1 Kings 11:27

1Ki 11:27 And this [was] the cause that he lifted up [his] hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, [and] repaired the breaches of the city of David his father.

Ver. 27. And this was the cause that he lifted up.] Vatablus readeth it thus, And this was the word whereby he lifted up his hand; that is, made way to his open rebellion afterwards. Solomon buildeth Millo, &c., and so putteth the people to an excessive charge and pains; and repaireth the breaches &c., which his father, though wise enough and able enough, never did.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:27-28 Solomon noted the work ethic of Jeroboam during the repair of the city’s structures and put him in charge. Jeroboam’s status among the laborers may have made him aware of brewing discontent in northern sections of Solomon’s kingdom. Jeroboam showed leadership on this occasion, as well as during the empire’s division and reorganization of the northern tribes (12:12-19, 25-33). Unfortunately, he did not always use his abilities wisely and later proved unfaithful to the Lord (12:25–13:10; 14:14-16; 2 Kgs 17:21-23).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(27) Solomon built Millo.—See 1Ki_9:15; 1Ki_9:24. This was apparently after he had built the Temple and the palace, some twenty years after his accession, when the delight in magnificence of building apparently grew upon him, and with it the burdens of the people.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. Millo] Read the Millo. See above on 1Ki_9:15.

and repaired the breaches of the city of David] The verb signifies ‘to close up’ and the noun is in the singular. Hence ‘to close up the breach’ has been thought to mean the building a wall across the valley between Zion and Moriah, and so making the ravine between these mountains inclosed within the walls. This valley was known at a later time as the Tyropœon. This makes the statement harmonize with 1Ki_9:15, where Solomon’s object is said to have been ‘to build the walls of Jerusalem.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour,.... A man of great strength of body, and fortitude of mind:

and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious; in what he was set about in the above buildings and repairs:

he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph; the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, to be a prince or a deputy governor of them; or rather to collect the king's tax from them, or the revenues of that part of the country, see Pro 22:29.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Millo was probably fortified in Solomon’s twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth year.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. Breaches — Rents in the walls, made by time and storms. It was while Solomon was repairing the walls and fortifications of Jerusalem, as noticed in 1Ki_9:15, (where see note,) that Jeroboam showed his superior abilities, and was promoted by the king. 28.

A mighty man of valour — An able and efficient workman.

Charge of the house of Joseph — That is, of the levy of men from the Ephraimites who were descendants of Joseph, and sometimes thus called by their father’s name. The charge or burden of this tribe here means the labour they were required to perform in building Millo and repairing the walls of the city. This tribe was of course called on for its quota of men in the levy which Solomon raised, (1Ki_5:13; 1Ki_9:15,) and Jeroboam was at first among the labourers — perhaps an under officer; but at length, on account of his marked ability, was made overseer of all the workmen of his tribe.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And this was the cause or, this is the account; this is how it came about. Same words Jos_5:4, and 1Ki_9:15. We have here a long parenthesis, explaining the origin, etc., of Jeroboam"s disaffection that he lifted up his hand Heb. a hand against the king. Solomon built Millo, (see on 1Ki_9:15) and repaired the breaches These words convey the impression that Solomon renewed the decayed or destroyed parts of the wall. But

(1) rgs does not mean repair, except indirectly. It means he closed, shut. And

(2) rP sing, refers to one breach or opening. Moreover

(3) it was not so long since the wall was built. (2Sa_5:9) It could hardly, therefore, have decayed, and there had been no siege to cause a breach. We must understand the word, consequently, not of a part broken down, but of a portion unbuilt. We have elsewhere suggested that this was the breach in the line of circumvallation, caused by the Tyropsson valley, and that the Millo was the bank, or rampart which closed it. And to this view the words of the text lend some confirmation of the city of David his father. As Millo was built about the 25th year of Solomon"s reign (ch. 9:15), we are enabled to fix approximately the date of Jeroboam"s rebellion. It was apparently about ten or twelve years before Solomon"s death.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It was about this matter. Concerning which he rebuked him.

Shlomo had built up the Millo. And with this building, he closed up the breach of the City of Dovid which was behind the Millo. He said to him, “Your father made breaches in the wall for the festival pilgrims to enter, and you closed it up, to create a labor force for Pharaoh’s daughter, to station there her menservants and maidservants.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.