2 Samuel 5:9

2Sa 5:9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.

Ver. 9. So David dwelt in the fort.] After that he had slain all the old inhabitants, save one Araunah, saith Josephus, who afterwards proved his very friend.

And called it, The city of David.] As Constantine called Bizantium Constantinople, after his own name: making it likewise the metropolis and seat of the empire.

And David built round about, from Millo.] A certain tower or fortress. {2Ch 32:5} All the inside of the city David rebuilt, leaving the care of building the walls to Joab. {1Ch 11:8}

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.

2Sa 5:9-10. From Millo — Which seems to have been the town-hall, or state-house, near the wall of the city of Zion; or, as some think, a tower or armory. The Lord God of hosts was with him — This was the cause of his great prosperity, that God, who commands all the armies of heaven and earth, directed and blessed him in all his enterprises.

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

5:9 made the fortress his home: Jerusalem was a practical place from which David could effectively administer the extended kingdom. It was a centrally located neutral city on the border between Judah and the northern territories, and its natural fortifications and water tunnel were useful in case of siege. • the supporting terraces: See study note on 1 Kgs 9:15.

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

He built from the town house round about to his own house, 1 Chron. 11:8.

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

David dwelt in the fort, &c.--Having taken it by storm, he changed its name to "the city of David," to signify the importance of the conquest, and to perpetuate the memory of the event.

David built round about from Millo and inward--probably a row of stone bastions placed on the northern side of Mount Zion, and built by David to secure himself on that side from the Jebusites, who still lived in the lower part of the city. The house of Millo was perhaps the principal corner tower of that fortified wall.

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

(9) The fort.—The same word as strong hold in 2Sa_5:7.

Millo.—A word always used in Hebrew with the definite article (except in Jdg_9:6; Jdg_9:20), the Millo. It is probably an old Canaanitish name for the fortification on the northern end of Mount Zion, “inward” from which the palace was situated. Subsequent kings, as Solomon (1Ki_11:27) and Hezekiah (2Ch_32:5), saw its importance and added to its strength. On all other sides Zion was protected by precipitous ravines. There is, however, some difference of opinion about the topography of ancient Jerusalem.

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

9. in the fort] In the strong hold, the same word as in 2Sa_5:7, and in 1Ch_11:5 (E. V. castle).

Millo] The Millo. See Additional Note VI., p. 241.

and inward] Within or under the protection of the Millo, which was the outermost defence of the city.

Chron. adds “And Joab repaired the rest of the city.”

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.

So David dwelt in the fort,.... The strong hold of Zion, which he took:

and called it the city of David; from his own name, to keep up the memory of his taking it, and of his habitation in it:

and David built round about, from Millo and inward; built a wall about it, and enlarged the place, increased the buildings both within and without. Millo is supposed to be a ditch round the fort, full of water, from whence it had its name; or was a large hollow place which divided the fort from the lower city, and which afterwards Solomon filled up, and made it a level, and therefore is called so here by anticipation; though Jarchi says it was done by David. According to Dr. Lightfoot (o), it was a part or Sion, or some hillock, east up against it on the west side; his first sense is best, Millo being no other than the fortress or citadel; which, as Josephus says (p), David joined to the lower city, and made them one body, and erecting walls about it made Joab superintendent of them; and this was the "round about", or circuit, which David made, reaching from Millo, or the citadel, to that again, which is meant by "inward", or "to the house" (q), as it should be rendered; that is, to the house of Millo, as in Kg2 12:20; and so it is said Ch1 11:8; that David built the city "from Millo round about"; that is, to the same place from whence he began (r).

(o) Works, vol. 2. Chorograph. Cent. c. 24. p. 25. (p) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 3. sect. 2. (q) "et ad domum". (r) See Dr. Kennicott, ut supra, (Dissert. 1.) p. 49, &c.

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

David dwelt in the fort - or stronghold, (as in 2Sa 5:7) i. e. eventually, when the buildings were completed, which may not have been for two or three years. Millo appears to have been a fortress of some kind, the northern defense of the city of David, and to have been a part of the original Canaanite defenses of Zion, as appears probable also from there having been a fortress called the house of Millo in the Canaanite city of Shechem. (Jdg 9:6 note, and 2Sa 9:1-13 :20.) Millo may be the native name. Some identify it with the great platform called the Haram es Sherif.

David built round about - Probably meaning built his own house and other houses and streets, all, in short, that caused it to be coiled the city of David. (Compare 1Ch 11:8.) The buildings were within, on the south of Millo, so as to be protected by it on the north, as they were east, west. and south, by the precipitous ravines.

