2 Chronicles 32:5

2Ch 32:5 Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised [it] up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo [in] the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.

Ver. 5. And raised it up to the towers.] Or, Mounted the warlike engines upon the towers, for his better defence.

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.

2Ch 32:5. He built up all the wall that was broken — Which Joash, king of Israel, had broken down, and which had not since been repaired. And raised it up to the towers — Either as high as the towers, or tops of the wall; or from the gate of Ephraim as far as the two towers, which were at the corner-gate, having been raised there for the defence of it. So that the wall, that had been broken down, was all rebuilt. See 2Ch 25:23. And repaired Millo — Of which see note on 1Ki 9:15.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, he was strengthened.

He made a double wall.

Read 2 Sam. 5:9.

Some read, swords or daggers.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

he strengthened himself--He made a careful inspection of the city defenses for the purpose of repairing breaches in the wall here, renewing the masonry there, raising projecting machines to the towers, and especially fortifying the lower portion of Zion, that is, Millo, "(in) the original city of David." "In" is a supplement of our translators, and the text reads better without it, for it was not the whole city that was repaired, but only the lower portion of Zion, or the original "city of David."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. Raised it up to the towers] He built the wall up to the height of the towers, or, having built the wall, he raised towers on it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) Also he strengthened himself.—And he took courage. (2Ch_15:8; 2Ch_18:1.)

Built up all the wall that was broken.—Isa_22:9-10, where “many breaches” are spoken of, and it is said that “houses were pulled down to fortify the wall.”

Raised it up to the towers.—Heb., and went up on the towers, or, and caused to go up on the towers. A different division of the Hebrew letters will give the sense “and raised upon it towers,” which is probably correct. Thenius prefers to keep the ordinary reading, which he understands to mean, and heightened the towers; alleging that 2Ch_26:9 shows that the wall was already furnished with towers. The LXX. has simply καί πύργους, “and towers;” the Vulgate, “et exstruxit turres desuper.” The Syriac renders, “Let them show themselves strong, and make another wall opposite the wall, and let them stop up the ditch which David made.”

Another wall without.—Literally, and on the outside of the wall (he built) another—viz., the wall enclosing the lower city or Aera, which he “built,” that is, repaired and strengthened. (See Isa_22:11, “the two walls.”)

Repaired.—2Ch_11:11.

Millo.—The rampart. See Note on 1Ch_11:8.

In the city of David.—To wit, the city of David.

Darts.—Shelah. See Note on 2Ch_23:10, and comp. 2Ch_26:14. The Hebrew is “missiles in abundance, and shields.”

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

5. Also he strengthened himself] R.V. And he took courage. Cp. 2Ch_1:1 (note).

broken] R.V. broken down; cp. 2Ch_25:23 (note).

raised it up to the towers] Render, repaired the towers, lit. “brought up [healing, restoration] upon the towers; cp. 2Ch_24:13 (Heb.); Neh_4:1 (Heb.). The ellipse is harsh, but not too harsh for the Chronicler. Vulg. reads, “built towers upon it.”

another wall] R.V. the other wall. In Isa_22:9-11 the preparations to meet the Assyrian attack are described by the prophet who speaks of a “ditch” (R.V. “reservoir”) made at this time between “the two walls.” In Excavations at Jerusalem, 1894–1897, Dr Bliss describes a buttressed wall (pp. 96 ff.) built without lime (see his frontispiece for an illustration of it) and enclosing the pool of Siloam on the S.E, which, he says, “may date back as far as Hezekiah” (pp. 325 f.). Dr Bliss also, following up a clue given by earlier explorers found a second wall (running at an angle to the first) enclosing the pool on the west. This second wall was probably due to Herod, but Dr Bliss suggests that the line it follows may have been defended by a wall as early as Hezekiah’s day (p. 326). Thus it is not hard to infer the general course of Hezekiah’s two walls.

Millo] Cp. 1Ch_11:8, note.

darts and shields] These were meant, not for such trained soldiers as Hezekiah could collect, but for the levy en masse with which the king proposed to man the walls. A dart to throw and a shield to protect the thrower as he threw were all that the citizen-soldier needed. The Heb. word (shelaḥ) means “dart, missile”; the more general rendering of the R.V. “weapons” obscures the meaning of Hezekiah’s preparations.

