Dictionaries :: Millo

Millo:

(Heb. always with the article, "the" Millo). (1.) Probably the Canaanite name of some fortification, consisting of walls filled in with earth and stones, which protected Jerusalem on the north as its outermost defence. It is always rendered Akra i.e., "the citadel", in the LXX. It was already existing when David conquered Jerusalem (2Sa 5:9). He extended it to the right and left, thus completing the defence of the city. It was rebuilt by Solomon (1Ki 9:15,24; 11:27) and repaired by Hezekiah (2Ch 32:5).

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

Millo:

fullness

Millo:

mil'-o. (millo generally interpreted to mean a "filling," e.g. a solid tower or an earth embankment; in Jud 9:6,20; 2Ki 12:20, we get beth millo', 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 Bethmaalon, also Maalon and oikos Maallon):

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 2Sa 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 1Ch 11:8). In connection with Solomon's strengthening of the fortifications, there are several references to Millo. In 1Ki 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 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 1Ki 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" (2Ch 32:5; 2Ki 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 Jud 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 (1Ki 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 Tariq bab es silsileh.

Written by E. W. G. Masterman

Millo: 1. The House of Millo

Possibly a clan at Shechem,

Jdg 9:6, 20.

Millo: 2. A Name Given to Part of the Citadel of Jerusalem

2Sa 5:9; 1Ch 11:8

King Solomon raises a levy to repair,

1Ki 9:15, 24; 11:27.

Repaired by King Hezekiah,

2Ch 32:5.

King Joash murdered at,

2Ki 12:20.

Millo:

(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; 9:24; 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).