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

Inwards. He built or repaired the higher "city of David," beginning at Mello, to "fill up" the valley, which Solomon finished, and adorned with a palace, 3 Kings ix. 15., and 4 Kings xii. 20. The place is probably called Asaramel, 1 Machabees xiv. 27. (Calmet) --- Septuagint and Josephus generally understand Mello to designate the citadel of Sion, or "a complete fortification," to defend the city. Instead of inwards, the Septuagint have, "and his house." But ubithe means, "and to the house," temple, or fort, whence he began the enclosure, so as to make a complete communication. (Kennicott) --- This city became "the most famous in all the East." (Pliny, [Natural History?] v. 14.) --- "Walls, built in a crooked manner, according to the rules of art, enclosing two hills, immensely high." (Tacitus, Hist. v.) --- These hills were multiplied, on account of their different summits, so that Josephus speaks of five hills. The palace of David stood on Sion, the temple on Moria, which was a part of it still more elevated, towards the east. The other hill is often called Acra, by Josephus, and lay southward of Sion. Here the ancient town of Jebus was built. The Machabees took in an adjoining eminence. (Josephus, Jewish Wars vi. 6.) --- Bethsetta, or the new city, was afterwards enclosed. Herod adorned the city with may superb monuments, both of a public and of a private nature. (Calmet) --- We read of ten gates, and of four towers, belonging to this city. It was not well supplied with water, and what it had was brackish. The walls seem never to have exceeded four and a half miles; now they are only three, and include Mount Calvary, which was formerly no part of the city. Button says a valley run from west to east, between the two hills of Zion on the south, and Acra on the north; which contradicts the former statement. (Haydock) --- Villalpand supposes that the citadel was nine and a half stadia, and all the city thirty-five stadia in circumference, eight of which make an Italian mile. (Menochius)

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).

Millo seems to have been some large and well fortified building, Jdg 9:6; 2Ch 32:5, adjoining or near to the wall of the city of Zion.

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

9. Built round about from Millo and inward — Millo was a fortress or rampart of ancient Zion, apparently so called from having been filled in (מלא) with earth and stones. The article connected with the Hebrew word serves to designate it as some well known fortress, and it was evidently a noted stronghold before the city was occupied by David. It was afterwards built up again and strengthened by Solomon, (1Ki_9:15; 1Ki_9:24; 1Ki_11:27,) and later still by Hezekiah. 2Ch_32:5. It seems to have been situated on the northern side of Zion, where the natural defences were less strong than on the other sides; and from it, as a bulwark, David built all round the northern side a strong wall, and fortified it inward towards the south, so as to make it more secure against assault than it had ever been before.

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

David dwelt in the fort. It was the stronghold or citadel of Zion which David took for his abode; but as he needed space for the dwellings of his mighty men, and for those who would soon flock for trade and security to the capital, David proceeded to fortify the whole of the summit. His works began from "the Millo," rendered "the citadel" by the LXX Many, deriving the name from a Hebrew root signifying to fill, thinkthat it was a mound, but Nature had herself supplied fit heights for defence, and it is evident that the place was called "the Millo" when David captured the city. We find "Beth-Millo" also in Jud_1:9:6, 20, where it signifies those who held the citadel of Shechem; and this Mills at Jerusalem was without doubt the old Jebusite keep, and the explanation of its name must be sought in the Jebusite language. As it formed one of the strongest defences of the city, it was rebuilt by Solomon, (1Ki_9:24 1Ki_11:27) and repaired by Hezekiah (2Ch_32:5) in preparation for the Assyrian attack. Probably it stood at a corner, whence the phrase, "round about from the Millo and inward," or, as it is expressed in 1Ch_11:8, "from the Millo inward," that is, starting from. the Millo, the walls enclosed the space behind it. In the parallel place (1Ch_11:8) we find an interesting addition to the narrative, namely, that "Joab repaired the rest of the city." It appears from this that the Jebusites had occupied a good deal of the ground with their habitations, though probably the number of the tribe was not great; or possibly there remained old buildings which were the remains of the Hittite city, and which, being of massive construction, were easily made fit once again for human habitation. We see also proof of Joab"s great ability in peace as well as in war. He it was who had captured the stronghold, and it was now his office to arrange the streets and plan of the city, and to assign dwellings to David"s mighty men. This would be a work sure to cause jealousy and heart burnings, and no one but Joab, their old commander, could have satisfied them. We find that he assigned to one of them, Uriah the Hittite, a space of ground for a dwelling close to the royal palace. We may suppose, then, that David was now fully reconciled to the "hard sons of Zeruiah", (2Sa_3:39) and in the stern wars which followed David"s election, he needed and had the full benefit of their vigour and ability.

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

Millo - Which seems to have been the town-hall or, state-house, near the wall of the city of Zion.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

From it's low wall and inwards. A surrounding low wall; they would fill it up with earth, the summit of the mound would be in it's middle, and it would slant in all directions, that is called a מלוא, and Dovid built houses on [the wall]. That low wall surrounded the fortress.

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.