Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 11:8
He built up the city around it, from the supporting terraces to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Chronicler records the immediate aftermath of David’s capture of the Jebusite fortress, now renamed the City of David. The narrator details the physical expansion of the settlement before transitioning to David’s subsequent rise in prominence.
The words — מִלּוֹא (Millo) refers to the supporting terraces or filled-in ground, while יָבֶן (built) denotes the structural reinforcement of the city’s perimeter.
The thread — The Millo functions as a foundational earthwork in 1 Kings 11:27 during Solomon’s building initiatives and appears in Judges 9:6 and 9:20 as Beth-millo, a central gathering place in Shechem.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that David’s political elevation depended on coordinated human labor to secure Jerusalem’s infrastructure. It establishes the city’s physical consolidation as the necessary precondition for the divine presence that follows.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he built the city round about, even from Millo round about: and Joab repaired the rest of the city.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 11:27 and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.
- Judges 9:6 Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.
- Judges 9:20 But if not, may fire come from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo, and may fire come from the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo and consume Abimelech.”
- 1 Kings 9:15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the house of the LORD, his own palace, the supporting terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
- 2 Kings 12:20 And the servants of Joash rose up and formed a conspiracy and killed him at Beth-millo, on the road down to Silla.
- Nehemiah 4:2 before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”