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 he set captains of war over the people,.... To teach them the exercises of war, to lead them on against the enemy, to direct them where to stand, and what to do in defence of the city:

and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city; the street which led to the gate, and was large and commodious to assemble the people in:

and spake comfortably to them; to animate and encourage them to hold out the siege, and do all they could to repel the enemy;

saying; as follows.

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

The breaches in the wall of Jerusalem were not entirely due to the old hostility of Joash (marginal reference); but may have been caused either by neglect and carelessness in the reign of Ahaz 2 Chr. 28, or by the simple process of natural decay. Hezekiah pulled down houses for the purpose of his repairs Isa 22:10.

On Millo, see the marginal references notes.

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

Without, of less strength. --- Mello, the palace, which was strongly situated, and Ezechias added fresh fortifications, 2 K. v. 9. --- Arms. Heb. "darts."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The wall that was broken by Joash, 2Ch 25:23, and not since repaired.

Up to the towers; either,

1. As high as the towers, or the tops of the wall. Or,

2. As far as the two towers, or gates, which were made in the form of towers, and had the use of towers, to wit, that of Ephraim and the corner gate, both mentioned above, 2Ch 25:23. Or, brought up engines or instruments of defence upon the towers.

Millo; of which see 1Ki 9:24; 11:27.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. The wall that was broken — What particular part of the walls, and when and how they were broken, is not told. Rawlinson suggests that they had fallen by neglect and carelessness in the reign of Ahaz, or by the natural process of decay, and were hastily repaired with the ruins of neighbouring houses. Isa_22:10.

Raised it up to the towers — The Hebrew text reads, literally, he brought up upon the towers, but the meaning is obscure. The text seems to be defective, and the most plausible emendation is, he raised up towers upon it; that is, he built towers upon the wall. Perhaps he merely fortified the towers which Uzziah had built. 2Ch_26:9.

Another wall without — Thought by some to be the wall of the lower city, but the reference is uncertain.

Millo — The ancient fortress or rampart which David built on Zion. See note on 2Sa_5:11.

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

He strengthened himself; i.e., as in our several previous instances of the occurrence of the phrase (1Ch_11:10; 2Ch_12:1 2Ch_25:11 2Ch_26:8) he took all possible means to make himself and people and city strong to withstand the invader. All the wall that was broken. (see Isa_22:9) Although we read that the devastation wrought by Joash (2Ch_25:23) was very largely repaired by Uzziah (2Ch_26:9) and by Jotham, (2Ch_27:3) it is not explicitly said that the broken four hundred cubits of wall, from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, were made absolutely good again, although in the matter of towers and fortifications much was evidently done. Note also the word "all" here, side by side with the "much" of (2Ch_27:3. And raised (it) up to the towers. Discard this Authorized Version rendering. The meaning cannot be certainly pronounced upon, hut perhaps it may be intended to say that he heightened the towers. The objection is that the same verb is wanted for the next clause, and that its rendering would need to be there slightly reduced again to a mere statement of raising from the ground (i.e. building) another wall without. Repaired Millo. (see note, 1Ch_11:8)

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

Also he

Cf. Isa 22:1-13 The divine view at this time:

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hezekiah took courage and built up ... He built ... He also ... he made

The readers should understand that Hezekiah probably commanded other people to do the actual work. AT: "Hezekiah took courage and commanded the people to build up ... They built ... They also ... they made" (See: Synecdoche)

Hezekiah took courage and built up

Possible meanings are 1) Hezekiah strengthened his position by commanding the people to repair the walls of the city. You can make this clear by using the connecting word "by." AT: "Hezekiah strengthened the city by building up" or 2) he became encouraged. AT: "Hezekiah became encouraged and built up" (See: Connecting Words)

the Millo

This is a part of the wall on the north side of Jerusalem.

translationWords

watchtower

city of David

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and he reinforced the millo An example is (I Kings 11:27): “built the millo.”

and he made many swords - Heb. שֶׁלַח, weapons, similar to (above 23:10): “each one with his sword (שִׁלְחוֹ) in his hand”; (Neh. 4:17): “each man took his sword (שִׁלְחוֹ) to the water.”

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.