών , Bēthmaalṓn , also Maalṓn and oı́kos Maallṓn ):

1. Old Testament References

It is generally supposed that "The Millo" was some kind of fortress or other defense, but many speculations have been made regarding its position. In  2 Samuel 5:9 , we read that David built round about from the Millo and inward, or (in the Septuagint, Septuagint) "he fortified it, the city, round about from the Millo and his house" (compare  1 Chronicles 11:8 ). In connection with Solomon's strengthening of the fortifications, there are several references to Millo. In  1 Kings 9:15 , Solomon raised a levy "to build the house of Yahweh, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem," etc.; in  1 Kings 9:24 , "Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo"; in  1 Kings 11:27 , Solomon "built Millo, and repaired the breach of the city of David his father." At a later time Hezekiah "took courage, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers, and the other wall without, and strengthened Millo in the city of David" ( 2 Chronicles 32:5;  2 Kings 12:20 ); Joash was slain by his servants "at the house of Millo, on the way that goeth down to Silla," but possibly this may have been in Shechem (compare  Judges 9:6 ).

2. Identical with the Akra Site:

The mention of the site in the days of David and the reference to it in connection with the city of David ( 1 Kings 11:27 ) point to some part of the southeastern hill South of the temple. It is suggestive that Millo is in Septuagint always translated by "Akra." It seems to the present writer very probable that it was a fortress crowning the hill on which at a later time stood the Syrian Akra, which hill, if we are to believe Josephus ( BJ , V, iv, 1, etc.), was cut down because its commanding situation dominated the temple. This hill cannot have been the site of Zion afterward known as "David's Burg" (City of David), because the tombs of the Judean kings were within its walls, and that alone would have made the complete leveling of the site impossible, but whereas the Jebusite fortress was probably not far from Gihon, this fortified summit may have been, as Watson suggests for the Akra, as far north as where the present Al Aqsa mosque is situated. In David's time it may have been an isolated and detached fort guarding the north approach, but if it was originally a Jebusite high place (Winckler) partly of sun-dried brick like similar constructions in Babylonia, the account of its being leveled would be much more credible. The importance of this site in the days of Solomon is fully explicable if this was the citadel guarding the newly built temple and royal palaces.

Dr. G.A. Smith is inclined to think that Millo may have been a fortress "off the south end of Ophel, to retain and protect the old pool," and Vincent suggests that the site of Millo is that now occupied by the great causeway connecting the Western and Eastern hills along which runs the ṭarı̄ḳ bāb es silsileh .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. always with the art. ham millo', המַּלּוֹא The Fulness; Sept. [Alex.] in 1 Kings 9 only Ἡ Μελιο ; Vulg. Mello), properly a mound or rampart, as being filled in with stones and earth; hence a fortress or castle; applied to two structures or fortifications:

(a) According to Gesenius (Thes. Heb. page 789), a part of the citadel of Jerusalem, probably the rampart or intrenchment; or, as Winer thinks ( Worterb. s.v.), the tower afterwards called Hippicus ( 2 Samuel 5:9;  1 Kings 9:15;  1 Kings 9:24;  1 Kings 11:27;  1 Chronicles 11:8;  2 Chronicles 32:5). In the last of these texts, where David is said to have restored or fortified the Millo "of" (not "in") the city of David, the Sept. has Τὸ Ἀνάλῃμμα Τῆς Πόλεως , "the Fortification of the city of David;" in the other passages it has simply Ἄκρα , the Mound or tower. The Targum merely Chaldaizes the Heb. term ( מְלֵיתָא מִלְיְתָא , Vallum) "Both name and thing seem to have been already in existence when the city was taken from the Jebusites by David. His first occupation, after getting possession, was to build around about, from the Millo and to the house' (A.V. ‘ inward.'  2 Samuel 5:9); or, as the parallel passage has it, ‘ he built the city round about, and from the Millo round about' ( 1 Chronicles 11:8). Its repair or restoration was one of the great works for which Solomon raised his ‘ levy' ( 1 Kings 9:15;  1 Kings 9:24;  1 Kings 11:27); and it formed a prominent part of the fortifications by which Hezekiah prepared for the approach of the Assyrians ( 2 Chronicles 32:5)." The same place is probably meant by the "house of Millo," where Joash was killed ( 2 Kings 12:21). Others are of the opinion that Millo was the name of a valley in Jerusalem, which separated ancient Jebus from the city of David, but which was afterwards filled up by David and Solomon (Barclay, City Of The Great King, page 113). Schwarz (Pcrlest. page 241) holds that it was on the eastern declivity towards the spring of Siloam (reading Shiloah for Silla). The most natural impression from the notices is that it was some region or space adjacent to Mount Zion, perhaps that portion of the Tyropoeon enclosed by the first wall, the bridge, and the Temple. (See Lightfoot, Works, 2:189; — Hamelsveld, Bibl. Geogr. 2:46 sq.; Ewald, Jsr. Gesch. 3:70; Strong's Harm. And Expos. Of The Gospels, Append. 2, page 24; Schulz, Jerusalem, page 80.) (See Jerusalem).

(b) The fortress or citadel of Shechem, all the occupants or garrison of which joined in proclaiming Abimelech their king ( Judges 9:6;  Judges 9:20). (See Beth-Millo); (See Silla).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Mil´lo. This word denotes 'fullness,' and is applied to a mound or rampart, probably as being filled up with stones or earth. Hence it is the name given to

Part of the citadel of Jerusalem, probably the rampart (;;;;; ).

The fortress in Shechem. 'All the men of Shechem, and all that dwelt in the house of Millo;' that is, in the castle or citadel .